Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Karl Marx
Friedrich Engels
Ferdinand Tonnies
Emile Durkheim
Georg Simmel
Max Weber
W. E. B. Du Bois
Social evolution of humans not complete until capitalism was transformed into socialism
Defined and described two basic organizing principles of human association or two
contrasting types of human social life, a typology with a continuum of pure type of
settlement:
There is also Friendship, or Gemeinschaft of the mind, which requires a common mental
community (eg: religion).
Developed model of contrasting social order types: both types are natural
Considered importance of urban experience, i.e. chose to focus on urbanism (life within
the city) rather than urbanization (development of urban areas), "The Metropolis and
Mental Life" is an essay detailing his views on life in the city, focusing more on social
psychology
Unique trait of modern city is intensification of nervous stimuli with which city dweller
must cope, from rural setting where rhythm of life and sensory imagery is more slow,
habitual and even, to city with constant bombardments of sights, sounds and smells
Rationality expressed in advanced economic division of labour, and the use of money
because of requirement for a universal means of exchange
To maintain sense of individuality and not feel like cog in machine, do something
different or odd to stand out
Social distance
Author of this concept, from which we have Bogardus Social Distance Scale (Emery
Bogardus Chicago School)
Philosophy of Money
Money replaces personal ties by impersonal relations that limited to a specific purpose
Abstract calculation invades areas of social life, e.g. kinship relations or realm of esthetic
appreciation
Positive aspect of metropolitan life: reserve and detachment produce individual freedom.
[The most significant characteristic of the metropolis] "functional extension beyond its
physical boundaries"a persons life does not end with the limits of his/her body and the
area of his/her immediate activity.
Undertook survey of various cities throughout world unlike previous theorists who
focused on European cities solely
Suggested that cities are linked to larger processes, e.g. economic or political
orientations, instead of city itself being cause of distinguishing qualities of urban life, i.e.
different cultural and historical conditions will result in different types of cities, same as
with Marx & Engels who argued that human condition of cities was result of economic
structure.
D. E. B DuBois The Racialization Paradigm and Critical Race Theory
Concerned with the centrality of race {racialized power dimensions} in the analysis of
social structure
Du Bois(along with Woodson) presented cogent arguments for considering race as the
central construct for understanding inequality.
First to theorize the intersection of race and property creates an analytic tool through
which we can understand social (and, consequently, urban) inequity.
Broadly defined critical race theory or a critical theory of race attempts to examine
the human interactions both in their historical context and as part of the social and
political relations that characterize the dominant society.
There are two important aspects shared by proponents of the critical race movement that
are central to this analysis:
(2) an insistence on subjectivity and the reformulation of social life to reflect the
perspectives of those who have experienced and been victimized by racism
firsthand
critical race theory today is analogous to feminist theory of the late-1970s which
challenged the gender blindness of political economy highlighted by the narrow
economicism of Whitemale-stream scholarship; and it attempts to provide a starting point
for understanding contemporary urban problems and issues
The University of Chicago: University of Chicago is the origin of Urban Sociology in the United
States. The Urban Environment surrounding the University provided the perfect laboratory for
scholars like Robert Park and Ernest Burgess to study the city.
Robert Park
Louis Wirth
Ernest Burgess
Homer Hoyt
Believed city to be a social organism with distinct parts bound together by internal
processes, not chaos and disorder
City was also a moral as well as physical organization suggesting evaluative judgements
Focused on the physical form of the city and humans adjustment to the ecological
conditions urban life
Theoretical premises
Influence of natural sciences arguing there is a similarity between the organic and social
worlds, i.e. the idea that natural laws can be adapted to society; a form of Social
Darwinism
Processes characterizing the growth and development of plant and animal communities applied
to human communities.
Community (plant, animal, human): defined as individual units involved in struggle and
competition in their habitat, organized and interrelated in most complex manner
2. Cultural (superstructure): driven by communication and consensus, way of life in the city
which was an adaptive response to organization of the city resulting at the biotic level; at
the cultural level city is held together by cooperation between actors.
Symbiotic society based on competition and a cultural society based on communication and
consensus.
- ethnic enclaves
Human community is a product of the interaction of four factors to maintain biotic and social
equilibrium:
1. Population
Made up of interdependent individuals competing with each other for economic and
territorial dominance and for ecological niches, have competitive cooperation with its
resulting economic interdependence)
Invasion: introduction of new species would upset old balance where there would then be a
struggle for dominance with a process of succession
Succession: various stages or the orderly sequence of changes through which a biotic community
passes in course of its development, e.g. territorial succession of immigrant groups
2. Economic
3. Political
While human communities exhibited an ecological or symbiotic order quite similar to that of
nonhuman communities, they also participated in a social or moral order that had no counterpart
on the nonhuman level. Park studied the ecological order to understand better man's moral order.
Humans by means of inventions and technical devices have a great capacity to alter the
physical environment; and
Humans have erected upon the basis of the biotic community an institutional structure
rooted in custom and tradition.
Other factors, such as government regulations, sentiments, cultural preferences, are not
taken into account
Developed first urban theory in US, previous urban sociology comprised essentially
descriptive studies
Definition of city was that it was large, dense with permanent settlement and socially and
culturally heterogeneous people, and so urbanism was a function of population density,
size and heterogeneity:
1) Population size: creates great diversity because large numbers of people coming together
logically increase potential differentiation among themselves, and with migration of
diverse groups to city; creates need for formal control structures, e.g. legal systems;
supports proliferation of further complex division of labour specialization; organizes
human relationships on interest-specific basis, i.e. "social segmentalization", where
secondary relationships are primary, in essence urban ties are relationships of utility;
creates possibility of disorganization and disintegration
2) Population density: intensifies effects of large population size on social life; manifests
quality of separateness, e.g. economic forces and social processes produce readily
identifiable distinct neighbourhood, "ecological specialization"; fosters a loss of
sensitivity to more personal aspects of others, instead tendency to stereotype and
categorize; results in greater tolerance of difference but at same time physical closeness
increases social distance; may increase antisocial behaviour
3) Population heterogeneity: with social interaction among many personality types results
in breakdown of the rigidity of caste lines and complicates class structure, thus increased
social mobility; with social mobility tend to have physical mobility; leads to further
depersonalization with concentration of diverse people.
Cities grow and develop outwardly in concentric circles, i.e. continuous outward process
of invasion/succession
The jobs, industry, entertainment, administrative offices, etc. were located at the center in
the CBD.
Felt that zone development resulted from competitive processes, i.e. competition for best
location in the city and
Zones:
1. Commercial center
2. Zone of transition
5. Commuter zone
The entire city can be thought of as a circle and various neighborhoods as sectors
radiating out from the center of that structure. These factors or principles direct
residential expansion:
1) High grade residential areas tend to originate near retail and office centers.
2) High grade residential growth tends to proceed from the given point of origin, along
established lines of travel or toward existing retail office centers.
4) High rent areas tend to grow towards areas which have open space beyond the city and
away from sections enclosed by natural or artificial boundaries.
5) Higher priced residential areas tend to grow towards the homes of leaders in the
community.
6) The movement of office buildings, banks and stores tends to pull higher priced residential
neighborhoods in the same general direction.
7) High rent neighborhoods continue to grow in the same direction for a long time.
8) Deluxe high rent apartment areas tend to gradually appear in older residential areas near
the business center (gentrification, downtown condos and high rent lofts).
9) Real estate developers may bend the direction of high grade residential growth, but they
cannot develop an area before its time or in another direction very easily.
Harris and Ullmans Multiple Nuclei Theory (1945; more advanced stage of urbanization):
Similar activities locate in the same area and create minicities within the larger city
Certain areas/activities tend to locate where they are most: effective, desirable and
financially feasible
tolerance in the city is more dependent upon levels of education and wealth and regional
differences in US
anonymity and privacy are important to city dwellers encouraging a live and let live
attitude
many bonds override anonymity, e.g. ethnic bonds, kinship, occupation, lifestyle, other
shared interests, with cities encouraging alternative types of relationships
peoples perceived needs for space are a learned behaviour not biological basis
urban pathology has other probable causes, e.g. poverty, unemployment, racial
discrimination
humans have a superior ability to adapt
relationship between stress and mental and physical pathology is dependent not so much
on the nature of the stress but on the individuals perception of it
there is a difference between public demeanour and private lives of city dwellers.
Political Economy
Term "political economy" refers to the interplay of political and economic forces in a
society
Political and economic forces are seen to be principal driving forces underlying urban
activity
See work of Henri Lefebvre, David Gordon, Michael Storper and David Walker, Manuel
Castells, David Harvey, Allen Scott
Social conflict between competing interest or status groups is a ubiquitous social process
1) Cities are situated in a hierarchical global system, and global linkages among cities help
define the structure of the world system
2) The world system is one of competitive capitalism
5) People and circumstances differ according to time and place, and these differences matter
The urban environment is built, destroyed, and rebuilt to allow for a more efficient
circulation of capital
a way to maintain social stability by satisfying the demand for individual homes
Allen Scott
Production process rather than circulation of capital was the most important process.
Real estate investors are primary "players" in the development of urban environment, but
also have bankers, developers, corporate officials
Cities are "growth machines" --growth and development/change are necessary for well
being of city.
Growth machine ideology influences local government to view cities not as places where
people live, work and have social relationships, but solely as a place where it is necessary
to create a good business climate
Increasing value of commercial property comes ahead of community values,
neighbourhood needs or a livable city.
1. Canadian cities are higher in density, which means they have less urban sprawl. It
is cheaper to provide services in compact cities, and commuting to work is far
easier. The core areas of Canadian cities are much healthier than those in the
United States. In many u.s. cities, residents have moved to the suburbs to avoid
crime, high taxes, and other inner-city problems.This has created what some
observers refer to as "doughnut cities", with poor central core areas that have no
industry, no job opportunities, poor schools, deteriorated housing, and no tax base
to help improve things. The strength of our urban core is a major reason Canadian
cities have a much lower crime rate.
2. Urban Canadians rely on public transit more than do Americans, though both
countries are far behind European cities in public transit use. Because of this our
cities are less divided by freeways than American urban areas.
3. Racial tension has been far less pronounced in Canada than in the United States,
where it has led to many problems including urban riots and "white flight" to the
suburbs. Ex: Studies show when an American neighbourhood reaches 7% black
residence, it induces white flight.
4. Canadian and U.S. public housing policies have been very different. With a few
exceptions, such as Toronto's Regent Park and Montreal's Jeanne Mance,
governments in Canada have not built large-scale, high-rise developments.
5. Public housing in Cnada has taken the form of small, infill projects in established
neighbourhoods. There are small housing developments typically consisting of
small apartment buildings or row housing.