Urban Life and Society

by Gold, Harry

• ISBN13: 9780130216052
• ISBN10: 0130216054
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-08-28
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Urban Life and Society is a comprehensive and readable overview of the entire field of urban sociology. It provides a very well balanced introduction to all of the major approaches and perspectives. The book pays homage to the traditional "classic" works in the field, while also focusing on some of the most recent theoretical and empirical work available. Updated materials, from the perspective of theNEW URBAN SOCIOLOGY, orTHE POLITICAL ECOMOMY APPROACH, as it is increasingly coming to be called, are most directly represented in the two separate chapters on urban economic institutions and political institutions, but also material on the new urban sociology approach is integrated into the most relevant sections. A historical perspective provides the reader with a clear picture of the process of urbanization process--past, present, and future: from the first cities to the emergence of the early Egyptian, Greek, Roman civilizations; continuing through urban developments throughout the feudal, medieval, and renaissance periods of European urbanization.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
I INTRODUCTION AND EARLY URBANIZATION	1	(66)
Urban Sociology as a Field of Study	3	(26)
The German and Chicago Schools of Urban Sociology	3	(6)
The German School	4	(2)
The Chicago School	6	(3)
The New Urban Sociology	9	(2)
Alternate Perspectives for Urban Sociology	11	(14)
The Social Change Perspective	12	(3)
The Ecology Perspective	15	(2)
The Culture Perspective	17	(1)
The Social Structure Perspective	18	(4)
The Social Problem Perspective	22	(1)
The Social Policy Perspective	23	(2)
The Quality of Urban Life	25	(1)
The Plan of the Book	25	(2)
A Final Note	27	(1)
Selected Bibliography	28	(1)
The Origins and Early Development of Cities	29	(17)
Preurban Nomads and the First Preurban Permanent Settlements	30	(1)
The First Cities: The Prehistoric Classical Period	31	(1)
Mesopotamian Cities	32	(2)
Egyptian Cities	34	(2)
Cities of Ancient Greece	36	(1)
Rome and the Roman Empire	37	(1)
The Decline of Classic Cities: The Emergence of the Feudal System	38	(2)
The Rise of the Medieval Town in Europe	40	(2)
The Physical and Spatial Structure of Medieval Cities	42	(1)
The Decline of the Medieval City	43	(1)
Cities of the Renaissance	43	(1)
Selected Bibliography	44	(2)
The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on City Life	46	(21)
The Market Economy	46	(1)
The Rise of Capitalism	47	(1)
Nationalism, Colonialism, and Imperialism	48	(1)
The Machine and the Factory System of Production	49	(3)
Preindustrial Urban Growth in America	52	(2)
The Industrial Revolution in America	54	(4)
Poverty, Unemployment, and Industrial Unrest	58	(2)
Technological Innovation	60	(2)
Social Innovation	62	(3)
Selected Bibliography	65	(2)
II BASIC FORMS OF URBAN LIFE IN THE MODERN METROPOLIS	67	(78)
The Metropolitan Revolution: Cities and Suburbs	69	(30)
Historical Factors Leading to Metropolitan Growth	69	(2)
The Extent of Metropolitanization	71	(5)
The Time-Distance Factor	75	(1)
The Anatomy of the Metropolis	76	(10)
Burgess's Concentric Zone Theory	76	(1)
Hoyt's Sector Theory	77	(1)
Harris's and Ullman's Multiple-Nuclei Theory	78	(1)
A Critique of the Classic Theories of Growth	79	(1)
Social Area Analysis	80	(1)
Factorial Ecology	81	(1)
The Social Indicators Movement	82	(4)
Identifying Local Areas in the Metropolis: The ``Slum'' as a Special Case	86	(1)
A Typology of Slums	87	(3)
Urban Villages	87	(1)
Skid Row	88	(1)
Young Adults	88	(1)
Nonconformists	88	(1)
The ``Underworld''	89	(1)
The Ghetto	89	(1)
Other Groups	89	(1)
Cities and Suburbs: A Comparative View	90	(6)
The Suburban ``Myth''	90	(4)
Are the Suburbs More and More Like Cities?	94	(1)
Edge Cities	94	(2)
Megalopolis: Postmetropolitan Urban Development	96	(1)
Selected Bibliography	97	(2)
Neighborhoods, Networks, and Associations	99	(20)
The Urban Neighborhood	100	(2)
The Functions of Neighborhoods	102	(3)
The Neighborhood as an Arena for Interaction	103	(1)
The Neighborhood as a Center for Interpersonal Influence	103	(1)
The Neighborhood as a Source of Mutual Aid	103	(1)
The Neighborhood as a Base for Formal and Informal Organizations	104	(1)
The Neighborhood as a Reference Group	105	(1)
The Neighborhood as a Status Arena	105	(1)
Types of Neighborhoods	105	(5)
The Integral Neighborhood	106	(1)
The Anomic Neighborhood	107	(1)
The Defended Neighborhood	107	(2)
The Contrived Neighborhood	109	(1)
The Neighborhood as a Staging Area	110	(1)
Who Needs Neighborhoods?	110	(2)
Social Networks	112	(1)
Applications of Social Network Analysis	113	(2)
Voluntary Associations	115	(2)
Participation in Voluntary Associations	117	(1)
Selected Bibliography	117	(2)
Social-Psychological and Cultural Dimensions of Urban Life	119	(26)
The Impact of Urbanization on Personality and Mental Health	120	(4)
Classifying and Measuring Mental Illness	121	(2)
Variations in Mental Health within Metropolitan Areas	123	(1)
Lifestyles and Adjustment to Urban Living	124	(2)
Cosmopolital Lifestyles as an Urban ``Ideal Type''	126	(5)
Knowledgeability	127	(1)
Skill	128	(1)
Tolerance	128	(1)
Self-awareness	129	(1)
Meaningful Work Roles	129	(1)
Positive, Appreciative Attitudes	130	(1)
Everyday Behavior in Public Places	131	(5)
The Impact of Public Spaces	134	(2)
The Cultural Symbolism and Imagery of Urban Life	136	(5)
Popular Music	136	(2)
The City in Popular Literature	138	(1)
The City in Films	139	(2)
Public Opinion	141	(1)
Selected Bibliography	142	(3)
III URBAN SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS	145	(94)
Urban Economic Institutions	147	(24)
Multinational Corporations in a Global Economy	149	(1)
The Local Economy of Cities	150	(1)
Institutional Innovations in Urban Economies: Production, Distribution, and Consumption	151	(3)
The Urban World of Work and the Occupational Division of Labor	154	(1)
The Changing Occupational Composition of the Urban Labor Force	155	(1)
White-Collar Workers	156	(4)
Blue-Collar Workers	160	(2)
How Changes in the Urban Labor Market Take Place	162	(1)
Basic Assumptions of a Free Labor Market	162	(1)
Barriers to Career Changes in the Urban Labor Market	163	(3)
Barriers Imposed by Workers Themselves	163	(2)
Barriers Imposed by Employers	165	(1)
Organic Solidarity and Ecological Dependence in The Urban Labor Market	166	(3)
Selected Bibliography	169	(2)
Urban Political Institutions	171	(19)
Formal Governmental Structure and Policies	171	(1)
Local Government Structure	172	(4)
Competitive Governments and Economic Competition	176	(2)
State Politics and the Cities	178	(1)
The Federal Government and the Cities	179	(2)
Informal Urban Power Structures	181	(7)
Community Power Structure	181	(3)
National Power Structure	184	(4)
Selected Bibliography	188	(2)
Welfare and Education as Emergent Urban Institutions	190	(24)
The Concept of Public Welfare in America	191	(1)
Welfare in the Colonial Period	192	(1)
Welfare in the Nineteenth Century	193	(2)
Twentieth-Century Public Welfare	195	(1)
Waves of Change: The New Deal, the New Frontier, and the Great Society	195	(4)
Welfare Reform in the 1990s---``The War Against Welfare''	199	(2)
Private Forms of Welfare and Charity in Urban Society	201	(4)
Urban Education and Educational Opportunities	205	(2)
Some Educational Trends	207	(1)
Some Social Problems of Education	207	(4)
Improving Educational Opportunities in Urban America	211	(2)
Selected Bibliography	213	(1)
The Impact of Urbanization on Religion and the Family	214	(25)
Religion in Urban Communities	215	(12)
Secularization	215	(1)
Religious Diversity in Urban Areas	216	(1)
Urban Innovations in the Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Religious Behavior	217	(2)
Religious Conflict	219	(2)
Religiosity	221	(1)
Some Alternative Forms of Religious Expression	221	(2)
Some Functions of Religion in Urban Settings	223	(2)
Spatial and Ecological Dimensions of Urban Religion	225	(2)
The Urban Family: Change and Conflict	227	(10)
Changing Marriage and Courtship Patterns	228	(3)
Parent-Child Conflicts in Urban America	231	(1)
Married Women Who Work	232	(1)
Single Parent Families, Grown Children Living at Home, and Grandparents	232	(2)
Family Alternatives	234	(3)
Selected Bibliography	237	(2)
IV PERSISTENT URBAN SOCIAL PROBLEMS	239	(66)
Urban Patterns of Social Stratification	241	(19)
Leon H. Warshay
Diana W. Warshay
A Theoretical Framework for the Analysis of Urban Stratification	241	(1)
Three Ideological Orientations for Examining Stratification	242	(1)
Comparisons among the Orientations	243	(1)
A Liberal Approach to Stratification	243	(2)
Class Differences	244	(1)
Status Differences	244	(1)
Other Correlates of Class and Status	245	(1)
A Conservative Approach to Stratification	245	(1)
A Radical Approach to Stratification	246	(1)
Urban and Rural Stratification: Differing Settings and Bases	247	(2)
Urban Stratification	247	(1)
Rural Stratification	248	(1)
Suburban Stratification	249	(1)
Urban and Suburban Stratification: Three Spatial and Ecological Models	249	(1)
Concentric Zone Model	250	(1)
Sector Model	250	(1)
Multiple Nuclei Model	250	(1)
Social Stratification in Urban Neighborhoods	250	(3)
Working-Class Neighborhoods	250	(1)
Middle-Class Neighborhoods	251	(1)
Upper-Class Enclaves	251	(1)
Lower-Class Neighborhoods	252	(1)
The Erosion of Class-Based Urban Neighborhoods	253	(1)
Urban Stratification by Gender, Age, Race, and Ethnicity	254	(3)
Gender	254	(1)
Age	255	(1)
Race	255	(2)
Ethnicity	257	(1)
Conclusion	257	(1)
Selected Bibliography	258	(2)
Urban Crime	260	(19)
Kevin Early
The Extent of Urban Crime in America	260	(2)
Crime on the Streets	262	(4)
White-Collar Crime	266	(1)
Organized Crime	267	(1)
Career Criminals	268	(1)
Urbanization and Crime	269	(3)
Intraurban Variations in Crime Rates	272	(2)
The Urban Criminal Justice System	274	(3)
The Search for Solutions to the Urban Crime Problem	277	(1)
Selected Bibliography	278	(1)
Problems of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Urban America	279	(26)
The Urban Transformation of Black Americans	281	(2)
The Residential Segregation of Urban Blacks	283	(3)
Poverty and Unemployment in the Black Ghetto	286	(1)
The Growing Black Middle Class	287	(2)
Black Political Representation and Community Control	289	(2)
Some Policy Alternatives for Black America	291	(3)
Segregation	291	(1)
Pluralism	292	(1)
Integration	293	(1)
Hispanic Americans	294	(7)
Mexican Americans	296	(2)
Puerto Ricans	298	(1)
Cuban Americans	299	(2)
Continuing Patterns of Ethnic Diversity in Urban America	301	(2)
Selected Bibliography	303	(2)
V URBAN PLANNING, SOCIAL POLICY, AND THE URBAN FUTURE	305	(92)
Urban Planning and Development	307	(28)
The Emergence and Early Development of Urban Planning	308	(5)
The Role and Scope of the Planning Function in Urban Communities	313	(4)
Comprehensive Planning	314	(1)
The Attitudes and Values of Urban Planners	314	(3)
Some Urban Planning Efforts in the Real World	317	(16)
Urban Renewal, Enterprise Zones, Empowerment Zones	318	(2)
Smaller Scale Development Efforts at the Local Level	320	(1)
Inner City Redevelopment	321	(1)
New Towns	322	(3)
New Towns in the United States	325	(2)
``New Urbanism'' Developments	327	(4)
Regional Planning and Regional Government	331	(2)
Selected Bibliography	333	(2)
The Future of American Urban Life and Urban Social Policy	335	(28)
Future Studies	335	(2)
Some Hazards of Forecasting the Future	337	(2)
Some Utopian Visions of the Urban Future	339	(3)
Some Nonutopian Visions of the Urban Future	342	(1)
Population	343	(3)
Technology	346	(5)
Communications	346	(2)
Transportation	348	(3)
Environment	351	(2)
Social Structure	353	(3)
Some Major Urban Policy Considerations	356	(2)
The Future of Urban Sociology	358	(3)
Selected Bibliography	361	(2)
World Urbanization and Globalization	363	(34)
World Population Growth	364	(1)
More Developed and Less Developed Countries	365	(1)
World Urbanization	366	(3)
Overurbanization in the Less Developed World	369	(1)
Primate Cities	370	(1)
Latin America	371	(3)
Africa	374	(2)
Asia	376	(8)
Japan	376	(2)
India	378	(2)
China	380	(4)
Russia	384	(3)
Northern and Western Europe	387	(5)
London	388	(2)
Paris	390	(2)
Postscript	392	(2)
Selected Bibliography	394	(3)
Name Index	397	(8)
Subject Index	405

Excerpts

This book was first undertaken as a revision of an earlier work,The Sociology of Urban Life(1982). However, the large amount of time that has since elapsed, along with the vast changes that have occurred in the urban world, in the field of urban sociology, and in my own thinking on this subject, has led to this fresh new book. While some of the more basic and valid materials from the original book have been retained, particularly in the early chapters on the long history of urban development up to the middle of the twentieth century, the rest of the book has been revised, updated, and rewritten. Several previous chapters have been reorganized, reformulated, or dropped, and one completely new chapter has been added. Equally significant, updated materials from the perspectives of the "new urban sociology," or "political economy" have also been added. This is reflected most directly in the two separate chapters on urban economic institutions and political institutions. Rather than being confined to just these two chapters, and segregated from other parts of the book, materials on the new urban sociology and political economy are also integrated into many other chapters, where they are most relevant. The overall goal of this book is to provide a more comprehensive view of the broad field of urban sociology through a more balanced approach, providing exposure to all of the major theoretical perspectives that have, over time, defined the field's core concepts, as well as the ever changing boundaries. The author of such an approach is sometimes tempted to present an eclectic assortment of topics, in the hope that nothing significant will be left out. On the other hand, there is an equally compelling temptation to provide a more limited and focused perspective, with the risk that the greater selectivity of materials will provide a far less comprehensive overview of the field than usually called for by "survey" type courses common to urban sociology. This book attempts to avoid the extremes suggested above. Of necessity, urban sociology remains a highly speculative and interpretive field, requiring the synthesis of a vast assortment of theories, concepts, data, and research findings. But such a synthesis ideally must provide a workable balance between focus and breadth, and between extreme eclecticism and rigid systemization. Hopefully, this balance has been achieved by the introduction to six major perspectives as the book's guiding frame of reference. They include: 1) the social change perspective; 2) the ecological perspective; 3) the social structure perspective; 4) the cultural (and social-psychological) perspective; 5) the social problems perspective; and 6) the social policy perspective. In turn, these perspectives are presented in the context of past, present, and projected future ,urban development, and with a concern for the quality of life in cities, suburbs, and metropolitan areas. The above perspectives are implied or assumed throughout the book rather than spelled out in every instance, but they are defined and explained in more detail in the introductory chapter. Somewhat unique to this book (as part of the social structure perspective) are separate chapters on urban social institutions, including contemporary economic, political, welfare, and educational institutions, which developed in response to the demands and expectations of modern urban civilization. On the other hand, the survival of traditional social institutions, such as religion and the family, which are preurban in their origins, is often severely challenged by modern urbanization, and, as a result, these institutions have become significantly modified in urban societies. These two rapidly changing urban institutions are discussed in some detail in a separate chapter. While urban sociology had traditionally focused entirely on cities, anal more recently on the wider range of cities, suburbs, and metropolitan ar