Chapter 1,2,367488499_7476-4--4(484(4(+4+4+

Teaching material

1. Urban sociology By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

2. Urban sociology  is the  sociological  study of life and human interaction in  metropolitan areas . It is a  normative  discipline of sociology seeking to study the structures, environmental processes, changes and problems of an  urban area  and by doing so provide inputs for  urban planning  and policy making. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

3. In other words, it is the sociological study of cities and their role in the development of society. Urban sociology is one of the oldest sub-disciplines of sociology dating back to the mid- nineteenth century. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

4. The philosophical foundations of modern urban sociology originate from the work of sociologists such as  Karl Marx ,  Ferdinand Tönnies ,   Émile Durkheim ,  Max Weber  and  Georg Simmel  who studied and theorized the economic, social and cultural processes of  urbanization  and its effects on  social alienation , class formation, and the production or destruction of collective and individual identities. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

5. The subject matter of urban sociology Urban sociology is a branch of sociology that deals with the impact of city life on social action, social relations, social institutions, and the types of civilization derived from and based on urban mode of life. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

6. Urban sociology examines a great deal of issues including :   1. Understanding and explaining the socio-cultural and behavioral peculiarities of urban residents and the urban community. The value, sentiments, desires etc. Of urban communities in contrast to that of the rural characteristics By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

7. 2. Ecological organization and socio-geographic differentiation of cities, spatial distribution and structure of cities, interrelationships and interactions among the different socio-geographic regions (suburbs, slums). By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

8. 3. Social and cultural changes in the organizational structure and functioning of the different sub areas of the city. Causes and consequences of social change. Reactions to the process of social change including maladjustment, conflict, harmony, etc among the different urban groups. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

9. 4. History of urbanization to provide perspectives and comparative materials on earlier urbanization. 5. Explanation of urban demographic characteristics including population size distribution etc. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

10. 6. The nature of and solutions to urban social vices such as crime, delinquency, drugabuse , pollution, conjestion , housing, unemployment etc. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

11. Urban sociology draws upon information from different sources and disciplines such as education, health , courts , police , etc. economics, public administration, social psychology, history , etc. Sociologists are interested in urbanization because the urban mode of life is becoming more and more dominant. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

12. Illustration Percentage of world population living in places of 5000 and more population Year % of urban population 1800 3 % 1900 14% 1950 28 % 1980 45% 2000 55 % 2025 64 % By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

13. Before the industrial revolution, the proportion of the rural population was very large while after the industrial revolution the urban population has been in a radical increase. It is estimated that by the year 2025 about 64% of the world population would be urbanite. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

14. According to kingsely davis the reasons why sociologists are interested in urban phenomenon include : 1. Urban mode of life is recent phenomenon in the history of mankind. 2. Urbanization has brought revolutionary changes in the whole pattern of social life. It tends to affect every aspect of Human life, social institutions, production systems, Transportation etc. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

15. 3. Urban centers tend to be centers of power and influence throughout the whole society. The most important economic activities (trade, communication, administration etc ) are concentrated in urban areas. Cities are centers of political power and residence of emperor’s and presidents(governors) 4. The process of urbanization is still occurring and its direction is uncertain. There are many problems associated with urbanization. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

16. Definition and measurement of concepts Urban settlement : defining the concept urban settlement is not an easy task. There is no single definition to which everybody agrees. Thus, different approaches have been developed to define the concept “urban settlement” - Economic - Demographic - Political/administrative/legal - Cultural/social relations - Multiple factors definition By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

17. Demographic definition : focuses on statistical considerations. According to this approach, urban settlements are those settlements that have certain number of population. This certain number varies from country to country. Botswana ≥ 5000 Ethiopia ≥2000 USA ≥ 2500 Peru ≥100 Canada ≥1000 Japan ≥50,000 Denmark ≥250 By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

18. Administrative definition (legal): A place is said to be an urban settlement through declaration (charter granting) by authorities. Economic definition : focuses on occupation. Accordingly an urban settlement is where the majority of the inhabitants area engaged in other than agriculture like trade, Industry. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

19. It does not mean that the total absence of agricultural activities. It’s to mean that agriculture is not dominant . Social relation definition : defines urban as a locality which has become large and the inhabitants do not know another. There is greater face to face contact but the chance of people to know each other is low. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

20. Multiple factors definition : since no single definition gives us sufficient meanings for urban settlement, several factors have to be considered. In this regard, Alvin Boskoff defines an urban locality as” a community or complex of communities characterized by dominance of commercial , industrial and service occupations, and extensive e division of labor and corresponding social complexity; an accompanying high density of population and the development of coordination and social control on non-kinship basis . By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

21. This definition is probably the most comprehensive one. In order to avoid confusion, the UN has tried to develop its own definition particularly for the purpose of international comparison. This definition is based on demographic factors. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

22. The UN has identified 3 categories of urban settlements: big city=has at least 0.5 million population city=has at least 100,000 population urban locality=has at least 20,000 population By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

23. We can think of an urban settlement as being composed of three functionally interrelated and distinct parts. cities suburbs Exurbs Suburbs are settlements which develop around the city . By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

24. Exurbs are recent phenomena which came after suburbanization. Exurbs refer to those settlements beyond the suburbs. Such communities are found within 50 to 80 kms . Away from the city center. Exurbs are part of the urban pattern since their inhabitants have the same lifestyle to the residents of the city. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

25. They work in the city or in adjacent suburbs. Exurbs are particularly common experience of developed countries. The spread of exurbs is very much connected with private vehicles and advanced road facilities. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

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34. CHAPTER TWO Characteristics of urban and urbanization By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

35. Urbanization Urbanization is the process of population concentration in urban areas. It involves the movement of people particularly from rural areas to urban areas. There are two simple measures of urbanization: level of urbanization growth Rate of urbanization By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

36. Level of urbanization = urban population =ratio Rural population or Level of urbanization = urban population x 100 =% Rural population Rate of urbanization = current year urban population – Previous year population Previous year population By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

37. Ru = cyup-pyup x100 Pyup By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

38. Sociologists see urbanization as resulting from three interrelated factors Significant increase in the population of a given geographic area. The corresponding increase in social density resulting from the population increase. The increasing heterogeneity of people as more and more diverse people is drawn to the grown urban settlement. From these three factors arise a number of organizational consequences the most important of which is the social division of labor in economic activities.   By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

39. Urbanism: Urbanism refers to the cultural component associated with urbanization. It includes a range of beliefs, values and rules of behavior which are assumed to be associated with urbanization. Urbanism reflects the patterns of culture and social interaction resulting from the concentration of large population in a relatively small geographic area. It refers to an organization of society (community) in terms of a complex division of labor, high level of technology and social mobility (Lewis wirth ) By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

40. rural urban differences: We can have at least eight characteristics in which the urban settlement varies from rural settlement Occupation Environment Community size Density of population Heterogeneity and homogeneity Social differentiation and stratification Social mobility System of interaction By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

41. Occupation : There is substantial difference between rural and urban areas with respect to occupation, Agricultural occupations dominate in rural areas and non agricultural activities dominate in urban areas. One way of distinguishing urban areas from rural areas is by looking at the occupational pattern. Occupation seems to be the most. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

42. Environment: In rural areas the influence of man on nature is very limited, and natural environmental features predominate. In urban areas the environment is more of artificial or changed. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

43. Community size: In rural areas people live in small villages, communities, and the urban communities are large and complex. Density of population: In rural areas there is sparse population settlement while in urban areas the settlement pattern is dense. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

44. Heterogeneity and homogeneity of population: The population of urban areas is highly heterogeneous and that of rural areas homogeneous. In urban areas different people come from different sociocultural and economic experiences( culture,language,ethnicity,religion,custom,etc .) in rural areas villagers have similar life styles dominated by kinship ties. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

45. Social differentiation and stratification: There is extensive division of labor in urban areas and as a result a variety of specializations and professions exist. In rural areas the job opportunities are limited and so there is no wider gap between incomes groups. The level of stratification is low in rural areas. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

46. Social mobility: Social mobility is the movement of people from one social class to another. In urban areas social mobility is open while in rural communities it is not open to everybody. In rural communities there is no free movement of individuals in the social strata. But one can upgrade his social status through achievement in education, training or work if he is an urbanite. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

47. system of interaction In rural areas primary forms of interaction dominate while in urban areas secondary/formal/interaction prevails more. Occupation seems to be the most important characteristic distinguishing urban from rural settlements. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

48. Characteristics of Urban and Urbanization The urban society is heterogeneous known for its diversity and complexity. It is dominated by secondary relations. Formal means of social control such as law, legislation, police, and court are needed in addition to the informal means for regulating the behavior of the people. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

49. The urban society is mobile and open. It provides more chances for social mobility. The status is achieved than ascribed. Occupations are more specialized. There is widespread division of labor and specialization opportunities for pursuing occupations are numerous. Family is said to be unstable . More than the family individual is given importance. Joint families are comparatively less in number. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

50. People are more class -conscious and progressive . They welcome changes. They are exposed to the modern developments in the fields of science and technology. Urban community is a complex multi-group society. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

51. The urban community replaced consensus by dissensus . The social organization is atomistic and ill-defined. It is characterized by disorganization, mental illness and anomie. Mass education is widespread in the city increasing democratization of the organizations and institutions demand formal education By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

52. period time mode of life Paleolithic (old stone age) before 10,000years nomadic Neolithic (new stone age) 8 to 10,00 years the beginning of settlement or Neolithic villages metal age (4 th millennium) 3500BCago emergence of early urban settlements as Ur,Thebes , Babilon etc early Christian period 600Bc to 400AD establishment of famous cities- greeko - roman cities ( Athens,cartage,Rome ) middle ages b/n4th to 16 th c establishment of preindustrial cities- cities of feudal Europe( Florence,Venice , London,Frankfurt,etc .) modern period b/n 18 and 20 th c industrial revolution occurred. Industrial and commercial life style flourished( eg . London, paris , berlin etc.) growth of metropolitan cities, megapolis By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

53. settlement patterns and the birth of cities During the Old Stone Age, human beings led nomadic life. People were primarily food gatherers and hunters. The limited supply of wild food permitted only very small number of regions to exist in a given area. With the Neolithic period man discovered, among other things, how to domesticate plants and animals. This was a remarkable change in human mode of life. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

54. Once he adopted agriculture he had to live near the farm. It is at this time that settlement began. These villages were initially small due to the low productivity of agriculture. The first cities seem to have appeared during the metal age. There is no agreement on the exact time when early urban settlements emerged. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

55. Sociologists are interested more on the factors which are responsible for the emergence of early urban settlements rather than in determining the exact time of urban emergence. Different explanations have been given for the emergence of early urban settlements. For our purpose, we will consider three approaches Philip M. Hauser Gidion sjoberg Margaret Murray By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

56. Philip M. Hauser Philip M. Hauser identified four preconditions for the emergence of urban settlements the size of the total population the control of natural environment technological development developments in social organization By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

57. There must be a certain minimum number of populations to allow urban life. The environment must be amenable in the sense that it meets at least minimal requirements for aggregative living. The earliest cities were located in river valleys and alluvial plains. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

58. Technological development: He argues that technological inventions of the Neolithic revolution, particularly the domestication of plants and animals were an important factor for the emergence of permanent settlement. For the emergence of urban settlements, development of agricultural technology had a great importance. With the development of agricultural technology, surplus food production becomes possible. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

59. Development in social organization: A relatively large aggregate of population required more complex social organization to facilitate exchange among the emerging specialists (agriculturalists and non-agriculturalists). Integration and coordination activities required the emergence of kinship systems, clergy and empires. With the agricultural revolution, peasantry life become habitual and the reliability of food supply was ensured. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

60. This in turn led to population pressure and the growth of villages in to urban centers. Social division of labor began to develop. These developments required complex social organization to facilitate exchange and relationships among the different specialists. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

61. Gideon Sjoberg Identified three preconditions for the emergence of cities, which are similar with the conditions proposed by Philip M.hauser . favorable ecological base an advanced technology complex social organization By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

62. Both scholars mentioned technological development as the criteria for the emergence and growth of towns. Hence in many cases, level of urbanization is considered as a proxy for development. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

63. But there are many countries that are highly urbanized and yet not developed. For example Saudi Arabia and Latin American countries that are highly urbanized even more than USA but they are by far less developed than USA. Further more, since there is no a uniform definition of urban settlement, level of urbanization is not the same across different countries for example,30% level of urbanization in Ethiopia may not be the same with 30% level of urbanization in Egypt. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

64. Margaret Murray: She argues that the first city occurred during the metal age. The introduction of metallurgy had significant consequences. She points that the users of metal arms had military superiority over the users of crude stone weapons. Neolithic peasants who do not know how to make weapons from metals were victims to invaders armed with metal arms. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

65. The conquerors become lords and the victims become serfs. The lords selected islands and hilltops as their settlement places in order to dominate the hinterland and facilitate both attack and defense. The warrior groups provided protection to the peasants and in return, they took part of the crop produced by the peasants. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

66. The portion of crops to be given was fixed by the warrior groups since the peasants were helpless in such matters. It is postulated that the first cities were permanent army camps (garrisons) By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

67. Distinct Phases of Urbanization   We can identify three phases of urbanization: 1. Pre industrial cities 2. Industrial and modern cities 3. Post industrial cities By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

68. Preindustrial Cities   The preindustrial cities can further be divided in to three phases: the ancient, Greco-roman and medieval cities By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

69. A. Ancient Cities   It is estimated that, beginning about 10, 000 B.C., permanent settlements free from dependence on crop cultivation emerged. The world’s first cities appeared about 3500 B.C, in the river valleys of the Nile in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates in what is now Iraq, and the Indus in what is today Pakistan. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

70. The pre-industrial city, as it is termed, generally had only a few thousand people living within its borders The pre-industrial city was characterized by a relatively closed class system and Limited mobility. Status in these early cities was usually based on ascribed characteristics such as family background and education was limited to members of the elite. All the residents relied on farmers and their own part-time farming to provide them with the needed agricultural surplus. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

71. Cities in traditional societies were very small by modern standards. Kingsley Davis provides the following explanation as to why ancient cities were small. Reliance on animal power (both humans and beasts of burden) as a source of energy for economic production. Modest level of surplus produced by the agricultural sector Problems in transportation and storage of food and other goods. Political limitations By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

72. Hardships of migration to the city. Dangers of city life. Lack of scientific medicine which make urban living deadly. The absence of large scale manufacturing. The bureaucratic control of the peasantry which stifled free trade in hinterland. The traditionalism and religiosity of all classes which hampered technological and economic advance. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

73. B. The Greco-Roman Cities   The second phase in the history of urban centers was observed in Europe. This took place approximately between 600BC and 400AD. Roughly it covered about 1000 years. For instance, Athens had a population of about 120 to 180 thousand inhabitants during the 5 th century BC. The economy of Greco-roman cities was agricultural. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

74. Major stimulating factors for the development of urban center were: Improvements in iron tools and weapons Improvements in sail boats, better and bigger ships were produced Production of cheap coins to facilitate exchange of goods and services. Heavy and perishable exchange materials were replaced by coins. The development of alphabetic writing: pictorial writing systems were replaced by alphabetic writing and this had facilitated communication. Emergence of more democratic institutions. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

75. All of the above factors helped to increase production, stimulate trade, expand effective political unit and political control in spite of the fact that Greco-roman cities had several thousands of population, they were conquered by the less urbanized outsiders (barbarians or Germans). The collapse of Greco roman cities brought about the period commonly known as “the dark age” which extended from 5 th to 10 th century. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

76. The disintegration of Roman Empire led to the birth of feudalism in Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire in the eastern half of Europe. During the Dark Age local communities become isolated, national states died, and trade and commerce collapsed. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

77. C. Medieval cities With the end of the dark ages, cities began to develop once again. Pre-industrial cities refer to medieval European cities; they were simply cities of feudal Europe. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

78. Many of these cities are now quite large and become metropolitan centers. For instance: Florence had 90,000 populations in 1339 Venuce had 119,000 populations in 1322 London had 30,000 populations in 1377 Frankfurt had 20,000 populations in 1440 By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

79. Features of Preindustrial Cities They were usually surrounded by high walls that served as a military defense and emphasized the separation of the urban community from the country side. The central area of the city was usually occupied by a religious temple, a royal palace, government and commercial buildings and a public square. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

80. This ceremonial, commercial and political centre was sometimes enclosed within a second, inner wall and was usually too small to hold more than a minority of the citizens. The dwellings of the ruling class or elite tended to be concentrated near the centre . The less privileged groups lived towards the perimeter of the city or outside the walls, moving inside if the city came under attack. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

81. Different ethnic and religious communities were often allocated to separate neighborhoods, where their members both lived and worked. Sometimes these neighborhoods were also surrounded by walls. Communications among city dwellings were erratic. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

82. Industrial Cities The industrial revolution which began in the middle of the 18 th century used the application of non-animal sources of power than labor tasks. Industrialization had a wide range of effects on people’s lifestyles as well as on the structure of communities. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

83. Emerging urban settlements became centers not only of industry but also of banking, finance and industrial management. With the coming of industrialization new means of transportation were introduced. The horse is replaced by the vehicle. The walls around cities were no more important. New arms and defense instrument were facilitated. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

84. The industrial revolution was the outcome of new technology facilitated by extensive use of inanimate power (coal, steam, etc ). The advancing production technology and the development of the factory system created rising demands for waged labors. This led to massive immigration of people to the growing urban centers. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

85. In comparison with preindustrial cities, industrial cities have a more open class system and more mobility. After initiatives in industrial cities by women’s rights groups, labor unions and other political activists, formal education gradually became available to many children from poor and working class families. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

86. Features of industrial cities. A manufacturing, finance and coordinating centre of an industrial society. A fluid class structure with an elite of businessmen, professionals and scientists. A large middle class with technologically related jobs. Wealth by salaries, fees, investment. High status of business activity. Unionization at a national level. Specialization of production and marketing .Large service sector, fixed price. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

87. Time important and regular work schedule. Standardization of process and quality. Formal public opinion with a bureaucracy based on technical criteria. A weak religious institution separate from other institutions dominated by the middle class. Standardization of religious experience marked by the disappearance of magic. Technical and secular education for the masses. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

88. Postindustrial City   In the latter part of the 20 th century, a new type of urban community emerged. The period experienced increasing size of urban centers (metropolitan zone) and emergence of new urban centers. The postindustrial city is a city in which global finance and the electronic flow of information dominate the economy. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

89. Production is decentralized and often takes place outside of urban centers, but control is centralized in multinational corporations whose influence transcends urban and even national boundaries. Social change is a constant feature of the postindustrial city. Metropolitan city is a kind of city where a major city center becomes surrounded by a complex of suburban communities densely populated and economically integrated. The process of suburbanization reached its peak in the 1950s and 1960s especially in USA. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

90. CHAPTER THREE Sociological perspective in urban sociology   By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

91. The Urban Sociology of Max Weber, Georg Simmel , and Oswald Spengler By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

92. Max Weber His objective was to devise a comprehensive and concise model, an ideal type that would identify the essential elements that make up the city. After considering a variety of characteristics that he found associated with cities historically, he arrived at the following formula: By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

93. To constitute a full urban community a settlement must display a relative predominance of trade - commercial relations with the settlement as a whole displaying the following features: a fortification; a market; a court of its own and at least partially autonomous law; a related form of association; at least partial autonomy and autocephaly, thus also an administration by authorities in the election of which the burghers participated By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

94. While some of these criteria, such as the existence of a market and of municipal regulation, seem perfectly appropriate in the construction of a general model, the criterion of fortification seems anachronistic. Weber was not interested in describing cities but in modeling The City. Each of his core criteria had to qualify as a necessary component of the model. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

95. The predominance of trade-commercia l relations was the most basic of these criteria. “The ‘city’ is a marketplace,” he wrote; but of course he did not intend to elevate every marketplace to the status of “city.” He continued, “We wish to speak of a city only in cases where the local inhabitants satisfy an economically substantial part of their daily wants in the local market. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

96. It is only in this sense that the city is a ‘market settlement.’” In his model, Weber made the city a fusion of fortress and marketplace, systematically interwoven components of the full urban community. The full urban citizen was bound to perform certain military duties to build or maintain the fortification and to guard or to defend the settlement as an expression of membership in and allegiance to the community. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

97. “The politically oriented castle and economically oriented market often stand in plastic dualism beside one another” ([1905] 1958, 78). He believed that the emergence of a large burgher class or “estate,” a politically powerful and privileged citizen-merchant-soldier strata of the population that was able to perceive its interests and take action, was an earmark of the true urban community. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

98. The formation of traders and artisans into “urban corporations,” such as guilds, is one example of this characteristically urban form of association (Weber [1905] 1958, 81–89). In sum, the model that Weber constructed is of a diversified market economy upon which the largest numbers of inhabitants are regularly and primarily dependent. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

99. Georg Simmel The work of examining the experience of urban life in the new age was undertaken by Weber’s colleague, Georg Simmel . Whereas Weber was interested in identifying the broadest features of the urban question, Simmel , in his essay “The Metropolis and Mental Life” ([1905] 1950, 409–24), sought to understand what the urban experience did to the way people thought and behaved By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

100. He believed that there were two important features of urban life that conditioned how urbanites thought and acted: the intensity of nervous stimuli or sensation in the city, and the pervasiveness of the market’s effect on urban relations. Simmel observed that urbanites had no choice but to become insensitive to the events and people around them. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

101. He reasoned: the rapid crowding of changing images, the sharp discontinuity in the grasp of a single glance, and the unexpectedness of onrushing impressions. These are the psychological conditions which the metropolis creates. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

102. True urbanites must develop a special capacity to avoid emotional involvement in all that takes place around them. In contrast to those who reside in small towns and villages, who have the capacity to embrace each other in more deeply, felt and emotional relationships, metropolitan beings must hold themselves apart. Of his “metropolitan type of man,” Simmel said, “he reacts with his head instead of his heart” By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

103. Where Weber observed the city as a marketplace, Simmel asked what life in a marketplace would do to social relations. His answer was that it drew people into relationships characterized by tension and calculation By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

104. Oswald Spengler One further reference to German influence, which comes from outside the field of sociology, must be made before turning to the urban sociological tradition in the United States. Oswald Spengler believed that history revealed that the city was a central actor in the story of every great civilization. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

105. His greatest impact was realized through his work The Decline of the West ([1922] 1928), which was widely read by both popular and scholarly audiences. Readers were drawn by the power and elegance of his writing, while they were compelled by his apocalyptic vision. Spengler hinged his thesis on the observation that all great cultures had been urban cultures and that the city was the engine of “civilization” (a term he used broadly with reference to the industrialized West). By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

106. The quality that set the city apart was the emergence of a “soul”—an embodiment of the urban culture as the city (its population) became aware of itself as a special entity. The city was regarded, or in this sense regarded itself, as apart from and superior to its environs, its hinterland. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

107. The soul of the city spoke a new language; urban architecture denied any relationship to organic or natural forms; and urban art, religion, and science became progressively alien to the land and were beyond the understanding of the peasant. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

108. According to Spengler, the growth of the city, for all of its promise, was a terminal condition for society. In the end, “the giant city sucks the country dry, insatiably and incessantly demanding and devouring fresh streams of men, till it wearies and dies in the midst of an almost uninhabited waste of country” (Spengler [1922] 1928, 102). By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

109. In the end, no one would want to live in the country. In the end, the city, which was the product of human thought and effort, would turn and seize its makers; each of us would be “made its creature, its executive organ, and finally its victim. This stony mass [was] the absolute city”. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

110. The Ecology of Urban Life The major elements of the urban arena, the different kinds of land use, and the varied urban populations that occupied the city were sorted or sorted themselves into distinguishable areas. These “neighborhoods” or “natural areas” had particular affinities or aversions to one another, resulting overall in an urban ecology a spatial division of the city that corresponds to the functional division of labor occurring within it. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

111. Some common examples of such specialized areas include the central business district(CBD) exclusive residential areas, areas of heavy or light industry, slums, ghettos, immigrant communities, bohemias , and “ hobohemias .” By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

112. These are natural areas, because they are the products of ecological forces that work to distribute the city’s populations and functions in an orderly fashion, with respect to one another. Those who can afford to do so sort themselves away from functions or elements of the population that they regard as distasteful or dirty. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

113. Those without the economic means are relegated to the residual areas, perhaps those neighborhoods popularly regarded as containing criminal or “abnormal” types (Park 1915, 612). By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

114. Each area, whatever its qualities, is characterized by its own “moral code,” which corresponds to the interests and tastes of those who use it and what they use it for residential or recreational purposes, for example. Each district is its own moral region, and in this sense each is segregated from the others. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

115. “The processes of segregation make the city a mosaic of little worlds that touch, but do not interpenetrate.” By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

116. Urbanism as a Way of Life Although Wirth’s essay has drawn its share of criticism, it remains important today because his observations represent the capstone of the classical urban tradition. Wirth linked the definition of the urban form to its consequences for social organization and the nature of individual experience. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

117. He identified the quality that he was attempting to capture as “urbanism.” three key criteria that directly determined the degree of urbanism found in a given society: size, density, and heterogeneity of the population. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

118. He was unwilling to recognize any quantitative threshold that might be attached to these criteria in order to distinguish urban society from rural society. For example, Wirth demonstrated that any attempts to establish an absolute criteria of urban size would produce an arbitrary and, therefore, useless set of numbers. Wirth was not prepared to answer the question, How large is an urban population? By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

119. The greater the size of a given population the greater the likelihood that it is made up of different kinds (races, statuses) of people. This, in turn, tends to give rise to spatial segregation within the population. Without a common tradition or experience , there can be no common identity, and “competition and formal control mechanisms furnish the substitute for the bonds of solidarity that are relied upon to hold a folk society together” (Wirth 1938, 11). By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

120. Wirth referred directly to Weber’s and Simmel’s observations that typical social relations must be shallower in the city due to the sheer numbers involved. Human relationships are highly segmented or specialized , and contact as full personalities is impossible. The city is thus characterized by secondary rather than primary relationships. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

121. Many of these relationships remain face-to-face, but they are impersonal, superficial, and transitory. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

122. The relationships in the city that we do take the trouble to maintain are instrumental in nature, and we regard them merely as a means for the achievement of our own ends, not for the value of the relationship itself. Wirth allowed that individuals in urban life gain some element of freedom from the control of the intimate group, but they also lose the reassurance that comes from life in a more emotionally integrated society. By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

123. Along with freedom comes a social void and sense of anomie. Although the division of labor and the growth of specialization (even among cities themselves) lead to the social solidarity of interdependence, the pure market motives that bring us together, the “pecuniary nexus,” lead to relationships of a predominantly predatory nature. Finally, in the vast numbers of the city, the individual counts for little politically.   By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa

124. THANK YOU! By. Korsa Ashebir Bayisa