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1
The Sociological Perspective
CHANGING SOCIETY
part
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5
chapter
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CHAPTER OUTLINE
•How Did Communities Originate?•Urbanization•Types of Communities•Social Policy and Communities: Seeking Shelter Worldwide
20COMMUNITIES AND URBANIZATION
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3 How Did Communities Originate?
█ Early Communities– Early communities were very dependent on the
physical environment for their food supply.– Horticultural societies, where people cultivated
food rather than merely gathering fruits and vegetables, led to dramatic changes in human social organization.
– It was no longer necessary to move in search of food.
– Stable communities helped establish food surpluses.
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4 How Did Communities Originate?
█Preindustrial Cities– Preindustrial cities had only a few thousand
people living within their borders.
– Preindustrial cities were characterized by relatively closed class systems and limited mobility.
– In preindustrial cities, status was based on ascribed characteristics, and education was limited to the elite.
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5 How Did Communities Originate?
█Preindustrial Cities– 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
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6 How Did Communities Originate?
█Industrial and Postindustrial Cities– The industrial revolution, which began in
the mid-eighteenth century, focused on using non-animal sources of power to perform tasks.
– The factory system that developed during the industrial revolution led to a more refined division of labor than was seen in the preindustrial cities.
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7 How Did Communities Originate?
█Industrial and Postindustrial Cities– In comparison to preindustrial cities,
industrial cities have a more open class system and more mobility.
– In the latter part of the 20th century, the postindustrial city emerges and is based on:• global finance• electronic flow of information• decentralized production
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8 Urbanization
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█ Different Races Mingle Where They Work and Shop, But Not So Much Where They Live
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9 Urbanization
█Functionalist View: Urban Ecology– Human Ecology
• Human ecology examines the interrelationships between people and their spatial settings and physical environments.
– Urban Ecology• Urban ecology focuses on relationships as they
emerge in urban areas.
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10 Urbanization
█Functionalist View: Urban Ecology– Concentric-Zone Theory
• A theory describing land use in industrial cities, concentric-zone theory holds that the 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. These zones illustrate or define the growth of the urban area over time.
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11 Urbanization
█Functionalist View: Urban Ecology– Multiple-nuclei theory
• All urban growth does not radiate out from a central district.
• A metropolitan area may have several centers of development reflecting an urban need or activity.
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12 Urbanization
█ Figure 20.2: Comparison of Ecological Theories of Urban Growth
Source: Harris and Ullmann 1945:13.
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13 Urbanization
█Conflict View: New Urban Sociology– New urban sociology
• This approach considers the interplay of local, national, and worldwide forces and their effects on local space.
– World systems analysis• This approach argues that certain industrialized
nations hold a dominant position at the core of the global economic system.
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14 Urbanization
█ Figure 20.1: Urbanization Around The World
Source: Based on data in Haub 2003.
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15 Urbanization
Source: Student Atlas of World Politics, 5th Edition by John L. Allen, 2002, McGraw-Hill Dushkin
█ Urban Population as Percentage of Total 1999 Population
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16 Urbanization
█Conflict View: New Urban Sociology– Poorer developing countries are on the
periphery of the global economy.
– Peripheral countries tend to be exploited by core nations.
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17 Urbanization
█ Table 20.3: Major Perspectives on Urbanization
Theoretical perspective Functionalist Conflict
Primary focus Relationship of urban areas Relationship of urban areas to their spatial setting and to global, national, and local physical environment forces
Key source of change Technological innovations Economic competition and such as new methods of monopolization of power transportation
Initiator of actions Individuals, neighborhoods, Real estate developers, communities banks and other financial
institutions, multinational corporations
Allied disciplines Geography, architecture Political science, economics
Urban Ecology New Urban Ecology
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18 Types of Communities
█Central Cities– Urban Dwellers
• Gans distinguishes five types of people found in our cities:
– cosmopolites
– unmarried and childless people
– ethnic villagers
– the deprived
– the trapped
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19 Types of Communities
█Central Cities– Urban Dwellers
• Defended neighborhood refers to people’s definitions of their community boundaries.
– Issues Facing Cities• crime• pollution• schools• inadequate transportation
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20 Types of Communities
█ Table 20.2: The 10 Most Populous Megalopolises in the World, 1970 and 2015 (in millions)
1.Tokyo 16.5 1. Bombay (India) 28.2
2. New York 16.2 2.Tokyo 26.4
3. Shanghai (China) 11.2 3. Lagos (Nigeria) 23.2
4. Osaka (Japan) 9.4 4. Dhaka (Bangladesh) 23.0
5. Mexico City 9.1 5. São Paulo (Brazil) 20.4
6. London 8.6 6. Karachi (Pakistan) 19.8
7. Paris 8.5 7. Mexico City 19.2
8. Buenos Aires 8.4 8. Delhi (India) 17.8
9. Los Angeles 8.4 9. New York 17.4
10. Beijing 8.1 10. Jakarta (Indonesia) 17.3
1970 2015 (Projected)
Source: United Nations, quoted in Brockerhoff 2000:10.
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21 Types of Communities
1900 1930 1960 2000
Rank Place Place Place Place
1. New York City, NY
New York City, NY
New York City, NY
New York City, NY
2. Chicago, IL Chicago, IL Chicago, IL Los Angeles, CA
3. Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, PA Los Angeles, CA Chicago, IL
4. St. Louis, MO Detroit, MI Philadelphia, PA Houston, TX
5. Boston, MA Los Angeles, CA Detroit, MI Philadelphia, PA
6. Baltimore, MD Cleveland, OH Baltimore, MD Phoenix, AZ
7. Cleveland, OH St. Louis, MO Houston, TX San Diego, CA
8. Buffalo, NY Baltimore, MD Cleveland, OH Dallas, TX
9. San Francisco, CA Boston, MA Washington, DC San Antonio, TX
10. Cincinnati, OH Pittsburgh, PA St. Louis, MO Detroit, MI
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. Statistical Abstract of the United States 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Table 34 on p. 35. Also accessible at
http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/01statab/stat-ab01.html.
█ U.S. Largest Cities: 1900 to 2000
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22 Types of Communities
█Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD Approach)– An approach in which leaders, policymakers
and advocates first identify a community’s strengths and then seek to mobilize those assets.• Helps communities recognize human resources
they might otherwise overlook
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23 Types of Communities
█Suburbs– Suburb generally refers to any community
near a large city.
– Three social factors differentiate suburbs from cities:• less dense than cities• private space• more exacting building codes
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24 Types of Communities
█Suburbs– Suburban Expansion
• Suburbanization has been the most dramatic population trend in the United States during the 20th century.
– Diversity in the suburbs• The suburbs contain a significant number of
low-income people from all backgrounds.
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25 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 now only accounts for 9 percent of employment in non-urban counties.
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26 Types of Communities
█ Table 20.1: Comparing Types of Cities
Preindustrial Cities(through 18th century)
Industrial Cities(18th through mid-20th century)
Postindustrial Cities(beginning late 20th century)
Closed class system—pervasive influence of social class at birth
Open class system—mobility based on achieved characteristics
Wealth based on ability to obtain and use information
Economic realm controlled by guilds and a few families
Relatively open competition Corporate power dominates
Beginnings of division of labor in the creation of goods
Elaborate specialization in manufacturing of goods
Sense of place fades, transnational networks emerge
Pervasive influence of religion on social norms
Influence of religion limited as society becomes more secularized
Religion becomes more fragmented; greater openness to new religious faiths
Continued…Source: Based on E. Phillips 1996:132-135; Sjoberg 1960:323-328.
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27 Types of Communities
█ Table 20.1: Comparing Types of Cities
Preindustrial Cities(through 18th century)
Industrial Cities(18th through mid-20th century)
Postindustrial Cities(beginning late 20th century)
Little standardization of prices, weights, and measures
Standardization enforced by custom and law
Conflicting views of prevailing standards
Population largely illiterate, communication by word of mouth
Emergence of communication through posters, bulletins, and newspapers
Emergence of extended electronic networks
Schools limited to elites and designed to perpetuate their privileged status
Formal schooling open to the masses and viewed as a means of advancing the social order
Professional, scientific, and technical personnel become increasingly important
Source: Based on E. Phillips 1996:132-135; Sjoberg 1960:323-328.
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28 Social Policy and Communities
█Seeking Shelter Worldwide– The Issue
• The issue of inadequate shelter manifests itself in many ways, for all housing problems can be considered relative.
• For many people worldwide, the housing problem consists of merely finding shelter of any kind that they can afford.
• What can be done to ensure adequate housing for those who can’t afford it?
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29 Social Policy and Communities
█Seeking Shelter Worldwide– The Setting
• Homelessness is evident in both industrialized and developing countries.
• By 1998, in urban areas alone, 600 million people around the world were either homeless or inadequately housed.
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30 Social Policy and Communities
15.5
36.0
17.3
15.6
12.8
5.6
3.0
3.1
3.3
34.3
52.1
25.9Vacant
Renter-occupied
Owner-occupied
Centralcities
Suburban Non-metropolitan
Metropolitan
(Total year-round,housing units = 112.3 million)
Millions of units
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. Population Profile of the United States: 2000. Figure 7-1. (Internet Release) accessed at
http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/profile2000.html#cont.
█ Total Year-Round Housing Units by Tenure and Metropolitan Status: 1999
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31 Social Policy and Communities
█ Seeking Shelter Worldwide– Sociological Insights
• Being homeless functions as a master status that largely defines a person’s position in society.
• Homeless individuals are, in many important respects, outside of society.
• Changing economic and residential patterns account for much of the increase in homelessness.
• Homeless women often have additional problems that distinguish them from homeless men.
• Sociologists attribute homelessness in developing nations not only to income inequality but also to population growth.
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32 Social Policy and Communities
█ Seeking Shelter Worldwide– Policy Initiatives
• Policymakers have mostly been content to direct the homeless to large, overcrowded, unhealthy shelters.
• Anti-homeless public policies and the “criminalization” of the homeless is a growing trend.
• Affordable housing is increasingly difficult to find.
• Homeless people are not getting the shelter they need and they lack the political clout to corral the attention of policymakers.