McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 1 SOCIOLOGY Richard T. Schaefer Communities and Urbanization 20

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide Communities and Urbanization How Did Communities Originate? Urbanization Types of Communities Social Policy and Communities

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 3 How Did Communities Originate? Early Communities –Dependent on the physical environment for food supply –Horticultural societies led to dramatic changes in human social organization No longer necessary to move in search of food Stable communities helped establish food surpluses

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 4 How Did Communities Originate? Table Comparing Types of Cities Sources: Based on E. Philips 1996:132—135; Sjoberg 1960:323—328

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 5 Urbanization Preindustrial Cities –Had only a few thousand people living within their borders –Characterized by relatively closed class systems and limited social mobility Status usually based on ascribed characteristics, and education was limited to elite

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 6 Urbanization Preindustrial Cities –Remained small due to: Reliance on animal power Modest levels of surplus Problems in transportation and storage of food Hardships of migration to the city Dangers of city life

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 7 Urbanization Industrial and Postindustrial Cities –Industrial City: More populous and complex than predecessors –Postindustrial City: Global finance and electronic flow of information dominate the economy –Urbanism: relatively large and permanent settlement leads to distinctive patterns of behavior

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 8 Urbanization Urbanization has become central aspect of life in the U.S. –During 19th and early 20th centuries, rapid urbanization occurred in European and North American cities –Since WW II, urban “explosion” hit world’s developing countries Megalopolis: metropolitan areas that spread so far that they connect with other urban centers

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 9 Urbanization Functionalist View: Urban Ecology –Human Ecology: interrelationships between people and their spatial settings and physical environments –Urban Ecology: focuses on relationships as they emerge in urban areas

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 10 Urbanization –Multiple-nuclei theory: all urban growth does not radiate out from a central district Functionalist View: Urban Ecology –Concentric-zone Theory: center, or nucleus, of a city is the most highly valued land and each succeeding zone surrounding the center contains other types of land which are valued differently

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 11 Urbanization Conflict View: New Urban Sociology –New urban sociology: considers interplay of local, national, and worldwide forces and their effects on local space –World Systems Analysis: certain industrialized nations hold dominant position at core of global economic system

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12 Urbanization Figure Global Urbanization 3025 (projected) Sources: National Geographic Atlas of the World, 8 th ed. (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society) 2005 pp

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 13 Urbanization Figure Comparison of Ecological Theories of Urban Growth Source: Harris and Ulmann 1945:13

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 14 Need to add people who live in naturally occurring retirement communities –Urban Dwellers Gans distinguishes 5 types found in cities: –cosmopolites –unmarried and childless people –ethnic villagers –the deprived –the trapped Types of Communities Central Cities Defended neighborhood: people’s definitions of their community boundaries

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 15 Types of Communities Central Cities –Issues Facing Cities Crime Pollution Schools Inadequate transportation

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 16 Types of Communities Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Helps communities recognize human resources they might overlook –Leaders, policymakers, and advocates identify a community’s strengths and then seek to mobilize those assets

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 17 Types of Communities Suburbs –Any community near a large city –Three social factors differentiate suburbs from cities Less dense than cities Private space More exacting building codes

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 18 Types of Communities Suburbs –Suburban Expansion Suburbanization most dramatic population trend in U.S. during 20th century –Diversity in the suburbs The suburbs contain a significant number of low-income people from all backgrounds

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 19 Types of Communities Rural Communities –One-fourth of the population lives in towns of 2,500 people or less that are not adjacent to a city –Agriculture only accounts for 9% of employment in non-urban counties

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 20 Social Policy and Communities Seeking Shelter Worldwide –The Issue For many people worldwide, housing problem consists of merely finding shelter they can afford What can be done to ensure adequate housing for those who can’t afford it?

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 21 Social Policy and Communities Seeking Shelter Worldwide –The Setting Homelessness evident in industrialized and developing countries By 1998, in urban areas alone, 600 million people around the world were either homeless or inadequately housed

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 22 Social Policy and Communities Seeking Shelter Worldwide –Sociological Insights Homelessness functions as a master status –Homeless are outside of society Homeless women often have additional problems that distinguish them from homeless men Sociologists attribute homelessness in developing nations to income inequality and population growth

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 23 Social Policy and Communities Seeking Shelter Worldwide –Policy Initiatives Policymakers mostly content to direct homeless to large, overcrowded, unhealthy shelters Homeless people are not getting the shelter they need Lack the political clout to get the attention of policymakers