Urban Sociology in the 21st Century - Essay Sample

Introduction

Urban sociology can be described as the sociological examination of metropolitan areas in the context of life and human interaction. It is a prescriptive subject of sociology that focuses on structures, changes, systems, and issues that are present in an urban area. The objective of the study of these components is to offer input necessary for planning and policy-making in the context of urban areas. It can be explained as the sociological examination of cities and their implication in societal development. Similar to the different areas of sociology, urban sociologist utilizes techniques to study various topics in a context such as poverty, economic trends, and demography and race relations among others. These techniques include observation, interviews, statistical analysis and social theory among others. The concept of urban sociology found its philosophical roots from research conducted by various sociologists such as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Ferdinand Tonnies, and Max Weber among others (Savage and Warde 8). The study by these sociologist developed theories concerning the social, cultural and economic systems present in urban areas and the impacts they have on the formation of social class, social alienation and development identities among others. Sociologists and other researchers have further developed the established theories. Notably, milestones of this work were performed by sociologists at the beginning of the 21st century at the University of Chicago. The study by Robert Park, Ernest Burgess, and Louis Wirth led to the research that came to be referred to as the Chicago School of sociology. Their work which was mostly focused on the inner city of Chicago changed the objectives of urban sociology. Also, it also greatly developed human geography by utilizing quantitative and ethnographic study approaches. The essence of theories that emerged as a result of work by the Chicago School has been expansively analyzed. Despite these, they continue to be one of the most important historical developments in trying to understand processes, structures, and issues in the context of urbanization as a component of social science.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The purpose of this paper is examining urban sociology in the twenty-first century. To establish this perspective several subjects leading to the development of urban sociology to the 21st century with be discussed. These include development and rise of urban sociology, its evolution, and criticism of this development.

The Progress and Rise of Urban Sociology

The popularity of urban sociology started in North America. This was as a result of a study by different sociologists and theorists at the University of Chicago. It was in the 20th century (from 1915 to 1940) and became to be famously referred to as the Chicago School of Sociology. To gain an understanding of how individuals interact with urban settings, the Chicago School of Sociology integrated sociological and anthropological theory with the ethnographic study. In the earlier studies had focused on macro-based sociology. The Chicago School group focus was different in that they greatly sought to examine social interactions on the micro-scale level. The objective was the development of subjective meaning that could explain the human interactions in the context of cultural, structural and social settings. The foundation of symbolic interaction theory took place at this time along with urban sociology and guided in starting methodological perspectives. Symbolic interaction theory was based on the studies conducted by micro-sociologists Max Weber and George Mead (Savage and Warde 8). Its main objective was to create a framework that explained how people interpreted symbols in their daily interactions. Early urban sociologists described a city as a "super-organism." In this respect, the symbolic interaction theory helped in analyzing how communities were significant in the coherent functioning of the urban city.

Initially, the group of Chicago School was focusing on answering a critical question of the time. The question was: how social problems were enhanced by the increasing urbanization which was a consequence of industrial revolution? The city that was subject of the study was Chicago due to its significant growth in a half a century which is estimated to be from 10,000 people to more than two million people. Also, it was considered to be in "tabula rasa" state. The evident growth was accompanied by some problems such as concentrated homelessness, bad living conditions, lows wages and long working hours. This was normal for the new immigrants who were of European descent. Another factor that made Chicago an appropriate for the study is that unlike other cities which expanded outwards, it developed in a concentric ring pattern. It was planned in such a way that the center city was the business district, and the surrounding there were other developments such as slum and better neighborhoods. Surrounding these on the outer side were the homes for the workers which can be considered the modern suburbs in its early form. The settlements formed some spatially distinct regions. The urban sociologists postulated that the regions contributed to the formation and isolation relations depending on class within the city. This means that the middle class settled away from the city center to the outer suburbs which are considered more private.

The majority of research in urban sociology centered on issues central to the first-generation immigrants which settled in Chicago in the early twentieth century. Such issues entailed how these immigrants transmitted their culture roles and norm into the novice environment they settled in. Others issues that were examined include political involvement and increased in inter-community cooperation. One factor that promoted the expansion of these studies was information which was availed by census which had been adopted by most of the cities. The information collected during the census was stored and was made available to the institutions involved in these studies such as the University of Chicago. The earliest supporters of urban sociology which are McKenzie, Burgess and Park formulated the Subculture Theories. These theories were critical in providing insight into the positive function provided by local institutions in the creation of community acceptance. Sociologists suggested that the city was highly disorganized and there was an impediment in the creation of local ties since there was a breakdown in race relations and the expansion moved towards anonymizing some members of a community. The great advancements in urban sociology came at a time when there was development in behavioral sciences. It was critical in the integration of concept along with educational institutions as a social science. The study of micro-sociology was among the earliest in the University of Chicago and even in the whole of the United States.

Evolution of Urban Sociology

As discussed earlier, the preliminary development in urban sociology occurred in the University of Chicago which came to be known as the Chicago school. The evolution from Chicago School started in the 1970s. This was signified by the work of Claude Fischer which was titled "Toward a Theory of Subculture Urbanism." This meant that the Chicago School's model that explained invasion and succession in the city and therefore the formation, expansion, and solidification of a neighborhood. In 1979, Barry Wellman examined the issues of transition by subcultures and groups residing within a city setting. Wellman conducted a study titled "The Community Question: The Intimate Networks of East Yorkers" and sought to establish the roles and positions occupied by individuals and communities in the city concerning their community. The community question has developed a foundation for a lot of sociological research. It entails a question of how expansive social systematic divisions impact the organization and content of fundamental ties. By the utilization of network analysis, it is possible to emphasize linkages concerning the community question and eliminate the earlier analysis which was limited to solidary groupings and units according to their territory. In Wellman's work, the community questions are examined in three aspects. Namely, Community is Lost, Saved or Liberated (Wellman 1201). These theories focused on the structure of the city and how it determines interactions that occur between individuals and aid in active involvement in the local community. These theories as expounded by Barry Wellman in 1979 are described in detail below.

Community Lost. It is was formulated in the late 19th century, and it is the earliest of the three theories of Community Question. It sought to explain the sudden industrial patterns growth that was perceived to be a factor in the division between individuals and the community. Individuals in the city considered to develop networks characterized by being impersonal, dynamic and segmental attributes (Wellman 1204). The upheld toes in different social networks and did not have strong connections that would characterize them members of a specific group. The effect of this characteristic disorganization in cities led to individuals learning to survive on secondary networks (Wellman 1204). Also, it made it difficult to get aid from the other members of the community in the city.

Community Saved. This theory was developed in the 1960s, and it was an important answer to the community lost theory. It explains that with time, there is a development of multi-stranded connections among the community members. Also, the communities in the urban cities have these strong ties but in varying forms (Wellman 1205). For instance, individuals and communities who are of low-income can survive in their environment and take their resources together to safeguard themselves against structural uncertainties. This theory explained that urban communities usually develop into urban villages with time and usually characterized by strong bonds among individuals. Also, there are only a few people who develop networks with members of the communities in the urban city existing in the same area.

Community Liberated. The community liberated was developed to encompass the perspectives of the community lost theory and community saved theory. This theory explains that there exist weak ties in the urban cities due to workplaces, residences, and familiar kinship groups being differentiated (Wellman 1206). Additionally, their bonds are weakened more by increased residential mobility. Since the concentration in urban cities is high, individuals have increased the possibility of forming secondary ties in the various community groups. They also uphold distance from the communities that are tightly connected (Wellman 1206). According to the community liberated theory, primary ties are developed from sparse-networks and relations, and these help individual the help they need. The availability of help or resources is determined by the quality of ties that the individuals hold within the community.

These theories were critical in trying to understand the concept of urban sociology. It is also important the development of these theories also increasingly ushered a time urban sociologist started studying the differences that existed between rural, urban and suburban settings in the past half of the century. Sociologists have established that individuals in urban cities maintained ties which here spatially dispersed in comparison to individuals in rural and suburban settings. This finding is consistent with the conclusions of community liberated theory. The development of social ties is not seamless when it concerns people in lower-income urban cities since there is an absence of mobility and communal space. Despite that there are weak ti...