Chapter 19 Urbanization Key Terms

 Urban society A society in which the majority of people do not live in rural areas.  Urban place According to the U.S. Census, a community having at least 2,500 inhabitants, the majority of whom do not farm.

 City According to the U.S. Census, a community having at least 50,000 inhabitants.  Suburb An urban place in the immediate vicinity of a city.

 Metropolis A city and its sphere of influence.  Sphere of influence (of a city) The area whose inhabitants depend on a city for jobs, recreation, newspapers, television, and a sense of community.

 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) According to the U.S. Census, a central city (with at least 50,000 residents) and all surrounding counties where 75% of the labor force is not in agriculture and where either 15% of the workers commute to the city or 25% of the workers commute from the city.

 Fixed-rail metropolis A city whose form and size are determined by the routes of rail systems (trains and trolleys).  Freeway metropolis A city that developed after the widespread use of autos and trucks freed city structures from rail dependence.

 Theory of ethnic succession Theory stating that ethnic and racial groups will be the targets of neighborhood segregation only until they achieve economic parity and that slum neighborhoods will therefore house a succession of ethnic and racial groups.

 Index of dissimilarity A measure of the degree to which a given ethnic or racial group lives in integrated or segregated neighborhoods; it compares the ethnic makeup of city blocks with the ethnic makeup of the city as a whole.

 Gemeinschaft A German word meaning “community” and used to describe the intimacy of life in small villages.  Gesellschaf A German word meaning “society” or “association” and used to describe the impersonality of life in cities.

 Anomie A state in which norms lack definition and force, that is, in which people aren’t sure what the norms are and don’t greatly care.