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ASSIGNMENT SOLUTIONS GUIDE (2014-2015)

M.S.O.E.-4
Urban Sociology
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information, data and solution. Student should must read and refer the official study material provided by the university.
SECTION I
Q. 1. Discuss the subject matter scope of urban sociology.
Ans. Subject-matter and Scope: Urban sociology studies the impact of city life on social relationships, social
institutions, and social actions. Erickson considers it as a generalizing science which studies the determinants and consequences of citys diverse social behaviour. The term urbanism was explained by Louis Wirth as a complex heterogeneity
in almost every characteristic in which human beings differ. This makes city an opposite of rural society.
Urban sociology overlaps with geography, political science, anthropology and economy with its emphasis in respective
fields. For instance, it also studies spatial distribution of social groups and institutions, political power, public policy,
taxation and expenditure along with culture of groups.
Community: In sociology, the concept of community has led to significant debate, and sociologists are yet to reach
agreement on a definition of the term. There were ninety-four discrete definitions of the term by the mid-1950s. Traditionally
a community has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location. The word is often used to
refer to a group that is organized around common values and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical
location, generally, in social units larger than a household. The word can also refer to the national community or global
community.
Davis emphasizes social completeness in his definition of community and defines it as the smallest territorial group
which includes all aspects of social life. McIver and Page have their emphasis on relationship instead of social organization
and define community as an entity which consists of all types of social relationships.
Ecology: The study of relationship between living things and the environment is called ecology. Like the physical
environment influences plants, human beings life is conditioned by city environment. Park, the father of human ecology
coined the term for studying this aspect of society borrowing from Botany.
Q. 2. Define the concept of city and discuss its various types with illustrations.
Ans. City: Emergence and Growth: When cities emerged many of them became main place for rulers and tradesmen. With the passage of time, the various types of towns that grew included political capitals, trading centres and sea
ports, administrative towns, temple towns and industrial cities. Now towns and cities perform many functions. In India,
the origin of towns may be a subject of speculation but during the colonial or modern period they are seen as an outcome
of a well-defined socio- historical process. These processes began in the west during the 18th century which was the age
of Capital Accumulation and the rise of scientific technology. However, the Indian urban centres that evolved during this
period do not exhibit all the features of western cities.
Adna Weber points out those economic forces which has become important in the wake of industrialisation caused
concentration of people into cities. Moreover, there were political causes of the emergence of cities such as legislations
promoting freedom trade and migration, free forms of land tenure and centralized administration. Social causes of the
emergence of cities were higher standards of living, habituation of an urban environment, education, attraction of intellectual association, diffusion of knowledge of the values of city life and amusements.
A village and a town did not differ too much in the ancient India. Availability of water, defence, easy supply of foodstuffs and communication lives were most important factors that gave rise to towns and cities in India. India's first urban

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civilization, Indus Valley emrerged around 2600 B.C. (Gordon) and the Aryan urbanization took place around 600 B.C.
Mahabharata period, Mughal period and the colonial period all had their distinct versions of urbanization also differed.
Cities and their types: Cities have been classified in a variety of ways but no single classification is truly exhaustive.
Moreover, many types of characteristics are found in one single city and every city can be fitted in more than one category. This calls for considering the most important is aspect of a city and accordingly determining its type. For instance,
the most prominent character of Hyderabad is software production and services along with the fact that it is a capital city.
This allows us to classify it as a software city. However, it is difficult to find a pure type of city in modern times.
According to Noel P. Gist and L.A. Helbert, cities can be broadly classified into six categories as discussed below:
Production centres: The process of industrialisation has given birth to many cities. The industrial production helped
in the development of urban centres. For example, in India, several big cities are production centres. Production centres
could be of two types: primary and secondary. In the first category, raw material (primary products for industries) is
obtained as from Kolar and Nellore. The second category includes cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Moradabad where
final products are produced.
Centres of Trade and Commerce: Bombay (now Mumbai) is a city which produces goods but its most important
activity is trade and commerce. Further, the port cities of India such as Calcutta (now Kolkata), Madras (now Chennai),
Calicut, Visakhapatnam and cochin are important centres of trade and commerce.
Capitals and Administrative Centres
From the earlier times, capital cities have been important cities and have been production and trade centre.
Health and Recreation Centres: The cities and towns on hills or near sea coasts have emerged as health and
recreation centres. The livelihood of people in such cities and towns depends on tourism which is developed by the
municipal and state authorities to attract more tourists.
Religious and Cultural Centres: Cities like Allahabad and Banaras, situated near holy rivers, have been important
religious centres catering to the needs of religious sentiments of Hindus. Similarly, Amritsar for Sikhs, Ajmer for Muslims,
Gaya for Budhists are cities of religious importance. Moreover, histrorical monuments and cities such as Taj Mahal, Qutab
Minar, Gol Gumbad and victory towers have made Agra, Delhi, Bijapur and Chittorgarh, respectively, the important urban
centres. Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, and famous universities of Nalanda and Taxila made these cities important.
Diversified Cities: A city may be a holy city and a capital also but there may be a third factor like production or
cultural activity which defines it more fundamentally. Such cities are called diversified cities since they have more than
one activity very important.
Some Other Classifications: According to Camille Rosier, cities may be classified into two categories on the basis
of their creation and establishment: natural cities and created cities. For instance, ancient cities established due to natural
location and strategic importance of a place are natural cities. The cities created according to our requirements such as for
industrial purpose like Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Coimbatore, Rourkela etc. are created cities.
Classification of cities has also been done on the basis of time period.
(i) Ancient city: Anderson provides some special features of ancient cities such as ruling centres, military and trade
centre and favourable climate like river or seashore or agricultural conditions. Thus, ancient cities is India developed near
rivers or seashore and at a favourable agricultural land and were mainly political capitals having a religious and cultural
background. In India, about 45 towns have been classified as ancient.
(ii) Medieval city: The colonial period in India gave rise to modern cities which generally have large heterogenous
population and are commercial centres. Elected government, complicated organizations, cosmopolitan character, fashion
hub, voluntary organiza-tions, social mobility, diverse culture of various groups, big service and industrial sector, modern
life style, a very good means of communication, modern health facilities etc are important features of a modern city.
Q. 3. What ios meant by the new urban sociology? Explain.
Ans. Urban sociology is the sociological study of social life and human interaction in metropolitan areas. It is a
normative discipline of sociology seeking to study the structures, processes, changes and problems of an urban area and
by doing so providing inputs for planning and policy-making.
Like most areas of sociology, urban sociologists use statisticial analysis, observation, social theory, interviews, and
other methods to study a range of topics, including migration and demographic trends, economics, poverty, race relations,
economic trends, etc.
After the industrial revolution, sociologists such as Max Weber, and particularly Georg Simmel in works such as The
Metropolis and Mental Life (1903), focused on the increasing process of urbanization and the effects it had on feelings of
Social alienation and anonymity.
The Chicago School is a major influence in the study of urban sociology. Many of their findings have been refined or
rejected, but the lasting impact of the Chicago School can still be found in todays teachings.

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The new urban sociology: Form 1980s the term political economy found its broader application and now the Marxist paradigm which in 1970s was mainly used was mixed with non-Marxist elements in urban studies. Flanagan (1993)
says that political economists were unanimous about the fact that urban area is a physical extension of market factors
augmented by the policies of government. This period emphasized the role of state and public policy, various circumstances including features of local history and the role of elites and common citizens in shaping the future of the city.
According to Gottdiener (1985), the local histories are important and the ideas and meanings are not totally subject to
political and economic forces as appears from the ecological or structural Marxist approach. Therefore, the approach to
urban studies should incorporate political, economic as well as cultural forces in order to understand how urban space is
produced. Similarly, the role of people and their action in defining and redefining urban spaces has been emphasized by
Lefebvre (1979).
Earlier Castells argued that class struggle was the main factor causing social change but in his The City and the
Grassroots (1983) he agrees that social class is just one of the bases for urban coalition. The citizen movements, ethnic or
national movements, the gender relationships and the autonomous role of state are other forces of urban social change
that can be accounted for.
SECTION II
Q. 4. Describe the process of urbanization and urban growth in India with suitable examples.
Ans. Urban growth in India: Trends: Looking at the world data of 1990s we find that 45% of population lives in
urban areas while India has only 27% as its urban population. Going by this standard, indias level of urbanization its
quite low although the pace of urbanization in the post-independence period has gained have an average of 40% urban
population as compared to 73% of the developed regions of the world.
While Europe (73.1%), Oceania (70.9%) and Latin America (72.3%) have very high level of urbanization Asia
(29.9%) has the least urbanization. In Asia, South Asia of which India is a part is least urbanised with only 27.8% urban
population. At the moment, India is among the countries of low level of urbanisation. Number of Urban agglomeration /
Town has grown from 1827 in 1901 to 5161 in 2001. Number of population residing in urban areas has increased from
2.58 crores in 1901 to 28.53 crores in 2001. Only 28% of population was living in urban areas as per 2001 census. Over
the years there has been continuous concentration of population in class I towns. On the contrary the concentration of
population in medium and small towns either fluctuated or declined. The graduation of number of urban centres from
lower population size categories to class I cities has resulted top heavy structure of urban population in India. Indias
urbanisation is often termed as over-urbanisation, pseudo-urbanisation. The big cities attained inordinately large population
size leading to virtual collapse in the urban services and followed by basic problems in the field of housing, slum, water,
infrastructure, quality of life etc. Urbanisation is a product of demographic explosion and poverty induced rural-urban
migration. Urbanisation is occurring due rural push but not due to urban pull. Globalisation, liberalization, privatization
are addressing negative process for urbanization in India. Historically, cities have been the driving force in economic and
social development. At present approximately 307 million Indians lives in nearly 3700 towns and cities spread across the
country. This is 30.5% of its population, in sharp contrast to only 60 millions (15%) who lived in urban areas in 1947
when the country became Independent. During the last fifty years the population of India has grown two and half times,
but Urban India has grown by nearly five times. In numerical terms, Indias urban population is second largest in the
world after China, and is higher than the total urban population of all countries put together barring China, USA and
Russia.
Table 1: India: Urban Population 1901-2001

At the 1991 Census, two-third of the countrys urban population lived in Class-I cities with more than 1,00,000 population.
Urban Percentage
population
(million)
1901
1911
1921
1931
1941
1951

Decalad
of Urban growth (rate)
to total
Percent
population

29.9
25.9
28.1
33.5
44.2
62.4

10.8
10.3
11.2
12.0
13.9
17.3

0.4
18.3
19.1
32.0
41.4

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Urban Percentage
population
(million)
1961
1971
1981
1991
2001

78.9
109.1
159.5
217.6
306.9

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Decalad
of Urban growth (rate)
to total
Percent
population
18.0
19.9
23.3
25.7
30.5

26.4
38.2
46.1
36.4
41.0

Source: Ministry of Urban Affairs

Table 2: Distribution of urban population by size class of towns
Class Population
Range
I
II
III
IV
V
VI

No.
of Towns

1,00,000 & above 300

50,000 to 99,999
345
20,000 to 49,999
947
10,000 to 19,999 1,167
5,000 to 9,999
740
Less than 5,000
197
All Classes
3,696

Share
of urban
Population
65.20%
10.95%
13.19%
7.77%
2.60%
0.29%
100%

Source: Ministry of Urban Affairs

About one-third of Urban India (71 million) lives in metropolitan cities (million plus). The number of such cities in
India has increased from 1 in 1901 to 5 in 1951 to 23 in 1991 to 40 in 2001. Out of the total increase in the countrys urban
population of 58 million between 1981 and 1991, 44 million were added to Class I cities alone. 28 million persons were
added in metropolitan cities.
Growth of employment (main workers) in urban India during 1981-91 was recorded at 38% against 16% in rural
areas and 26.1% in the country as a whole.
Q. 5. Describe some of the main features of inighbourhood studies. What is its significances?
Ans. Neighbourhood Studies: According to the Wellman and Leighton (1979), urban sociology fundamentally dealt
with neighbourhood studies and studied small networks and the evolution of sense of community. Social geography dealt
with neighbourhood through its study of specific localities having similar housing patterns and lifestyles.
Chicago School emphasized the creation of separate neighbourhoods on class lines. According to Spates and Macionis
(1982), this school used survey, participant observation and life history as its main techniques of study-scholars of this
school, like Park and Burgess, and their followers focused on the theoretical and methodological aspects of urban sociology.
According to Wellman and Leighton (1979), neighbourhood studies replace community studies because the former
was an easy site of research and also it was a building block of the city. Moreover, administrative officials used their own
definitions of neighbourhood. Sociologys local area concern and the concern for solidary sentiments were other reasons.
Rex and Moore emphasized conflicts over housing in their neighbourhood theory and indicated an inner to outward
movement in the city. According to them, areas like Sparkbook in Birmingham inhabited by working class become
twilight areas.
Geval Suttles (1968) studied Adams area, a poor neighbourhood in Chicago having various communities like
blacks, Mexicans pureto Ricans and Italians. He (1972) termed this neighbourhood as defended neighbourhood because it united with the Italians livens inside against the outsider Italians.
The rapid urbanisation and urban migration of rural populations has aggravated existing problems and brought in
their train new ones. Overcrowded housing and slums, overloaded transportation services, overstretched medicare facilities, substandard civic amenities, the breakdown of urban governance, and so on, have all been researched at length.
Similarly, governmental and policy initiatives and programmes for addressing them have been reviewed and evaluated. It
is easy to understand how community, emphasising collectivity, with its narrower and more rigid articulation of identity,

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and cosmopolitanism, emphasising differences and universal individualism, with its broader and more flexible articulation of multiple identities are polar tendencies in the city. Their dialectics
(1) determine the shape their aspirations and?everyday life of urbanites, (2) facilitate/hinder the realisation of those
aspirations, (3) condition the articulation of their identities, (4) define the politics of identity and inter-community relations, and (5) constantly redraw the place-space configuration in the city.
With reference to a city, one could ask who belongs to the city? or who are its citizens? A closer examination of
the situation in different cities would reveal any such question to be facile; it is, in fact, invariably contested. In law,
anyone born in a city or domiciled in it for a defined duration (10 years in Indian cities) is a citizen of that city. The
citizenship that so accrues entitles its holder to certain rights, for instance, in admission to public educational institutions,
allotment of public housing or sites and land for building houses, etc.
The citizens would like a more exclusive definition of the citizenship, restricting it by a rigidly defined nativity in
terms of the language of the state in which the city is located. Thus, Mumbaikar (someone belonging to Mumbai)
becomes coterminous with being Marathi Manus (Marathi people), emphasising the idea of sons/daughters of the
soil in linguistic terms. The natives would consciously exclude not only those who have migrated to the city during the
last decade, but even second and third descendents of original migrants. This exclusion has often resulted in aggressive
street politics and violence targeting outsiders.

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