The Urban World, 9th Ed. J. John Palen

Chapter 7: Urban Culture and Lifestyles Introduction Social Psychology of Urban Life Reevaluations of Urbanism and Social Disorganization Characteristics of Urban Populations Urban Lifestyles A Final Note of Caution Summary

Introduction Move to the consideration of the city as a unique social organizational form and social milieu Urbanism rather than urbanization Understanding the influences of the beliefs and myths about city, suburban, and rural life

Social Psychology of Urban Life Early Formulations Tönnies’s description of the shift from gemeinschaft (a community where ties are based upon kinship) to gesellschaft (a society based on common economic, political, and other interests) Karl Marx’s dichotomy between the urban and the rural In all frameworks, the rural represents the past

“Urbanism as a Way of Life” The Chicago School Concerned with examining scientifically the changes produced by urbanization Influenced by Georg Simmel’s earlier vision of the social-psychological consequences of city life “Urbanism as a Way of Life” Louis Wirth argued that the city created a distinct way of life—called “urbanism”—that is reflected in how people dress and speak, what they believe about the social world, what they consider worth achieving, what they do for a living, where they live, with whom they associate, and why they interact with other people

Reevaluations of Urbanism and Social Disorganization Determinist Theory Wirthian social disorganization, which included decline of family and weakening of bonds, breakdown of primary groups, and decline of cultural homogeneity Community Lost: urbanization is said to more or less automatically produce the characteristics of urbanism as a way of life Compositional Theory Gans suggests that the city is composed of not just one urban way of life but rather a wide variety of lifestyles The nature of the individual’s local community and primary groups are most important

Subcultural Theory Claude Fischer argues that space does matter, and there is something different about cities Urbanization strengthens and intensifies subcultural groups Being middle class in a small town is not the same as being middle class in a city Size does matter

Characteristics of Urban Populations Age Urban population is younger than rural because they attract immigrants Cities have more activities for young adults Gender Less-developed countries have a higher proportion of urban males Developed countries there is a higher likelihood that single women will leave rural areas for city jobs

Race, Ethnicity, and Religion Cities more heterogeneous than small towns Raises the potential of intergroup cleavage, competition, and conflict More likely when represented by socioeconomic status boundaries Socioeconomic Status North American cities have been losing middle-class residents since World War II Overall city income averages tend to hide sharp individual and neighborhood variations in socioeconomic status

Urban Lifestyles Cosmopolites Unmarried or Childless Gay Households Urban sophisticates, most often having incomes to match their lifestyles Unmarried or Childless Overlap with the cosmopolites; younger and apartment dwellers Brains have replaced money and accomplishment trumps religion and wealth Gay Households Estimated to be some 8.8 million gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons in the United States According to the U.S. census, gay male households are more likely to live in downtown gay neighborhoods, while lesbians more commonly reside in suburban areas

Neighborhood Characteristics Ethnic Villagers Residents in neighborhoods dominated by a single ethnic group often called “urban villagers” or “urban provincials” Often mislabeled as slums Neighborhood Characteristics Territoriality: strong sense of territory Ordered Segmentation: each ethnic group carefully and specifically defines its territory Peer-Group Orientation: a group made up of members of the same age and sex who are at the same stage of the lifecycle Family Norms: Family life in middle-class families is child-oriented, but in settled, ethnic, working-class areas family life is generally adult-oriented

Deprived or Trapped Housing: not primarily viewed as a status symbol Imagery and Vulnerability: psychological distance from the city; they are “in” but not “of” the city Vulnerable to change induced from the outside Deprived or Trapped For the 15 to 20 percent of the population who are the bottom, the slum has the character more of an urban jungle than an urban village Most of the residents of unstable slums are for all practical purposes excluded from the economic and social life of the larger society Housing Problems

A Final Note of Caution Urbanism as a way of life is remarkably diverse There is no single urban lifestyle per se It is important to distinguish between the different urban lifestyles