Population size.

Increasing numbers of people bring

about greater cultural and occupational diversity. Large

populations, especially when driven by migration and

immigration, increase the potential for different groups

to come into close contact. Greater diversity brings

about greater need for formal control systems, such as

legal systems. Large differentiated populations lead to

highly divided and specialized occupational structures.

In sum, social interactions are increasingly depersonal-

ized, based more on functional and formal roles than on

personal relationships. Ultimately, there is a real risk of

social disorganization and disintegration

Physical density. The crowding of ever-larger pop-

ulations into inadequate amounts of urban space

intensities the effects of increased population size,

producing spatial fragmentation and segregation. ThesOcial psychological cffects of crowding and
diversity

include geographic stereotyping and the attempts to

maintain social distance as antidotes to the press of people of dilterent backgrounds. Onamiore positive
note,

crowding and diversity may lead to a greater toleration

of difterences

Heterogeneir As we have already mentioned in pass

ing. increasing social heterogeneity is a basic attribute

of urbanization In particular we observe heightened

sOCal mobilily across caste and class lines Weakened

family ties, and an ncrease in tie valuation of personal

chievement. SoCial mobility is 2ilso connected tospa-

tial mobility, which then feeds back to weakenead ties to

CommInity. Heteroreneity als0 nCreaSes the comuner

Cialization and rationalization that lead to the erosIOn of

personal relations

Wirth also identified three consequences ol ubanLzalion.

which he defined as urbanism

Adaptive individuel bena ior whRch appears inrespOEe

to the changing urban context. Peopie hehave in more

aloof an inipersonal wyS nd do not rean 1her

behavior hccausc of the ihertics providcd y the urban

EnvironmenL

Netatic ndiviadual behavior for example mental l

ness. alcoholis1, anu oher deiantbehaviors that

nereasc because of the lack of ellcctive soCRl conrüls.

There is greater relfarnce on institutonmy culorced

Soctdl fragmentalion, Wich ecomes apped into spa-

tal segrepation ol roup. and soal tiAeS become

RILICE 1ere companu ntalizcd

What is it that local governments do? An awful lot,

it turns out. Much of a city's infrastructure-the

streets, sidewalks, lighting, ports, airports, sewers,

and water pipes that allow urban businesses and

residents to thrive are publicly owned. Some of

the transportation itself, mass transit in particular,

is under public control. Public safety is arranged

through the city's operation of police departments,

fire departments, and emergency squads. A city's

public face also appears through the establishment

and maintenance of parks-the green oases and

emerald necklaces that characterize great cities-in

recreational areas, and in monuments to great histori-

cal figures or to abstract ideals. The goal of universal

education is manifest in the network of public

schools, public universities, and free libraries. And

the incomplete goal of universal housing and welfare

is reflected in the varieties of public housing, free

medical clinics, and income-assistance programs.

An additional aspect of city and metropolitan gov

ernance has to do with its regulation of the con-

duct of private enterprise and of human activity. City

operations are involved in zoning different land uses,

requiring permits for almost any activity; regulat-

ing traffic, criminal, and potentially hazardous activ-

ity: inspecting facilities for health violations; levying

taxes and user fees; and making the kinds of deci-

sions that have repercussions throughout the city and

its environs.
Basic and Nonbasic Economic Activities

Every city must generate income as a result of its

economic activities. At the most fundamental level,

we can divide economic activities into two groups-

basic and nonbasic. This dichotomy allows us to start

to understand something about urban economies.

Basic versus Nonbasic Activities Basic eco-

nomic activities generate income for the residents

of the city. These activities export goods and ser-

vices produced within the city for sale outside of

the city-the engine for economic growth. Up until

the last several decades, basic activities were typ-

ically associated with manufacturing the making

of things through a system of divided labor. Today.

advanced services are also an important part of basic

urban activities.

In contrast, nonbasic economic activities circu-

late income within the city-rather than bringing

in income from the outside. Nonbasic activities

were traditionally associated with retailing and other

consumer services, although we will soon see that

this view has changed to include advanced services.

Figure 6.1 illustrates the differences between basic

and nonbasic activities.

urban economies are going to be robust and be able

to withstand downturns. However, large cities can

and have experienced population loss, especially

those in the old manufacturing areas of the Midwest,

such as Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and

many more.

Putting these pieces together, we see that produc

tion, at a fundamental level, must be defined as basic

economic activity activity that generates income

for the local community by exporting a product or

service. As industrial capitalism grew and developed,

manufacturing was considered to be a basic activity.

Factories brought in new basic sector workers, who

then supported local consumer-oriented service sec-

tor workers. Services were always thought to be local

and nonbasic.

As we discussed in Chapters 3 and 4, how

ever, the economy has changed radically since

the 1970s. Although manufacturing still generates

most of the nation's aggregate income, it employs

a much smaller segment of the overall workforce.

By replacing people with machines in the process

of producing things, manufacturing employs many

fewer workers than it used to. In one sense, this

process represents increased productivity, that is,

producing more things with fewer people. In another

sense, however, these economic changes present us

with a difficulty: if manufacturing no longer provides

the jobs that support the entire local urban economy,

then what does?

One answer is services but not the way we have

been talking about services so far. Here we refer to

advanced services. For example, the grocery store

is not a basic economic activity because it does not

bring income into the city from outside (unless it is

particularly large or offers specialty goods for which

people from surrounding communities will travel).

Rather, it primarily circulates income already present

within the local urban economy. Indeed, as we have

seen, the global economy increasingly relies on these

high-end services to coordinate its far-flung activ-

ities. So, instead of the factory worker being the

basic sector worker who supports the local econ

omy, lawyers and accountants and investors now play

that role by attracting customers from outside the

city. In some ways the multipliers associated with

high-end service workers are greater than the mul

tipliers associated with industrial workers because

service workers make, and thus spend locally, more

money. Thus, the shift from a manufacturing-based

metropolitan area to an advanced service-based cen-

ter results in greater multiplier effects. Cleveland

Ohio, for example, which suffered massive economic

shocks as manufacturing jobs were lost, has now

regained economic strength as the new advanced ser-

vice sector has gradually achieved significance. Sec-

ondary multiplier effects are now bringing prosperity

to many, though not all.