1. 15 Population, Urbanization, and Environment
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2. Population, Urbanization, and Environment
Why should we worry about the rapid rate of global population increase?
How do city and rural living differ?
How is the condition of the natural environment a social issue?

3. Demography: The Study of Population
The study of human population
Fertility
The incidence of childbearing in a country’s population
Crude birth rate
The number of live births in a given year for every 1,000 people in a population

4. Demography: The Study of Population
Mortality
The incidence of death in a country’s population
Crude death rate
The number of deaths in a given year for every 1,000 people in a population

5. Demography: The Study of Population
Infant mortality rate
The number of deaths among infants under one year of age for each 1,000 live births in a given year
Life expectancy
The average life span of a country’s population

6. FIGURE 15–1 (a) Crude Birth Rates and Crude Death Rates, (b) Infant Mortality Rates, and (c) Life Expectancy around the World, 2009
By world standards, North America has a low birth rate, an average death rate, a very low infant mortality rate, and high life expectancy.
1 United States and Canada.
2 Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific Islands.
Source: Population Reference Bureau (2009).

7. Demography: The Study of Population
Migration
The movement of people into and out of a specified territory
Immigration
In-migration rate
Number of people entering an area for every 1,000 people in the population

8. Demography: The Study of Population
Migration (continued)
Emigration
Out-migration rate
The number of people leaving for every 1,000 people
Both types usually happen at once
Push-pull factors

9. Image Bank
NATIONAL MAP 15–1 Population Change across the United States
This map shows that since 2000, population has been moving from the heartland of the United States toward the coasts. What do you think is causing this internal migration? What categories of people do you think remain in counties that are losing population?
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2009).

10. Population Growth Affected by fertility, mortality, and migration
Population growth of U.S. and other high-income nations is well below world average
Highest growth region is Africa
Troubling because these countries can barely support existing populations

11. Image Bank GLOBAL MAP 15–1 Population Growth in Global Perspective
The richest countries of the world—including the United States, Canada, and the nations of Europe—have growth rates below 1 percent. The nations of Latin America and Asia typically have growth rates around 1.5 percent, a rate that doubles a population in forty-seven years. Africa has an overall growth rate of 2.4 percent (despite only small increases in countries with a high rate of AIDS), which cuts the doubling time to twenty-nine years. In global perspective, we see that a society’s standard of living is closely related to its rate of population growth: Population is rising fastest in the world regions that can least afford to support more people.
Source: Population Reference Bureau (2009).

12. Population Composition
Sex ratio
The number of males for every 100 females in a nation’s population
Age-sex pyramid
A graphic representation of the age and sex of a population
Lower-income nations are wide at the bottom

13. Image Bank
FIGURE 15–2 Age-Sex Population Pyramids for the United States and Mexico, 2010
By looking at the shape of a country’s population pyramid, you can tell its level of economic development and predict future levels of population increase.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2010).

14. History and Theory of Population Growth
Malthusian theory
Rapid population increase would lead to social chaos
Geometric progression of population
Doubling of population (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.)
Arithmetic progression of food production
Limited farmland (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.)

15. History and Theory of Population Growth
Malthusian theory (continued)
Reproduction beyond what the planet could feed
Birth control and sex abstention might change prediction

16. History and Theory of Population Growth
CRITICAL REVIEW
Prediction flawed
Birth rate began to drop with industrialization
Underestimated human ingenuity
Ignored the role of social inequality in world abundance and famine
Lesson:
Habitable land, clean water, fresh air are limited resources

17. History and Theory of Population Growth
Demographic transition theory
Links population patterns to a society’s level of technological development
What are the four stages of demographic transition theory?
Stage 1 – Pre-industrial agrarian societies
High birth rate, high death rate

18. History and Theory of Population Growth
Demographic transition theory (continued)
Stage 2 – Industrialization
Death rate falls, birth rates remain high
Stage 3 – Mature industrial economy
Birth rate drops, death rate drops
Stage 4 – Postindustrial economy
Demographic transition complete
Low-birth rate, steady death rate
Japan, Europe, and the U.S.

19. Image Bank FIGURE 15–3 Demographic Transition Theory
Demographic transition theory links population change to a society’s level of technological development.

20. History and Theory of Population Growth
CRITICAL REVIEW
Linked to modernization theory
Optimism that poor countries will solve their population problems as they industrialize
Dependency theorists
Unless there is redistribution of global resources...
Division into affluent enjoying low population growth
Poor struggling to feed more and more people

21. Global Population Today: A Brief Survey
The low-growth north
Zero population growth
The level of reproduction that maintains population at a steady level

22. Global Population Today: A Brief Survey
The low-growth north (continued)
What factors repress population?
High proportion of men and women in labor force
Rising costs of raising children
Trends toward later marriage
Singlehood
Wide use of contraceptives
Concern for under-population

23. Global Population Today: A Brief Survey
High-growth south
Population is critical problem in poor southern-hemisphere nations
Advanced medical technology provided by rich nations has lowered death rate
Poor societies account for 2/3 of world’s population
To limit population increase births must be controlled as successfully as death
With global population increasing, would you support a one-child policy? Why or why not?

24. Urbanization: The Growth of Cities
The concentration of population into cities
The first cities
First urban revolution
Preindustrial European cities
Industrial European cities
Second urban revolution

25. The Growth of U.S. Cities Colonial settlements, 1565-1800
Urban expansion,
The metropolitan era,
Metropolis
A large city that socially and economically dominates an urban area

26. The Growth of U.S. Cities Urban decentralization, 1950-present
Occurred as people left downtown areas for outlying suburbs
Urban areas beyond the political boundaries of a city

27. Image Bank

28. Suburbs and Urban Decline
Loss of higher-income taxpayers to suburbs
Cities struggled to pay for expensive social programs for the poor
Cities fell into crisis leading to inner-city decay
Decline in the importance of public space
Spread of TV, internet, and other media people can use without leaving home

29. Image Bank Population Profile for the 100 Largest U.S. Cities, 2000
Racial and ethnic minorities make up a majority of the population of this country’s 100 largest cities.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2001).

30. Postindustrial Sun Belt Cities and Sprawl
60% of U.S. population lives in sunbelt cities
Los Angeles, Houston
What are some of the drawbacks of urban sprawl?
Growth follows no plan
Traffic congestion
Poorly planned housing developments
Overcrowded schools

31. Megalopolis: The Regional City
A vast urban region containing a number of cities and their surrounding suburbs
Metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)
One city with 50,000 or more people
Micropolitan statistical areas
Urban areas with at least one city with 10,000 to 50,000 people

32. Megalopolis: The Regional City
Megalopolis (continued)
Core-based statistical areas (CBSAs)
Include metropolitan and micropolitan areas
New York and adjacent urban areas

33. Megalopolis: The Regional City
Edge Cities
Business centers some distance from the old downtowns
No clear physical boundaries

34. Megalopolis: The Regional City
The rural rebound
3/4 of rural communities across the U.S. gained population
Scenic and recreational attractions
Companies relocating to rural communities
Increased economic opportunities for rural populations

35. Urbanism as a Way of Life
Gemeinschaft
A type of social organization in which people are closely tied by kinship and tradition
Gesellschaft
A type of social organization in which people come together only on the basis of individual self-interest
Motivated by own needs rather than desire to help improve the well-being of everyone

36. Urbanism as a Way of Life
How might Tonnies explain social patterns such as our high rate of divorce, widespread fear of crime, and incidents of “road rage” on the highways?

37. Mechanical and Organic Solidarity
Emile Durkheim
Mechanical solidarity
Social bonds based on common sentiments and shared moral values
Similar to Gemeinschaft
Organic solidarity
Social bonds based on specialization and interdependence
Similar to Gesellschaft

38. The Blasé Urbanite Georg Simmel
Tuning out much of what goes on around one
City dwellers keep distance as a survival strategy
How would Simmel explain cases of people turning away from others in need of the grounds that they simply “don’t want to get involved”?

39. The Chicago School: Robert Park and Louis Wirth
City is a living organism – a human kaleidoscope
Define the city as a setting with a large, dense, and socially diverse population
City dwellers know others not in terms of
Who they are but what they do
Impersonal nature of urban relationships with greater diversity makes city dwellers more tolerant than rural villagers

40. The Chicago School: Robert Park and Louis Wirth
CRITICAL REVIEW
Overlook the effects of class, race, and gender
Many kinds of urbanites
Of the urban sociologists presented, which were more positive about urban life? Which were more negative? In each case, explain why.

41. Urban Ecology
The study of the link between the physical and social dimensions of cities
Concentric zones
Wedge-shaped sectors
Multicentered model

42. Urban Ecology Social area analysis
Households with fewer children cluster towards city’s center
Social class differences are responsible for sector-shaped districts
Racial and ethnic neighborhoods consistent with multi-centered model

43. Urban Political Economy
Urban political-economy model
Applies Marx’s analysis of conflict in the workplace to conflict in the city
Political economists reject ecological approach of city as a natural organism
See city life as defined by people with power

44. Urban Political Economy
CRITICAL REVIEW
Focus on U.S. cities during a limited period of history
Unlikely any single model can account for full range of urban diversity

45. Urbanization in Poor Nations
Two revolutionary expansion of cities in world history
First began about 8000 B.C.E.
Second began in 1750 and lasted two centuries

46. Urbanization in Poor Nations
Third urban revolution is under way
Result of many poor nations entering high-growth stage 2 of demographic transitions theory
Cities offer more opportunities than rural areas
Provide no quick fix for problems of escalating population and grinding poverty

47. Environment and Society
Ecology
The study of the interaction of living organisms and the natural environment
Natural environment
Earth’s surface and atmosphere, including living organisms, air, water, soil, and other resources necessary to sustain life
Why do you think that sociologists are interested in the environment?

48. The Global Dimension Ecosystem
A system composed of the interaction of all living organisms and their natural environment
Why must the natural environment be studied with a global perspective?
Change in any part of the natural environment affects the entire global ecosystem
The ecological viewpoint of the hamburger

49. Technology and the Environmental Deficit
I=PAT
Environmental impact (I) reflects a society’s population (P), its level of affluence (A), and its level of technology (T).
Societies at intermediate stages of sociocultural evolution have somewhat greater capacity to affect the environment

50. Technology and the Environmental Deficit
Environmental impact of industrial technology goes beyond energy consumption
Environmental Deficit
Profound long-term harm to the natural environment caused by humanity’s focus on short-term material affluence

51. Technology and the Environmental Deficit
Environmental concerns are sociological
Environmental damage to air, land, or water is unintended
Environmental deficit is reversible
Societies create environmental problems
Societies can undo many of them
Do you think that environmental study should be a part of the curriculum of every school in the country? Why or why not?

52. Culture: Growth and Limits
The logic of growth
Material comfort, progress, science
Holds that more powerful technology has improved lives and new discoveries will continue to do so in the future
Progress can lead to unexpected problems
Strain on the environment

53. Culture: Growth and Limits
Environmentalists
Logic of growth flawed
Assumes natural resources will always be plentiful
Can you identify ways in which the mass media and our popular culture encourage people to support the logic of growth?

54. Culture: Growth and Limits
The limits of growth
Cannot invent our way out of the problems created by growth
Growth must have limits
Humanity must enact policies to control population increase, pollution, and use of resources to avoid environmental collapse

55. Culture: Growth and Limits
Shares Malthus’s pessimism about the future
What policies would you propose to control the threat of population growth?

56. Solid Waste: The Disposable Society
Do you think having more, in a materialistic sense, is the path to personal happiness?
The U.S. has a disposable society
Consumes more products than virtually any other nation on earth
Countless items are designed to be disposable

57. Solid Waste: The Disposable Society
The U.S. has a disposable society (continued)
Wealthy society consumes hundreds of times more energy, plastics, lumber, and other resources
80% never goes away
Ends up in landfills
Can pollute groundwater
Recycling – reuse of resources

58. Image Bank FIGURE 15–4 Composition of Community Trash
We throw away a wide range of material, with paper the single largest part of our trash.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2009).

59. Solid Waste: The Disposable Society
Water and air
Hydrologic cycle
Planet naturally recycles water and refreshes the land
Two major concerns
Supply and pollution

60. Solid Waste: The Disposable Society
Water supply
1% is suitable for drinking
Water rights prominent in laws around the world
Rising population and development greatly increase world’s needs for water
Water is a valuable and finite resource

61. Solid Waste: The Disposable Society
Do you think that water needs for future generations are ensured? What will we do if the answer turns out to be no?

62. Solid Waste: The Disposable Society
Water pollution
In large cities, people have no choice but to drink contaminated water
Quality in U.S. good by global standards
Special problem is acid rain
Rain made acidic by air pollution that destroys plant and animal life
Global phenomenon
Regions that suffer might be thousands of miles from source of the pollution

63. Solid Waste: The Disposable Society
Air pollution
Americans more aware of air pollution than contaminated water
Air quality improved in the final decades of the 20th century
Wealthy nations passed laws banning high-pollution heating

64. Solid Waste: The Disposable Society
Air pollution (continued)
Why is air pollution such a serious problem in poor nations? Should the U.S. be concerned? And if so, what should be done?
Reliance on coal, wood, peat, or other “dirty” fuels for heating

65. Rain Forests
Regions of dense forestation, most of which circle the globe close to the equator
Largest in south America, west-central Africa, and southeast Asia
7% of Earth’s total land surface

66. Rain Forests Losing rainforests to hardwood trade
How do rich nations contribute to the destruction of the rain forests?
Love parquet floors, fine furniture, fancy paneling, weekend yachts, and high-grade coffins
No rainforests – no protection of Earth’s biodiversity and climate

67. Global Warming
A rise in Earth’s average temperature due to an increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Carbon dioxide increasing while amount of plant life on Earth is shrinking
Rainforests being destroyed by burning

68. Global Warming
Global warming is a problem that threatens the future for all
Have you experienced changes in your own world resulting from global warming? Explain.

69. Declining Biodiversity
Clearing rainforests reduces earth’s biodiversity
Rainforests home to almost half of planet’s living species

70. Declining Biodiversity
Why should we be concerned about the destruction of the rainforests?
Biodiversity provides a varied source of human food
Biodiversity is a vital genetic resource used by medical and pharmaceutical researchers
Beauty and complexity of natural environment are diminished
Extinction of any species is irreversible and final

71. Environmental Racism
Patterns that make environmental hazards greatest for poor people, especially minorities
Where do the people who own the factories live in relationship to the factories? Where do the people who work in the factories live in relationship to the factories? What accounts for this pattern?

72. Environmental Racism
Factories that spew pollution stood near neighborhoods housing poor and people of color
Poor drawn to factories for work
Low incomes led to affordable housing in undesirable neighborhoods

73. Toward a Sustainable Society and World
Ecologically sustainable culture
A way of life that meets the needs of the present generation without threatening the environmental legacy of future generations
Three strategies
Bring population growth under control
Conserve finite resources
Reduce waste

74. Sources: Brown (1995), Simon (1995), Scanlon (2001), and Smail (2007).

75. Toward a Sustainable Society and World
Dinosaurs dominated for 160 million years
Humanity is far younger
250,000 years
Compared to dinosaurs, humans have the great gift of intelligence
What are the chances that humans will continue to flourish 160 million years or even 1,000 years from now?

76. Toward a Sustainable Society and World
Make five predictions about the state of the world population and also the state of the planet’s environment fifty years from now. Are you optimistic or pessimistic?