SOC2C07

URBAN SOCIOLOGY
SOC2C07
II SEMESTER
MA SOCIOLOGY
2019 Admission
UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT
School of Distance Education
Calicut University- P.O,
Malappuram - 673635, Kerala.
190357
UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT
Study Material
II SEMESTER
MA SOCIOLOGY
2019 ADMISSION (SOC2C07)
URBAN SOCIOLOGY
Prepared by:
Smt. Rakhi.N,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Sociology,
Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College,
Calicut.
Scrutinized by:
Sri. Shailendra Varma R,

Assistant Professor,
Department of Sociology,
Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College,
Calicut.
Disclaimer
"The author(s) shall be solely responsible
for the content and views expressed in this
book"
Urban Sociology 2
CONTENTS
1 MODULE 1 5
2 MODULE 2 58
3 MODULE 3 90
4 MODULE 4 120
Urban Sociology 3
Urban Sociology 4
MODULE 1
BASICS OF URBAN SOCIOLOGY
Urban sociology is the sociological study of life

and human interaction in urban areas. It is attempts to
study the structures, processes, changes and problems of
urban areas and also to provide input for planning and
policymaking. Urban Sociology as a distinct branch of
the sociology discipline emerged around early 20th
century. Even though cities existed even in earlier times,
the social changes caused by Industrial Revolution and
the development of cities motivated social scientists to
make the city the subject matter of study. After the
Industrial Revolution sociologists such as Max Weber
and Georg Simmel began to focus on the accelerating
process of urbanization and the effects it had on feelings
of social alienation and anonymity.
Classical sociological traditions of Urban Sociology
The classical theories of urban sociology are

derived from the works of sociologists like Durkheim,
Urban Sociology 5
Karl Marx, George Simmel, Max Weber and others.

Simmel felt that the money economy of the cities
destroyed the social life. Weber explained how mass
urbanization nullified opportunities or political
participation. Marx and Engels condemned the
consequences of urbanization under capitalism. They
viewed the concentration and misery of the mass of
workers in the new urban agglomerations as a necessary
stage in the creation of a revolutionary force. For them
pauperization and material degradation was one aspect of
urbanization but equally important was the destruction of
the social nexus of the traditional community and its
replacement by the utilitarian world of the city. Both for
theory and practice communism depended on urbanism.
Views of Durkheim
One of the key founders of sociology, Émile

Durkheim, was more positive about the nature of cities
and urbanized societies. He appreciated the social bonds
and community feeling in small rural societies which he
called mechanical solidarity, But he also thought that
these societies affected individual freedom and that
Urban Sociology 6
social ties still exist in larger, urban societies. He called

these social bonds in urban societies as organic
solidarity. According to him, it arises from the division
of labour. When there is a division of labour, everyone
has to depend on everyone else to perform their jobs.
This interdependence of roles creates organic solidarity.
Emile Durkheim indicated urbanization in his

book on division of labour in which he attempted to
describe organic solidarity or urban society’s
characteristics. Durkheim stated urbanization created a
new form of social cohesion based on mutual
interdependence. According to Durkheim such
interdependence is typical feature of organic solidarity or
cooperative society. He is optimistic about future of
city.
Durkheim argues that increase in human

population density and overall population size intensifies
competition between humans and that in turn leads
people to specialize and trade the products produced
through specialized activities. Occupations emerge as
Urban Sociology 7
people become specialists in a particular activity. Thus, a

more pronounced division of labour between peoples
derives from urbanization and to some degree from
population increases. Durkheim assigns a prominent role
to population change as a causal force.
Durkheim was of the opinion that cities generate

more creativity and greater tolerance for new ways of
thinking. He also considered that urban residents are
more tolerant than rural residents of non traditional
attitudes, behaviours, and lifestyles, because they are
much more exposed than rural residents to these non
traditional ways.
Durkheim considered that the result of evolving

specialisation and interdependence was social progress,
although he remained concerned that the division of
labour also brought with it certain problems. Among
these were the results of unregulated competition, class
conflict, and the feeling of meaninglessness generated by
routinised industrial work. But he felt that these social
and psychological consequences were temporary by-
Urban Sociology 8
products of the rapid rate at which industrialisation had

taken place and that appropriate economic controls and
norms of industrial relations would emerge in time to
remedy them. Likewise, Durkheim believed that anomie
were largely the result of the rapid and incomplete
transition from the old moral order to a society governed
by organic solidarity. Cities, according to him, were a
necessary stage of human civilisation and deviance was a
necessary modification or testing of existing mores
which opened the possibility of social change.
Views of Weber
Max Weber, the German sociologist in his book

‘The City’, defined Urban Sociology” as a whole system
characterized by complex order of social actions, social
relations and social institutions. It has following features
– a market, a fortification, a complicated legal system,
including a court and an elected body of administration.”
He considered the social structure of city as well

as its ecological-demographic characteristics. For him,
the city was a relatively closed and dense settlement.
Urban Sociology 9
Weber undertook survey of various cities throughout

world unlike others who focused on European cities
solely.
· Weber defined urban community as an ideal type

which required:
1. trade or commercial relations, e.g. market
2. court and law of its own
3. partial political autonomy
4. militarily self-sufficient for self-defence
5. forms of associations or social participation

whereby individuals engage in social relationships and
organizations.
Weber identified three types of cities:
• The consumer city, which relies on wealthy consumers

spending their gains from political power and office or
from landownership outside the town.
Urban Sociology 10
• The producer city, which is sustained by the

consumption of entrepreneurs, artisans, and merchants
from the production of factories, workshops, and
industries.
• The merchant city, where consumption capacity rests

on the revenues of traders based in the city that retail
production locally or abroad.
The city can also be identified as a politico-

administrative structure. It must have an autonomous
organisation. Weber called it a ‘community’ with special
administrative and political institutions. The city may
derive its revenues principally from agriculture but
constitutes an administrative unit for the region.
Medieval cities in Weber’s analysis were legal and
institutional expressions of the organised exercise of
power by defined social groups. In cities people gained
power. Cities provided a stage for struggles between
classes and status groups and the emergence of new
institutions. Individuality emerged in medieval towns as
craft and commercial guilds bound together and
Urban Sociology 11
demanded the allegiance of individuals in return for the

rights of citizenship. These communes, or conjurations
as Weber called them, enabled to establish and enforce
laws, maintain commercial monopolies, establish
markets free of feudal constraints, and build armies for
defence and the eventual expansion of powers.
· Weber suggested that cities are linked to larger

processes, economic or political orientations. Weber
rejects cities governed by religious groups or where the
authority is enforced on personal rather than
universalistic basis. He recounts a process in which the
development of the rational-legal institutions that
characterize the modern city enabled the individual to be
free from the traditional groups and therefore develop his
individuality. He emphasizes the closure, autonomy and
separateness of the urban community and stressed that
the historical peculiarities of the medieval city were due
to the location of the city within the total medieval
political and social organization. New relationships
based on models of efficiency, namely, bureaucracy, had
come to characterise the new age cities.
Urban Sociology 12
Views of Simmel
Simmel considered the importance of urban

experience and focussed on urbanism rather than
urbanization. "The Metropolis and Mental Life" is an
essay detailing his views on life in the city, focusing
more on social psychology. Simmel tried to understand
how the urban atmosphere influenced the way people
thought and behaved. He argues that the effects of size,
differentiation and rationality on social relationships are
most immediately visible and most intensely felt. These
three variables are prominent in his essay ‘The
Metropolis and Mental Life’.
Size: According to Simmel, the size of the metropolis is

significant. Larger social circles increase the scope of
individual freedom while reducing the quality of
relationships with others.
Differentiation: The effects of differentiation are most

pronounced in the metropolis, because cities are centres
of the highest economic division of labour. This extreme
differentiation is itself a function of size. Simmel argues
Urban Sociology 13
that only large human groups give rise to and can

support a wide variety of services.
Rationality: Simmel argues that ‘The metropolis has

always been the seat of the money economy’. Money is
both the source and the expression of metropolitan
rationality and intellectualism. Metropolises are guided
by calculation and intellect, not affection and emotion.
Simmel argues that urban life irreversibly transforms

one’s mind. He does not say that these changes are
negative, but that structural forces on socialization are
particularly strong in an urban setting. George Simmel is
pessimistic about urban growth and chose to focus on
urbanism rather than urbanization. Individual develops a
blasé attitude that is a social reserve, a detachment and
responds rationally than emotionally. It is the incapacity
to react to new sensations due to saturation and is re
inforced by the money economy.
In his discussion of Philosophy of Money, Simmel

says that money promotes rational calculation in human
affairs, furthering rationalization characteristic of
Urban Sociology 14
modern societies. Money replaces personal ties by

impersonal relations that limited to a specific purpose.
Above economic functions, it symbolizes and embodies
modern spirit of rationalism, calculability and
impersonality. Money becomes a common denominator
of all values, regardless of their individuality. Though
metropolitan life produces individual freedom, it also
leads to greater individualism and subjectivism.
Conceptualisation of Tonnies on Urban Society
Tonnies considered the social structure of city.

He defined two basic organizing principles of human
association or social life, a typology with a continuum of
pure type of settlement:
1. Gemeinschaft (community): characterized country

village, people in rural village have an essential
unity of purpose, work together for the common
good, united by ties of family (kinship) and
neighbourhood, land worked communally by
inhabitants, social life characterized by intimate,
private and exclusive living together, members
Urban Sociology 15
bound by common language and traditions,

recognized common goods and evils, common
friends and enemies, sense of commonness
2. Gesellschaft (association): characterized large city.

City life is a mechanical aggregate characterized by
disunity, rampant individualism and selfishness,
meaning of existence shifts from group to
individual, rational, calculating, each person
understood in terms of a particular role and service
provided; deals with the artificial construction of
an aggregate of human beings which superficially
resembles the Gemeinschaft in so far as the
individuals peacefully live together yet whereas in
Gemeinschaft people are united in spite of all
separating factors, in Gesellschaft people are
separated in spite of all uniting factors
· There are three types of Gemeinschaft

relationships: Kinship, Friendship, and Neighbourhood
or Locality
Urban Sociology 16
1. Kinship Gemeinschaft is based on Family; the

strongest relationship being between mother and child,
then husband and wife, and then siblings. Gemeinschaft
also exists between father and child, but this relationship
is less instinctual than that of mother and child.
However, the father-child relationship is the original
manifestation of authority within Gemeinschaft.
2. Kinship develops and differentiates into the

Gemeinschaft of Locality, which is based on a common
habitat
3. There is also Friendship, or Gemeinschaft of the mind,

which requires a common mental community
Tonnies in his book Community and Society

explained the impact of the market economy on
traditional forms of social association; the implications
of urbanization and the development of the state for the
conduct of social life and the mechanisms of social
solidarity in an individualized society. The distinction he
draws between the two forms of human association,
Gemeniscaft and Gesellschaft has become the basis for a
Urban Sociology 17
succession of typologies of which the best known are the

pattern variables formulated by Parsons and folk-urban
typology drawn by Redfield and Wirth.
Conceptualisation of Redfield on Urban Society
Robert Redfield has given the concept of rural -

urban continuum on the basis of his study of Mexican
peasants of Tepoztlain. The rapid process of urbanization
through the establishment of industries, urban traits and
facilities has decreased the differences between villages
and cities. Rural-urban continuum means continuity from
the village to the city. One end of this continuous scale is
the village: the other is the city. Both these social
formations are in ceaseless interaction. That is the reason
why villagers show the profound impact of city life on
them and certain cultural traits from villages are
developed in cities. The continuum also shows that the
development is from the village to the city. Over time,
villages are transformed into towns and cities.
Robert Redfield has made an important

contribution to develop the concept of folk, rural and
Urban Sociology 18
urban continuum. He has constructed a continuum from

small rural villages to large cities. More urban means
that population is more secular, more individualistic and
with a greater division of labour. The concept of a rural-
urban continuum is interpreted in more easy way as
continuity in the folk, the rural and the urban social
organisation. The rapid process of urbanization,
establishment of new technologically developed
industries in rural areas etc have left a great impact on
rural life. The spread of modem industrial traits has
decreased considerably the differences between the two
is not visible. Thus, invisible rural and urban cultural
boundaries have made it difficult to draw a line of
distinction. Hence, the marginal areas show
amalgamation and continuation of cultural traits of both
the societies.
In the Mexican village of Tepoztlán, Redfield

found a society that was neither isolated nor was it a part
of an urban conglomeration. It was rather something in
between. To understand it properly, new concepts and
methods of investigation were required. It was against
Urban Sociology 19
this background that the concepts of ‘folk society’ and

‘folk culture’ emerged. A folk society was small,
homogeneous, and tradition-bound, but was not closed to
influences and impacts from the outside world. These
societies were fast changing because of their ceaseless
contacts with the external world.
Redfield's speculations about what he saw as the

significant changes from the folk to the urban end of the
continuum are based on studies conducted in the
Yucatan during the early 1930s in the city of Merida, the
town of Dzitas, the Maya peasant village of Chan Kom,
and the "tribal" hamlet of Tusik. In his book ‘The Folk
Culture of Yucatan’, he presented the findings of the
comparison showing the process of change from tribal to
urban life. The concept of ‘folk urban continuum’ was an
outcome of this research. For analyzing the long-term
interaction between communities and civilization,
Redfield suggested the concepts of great tradition and
little tradition. The former was manifested in the urban
and intellectual elite, whereas the latter was represented
in the villages and rural communities. Redfield saw these
Urban Sociology 20
traditions in a process of constant interaction, where

elements from one tradition moved into the other and
were reinterpreted.
Urbanism
Urbanism is the concept which incorporates

within itself all the characters connected with
urbanization and the urban way of life. The concept was
developed by Louis Wirth. Urbanism is a developing
concept as the urban life pattern itself is a developing
and constantly changing phenomenon. Louis Wirth used
this term to denote distinct ways of living, typically
associated with city residence. Urbanism is the
consequence of living in urban areas. It is a peculiar
mode of living, a condition or set of circumstances.
Following Louis Wirth, urbanism is now regarded as “a
way of life.” Wirth outlines a limited number of
identifying characteristics of city. They are
i) Size
ii) Density
Urban Sociology 21
iii) Heterogenity
Size of Population: Since, the time of Aristotle, it has

been recognized that increase in the number of
inhabitants in a settlement beyond a certain limit will
affect the relationship between people and habitat. It
leads to competition over scarce resources and reduces
intimacy of relations, while increasing the number of
contacts and acquaintances. Competition and formal
control mechanisms provide the substitutes for bonds of
solidarity. Personal and intimate contacts arc reduced.
Urban social relations are impersonal and formal.
Impersonal market as the place of exchange and
distribution of goods and services is a typically urban
character.
Density: Increase in the size of the population over a

limited area increases its density. Increase in density
produces differentiation and specialization as a necessary
condition for survival. In denser areas while physical
contacts will be close, social contacts are distant.
Increase in size and density of population are the
Urban Sociology 22
necessary concomitant of urbanization Density increases

diversification. Place of work tends to become
dissociated from place of residence. Tensions and
frustrations are common. Deviance and disorganization
becomes a regular feature.
Heterogeneity: Heterogeneity is another aspect of

urbanization as urban areas include people of a variety of
cultural, ethnic and social backgrounds. Social
interaction among a variety of personality types breaks
down the rigidity of caste and complicates the class
structure. The contact and mixing up of a variety of
cultural patterns inevitably leads to their assimilation and
the creation of a sort of common mass culture in an
urban agglomeration. This explains the sophistication
and cosmopolitanism of the urban people.
Louis Wirth believed that the larger, the denser,

and the more heterogenous the population of an area, the
more urbanised will be the life style of the people. His
view was that the city's heterogeneity, large size, high
density; secular cosmopolitan atmosphere tended to be
Urban Sociology 23
seen as contributing to people's alienation rather than

affording an opportunity for richer life. Urbanism as a
way of life is characterised by extensive conflicts of
norms and values, by rapid social change, by increased
social differentiation, greater social mobility, by higher
levels of education and income, by emphasis on material
possessions and individualism, by impersonality of
relationships and decline in Intimate communication and
by increase in formal social controls. On the basis of the
three variables- number, density of settlement, and
degree of heterogeneity of the urban population, it is
possible to explain the characteristics of urban life and to
account for the differences between cities of various
sizes and types.
Urbanism as a characteristic mode of life may be

approached empirically from three interrelated
perspectives:
(1) as a physical structure comprising a

population base, a technology, and an ecological order
Urban Sociology 24
(2) as a system of social organization involving a

characteristic social structure, a series of social
institutions, and a typical pattern of social relationships
and (3) as a set of attitudes and ideas, and a

constellation of personalities engaging in typical forms
of collective behaviour and subject to characteristic
mechanisms of social control.
Louis Wirth has given four characteristics of urbanism
• Transiency: An urban inhabitant's relation with

others last only for a short time; he tends to forget his old
acquaintances and develop relations with new people.
Since he is not much attached to his neighbours, he does
not mind leaving them.
• Superficiality: An urban person has the limited

number of persons with whom he interacts and his
relations with them are impersonal and formal. People
meet each other in highly segmental roles. They are
dependent on more people for the satisfaction of their
life needs.
Urban Sociology 25
• Anonymity: Urban people do not know each

other intimately. Personal mutual acquaintance between
the inhabitants which ordinarily is found in a
neighbourhood is lacking.
• Individualism: People give more importance to

their own vested interests.
The chief characteristics of urbanism as according to

Wirth are
(1) Growth and diversity associated with relatively weak

bonds among co-residents. Formal methods of social
control therefore, substitute for common tradition.
(2) The persons become more purposive and

relationships become contractual in nature
(3) A highly developed division of labour associated

with the emphasis on treating the social relations as
means to ends. People become goal-oriented only.
Written and well defined ethics and rules control the
relationships especially the contractual relations.
Urban Sociology 26
(4) The elaborate division of labour grows as the market

grows. Extreme specialization and inter-dependence is
associated with an unstable equilibrium in the city, since
people keep on changing their positions for further
development.
(5) As the city grows, increasing dependence on indirect

communication as a method of spreading information
and opinions and of making decisions.
(6) As the density of population in an area increases,

greater differentiation and specialization tend to result.
(7) Land becomes very costly and only those who can
derive maximum profit from it, purchase it.
(8) The absence of close sentimental and emotional ties

between co-workers and between co-residents fosters
competition and mutual exploitation rather than co-
operation.
(9) The interaction of persons with varied roles and

personalities breaks down simple class distinction. The
Urban Sociology 27
class structure is less clear and a person’s position within

it may be somewhat inconsistent with each other.
Criticism of Wirth’s Theory of Urbanism
Wirth’s theory is criticised for the following reasons
 Although, Wirth desired generalizations which

would hold for all cities, some of his deductions
apply only to industrial cities if at all.
 Wirth’s view that relationship in a rural society
tend to be primary while those in an urban
society tend to be secondary in character is also
criticised.
 Wirth has given due emphasis on secularization
and disorganization in cities. But many studies
showed that urbanization is not necessarily
accompanied by destruction of social and moral
order.
Urbanity
Urbanity refers to the characteristics, personality

traits, and viewpoints associated with cities and urban
Urban Sociology 28
areas. Other related characteristics of urbanity are speed,

flows of people, information, and goods, and mobility, as
well as concentration and density. Urbanity stands for
city’s life quality and character; it refers to the particular
pattern of functional, structural, socio-economic and
cultural interplay in urban sites.
Urbanization
Urbanization is the movement of population from

rural to urban areas and the resulting increasing
proportion of a population that resides in urban rather
than rural places. It involves not only movement from
village to cities and change from agricultural occupation
to business, trade, service and profession but it also
involves change in the migrants attitudes, beliefs, values
and behaviour patterns. The process of urbanization is
rapid all over the world. The facilities like education,
healthcare system, employment avenues, civic facilities
and social welfare are reasons attracting people to urban
areas. Urbanization refers to the population shift from
rural to urban areas. It is the gradual increase in the
Urban Sociology 29
proportion of people living in urban areas and the ways

in which each society adapts to the change. It is the
process whereby a society changes from a rural to an
urban way of life.
Urbanization implies a cultural and social

psychological process whereby people acquire the
material and non-material culture, including behavioural
patterns, forms of organization, and ideas that originated
in, or are distinctive of the city. The administrative and
political developments have played an important role in
urbanization in the past as well as present. The
administrative or political factor often acts as a stimulus
for urban growth which is further advanced by the
growth of commercial and industrial activities.
Urbanization in modern times is essentially an economic
process. The city exists and grows on the strength of the
economic activities within it. The proportion of a
country’s total population living in urban areas has
generally been considered as a measure of the level of
urbanization. Population growth in urban areas is partly a
function of natural increase in population and partly the
Urban Sociology 30
result of migration from rural areas and smaller towns.

An increase in the level of urbanization is possible only
through migration of people from rural to urban areas.
Hence, migration or change of location of residence of
people is a basic mechanism of urbanization. This is
essentially a geographical process, in the sense that it
involves the movement of people from one place to
another. Urbanisation is often used to refer to a broad-
based rural-to-urban transition involving population,
land use, economic activity and culture, or any one of
these.
The concept of urbanization can be interpreted in

two ways—demographically and sociologically. The
demographic meaning refers to the increasing proportion
of population in a country or a region that resides in
cities. Sociologically, it refers to the behaviour,
institutions and materialistic things that are identified as
urban in origin and use. In other words, it is a social
process which is the cause and consequence of a change
in the man’s way of life in the urban milieu.
Urban Sociology 31
John Palen defines Urbanization as ‘an increase

in population concentration; organizationally it is an
alteration in structure and functions’.
According to Eldridege, Urbanization involves

two elements such as the multiplication of points of
concentration and the increase in the size of individual
concentration.
Thompson Warren in Encyclopaedia of Social

Sciences states ‘Urbanization is the movement of people
from communities concerned chiefly or solely with
agriculture to other communities, generally large whose
activities are primarily concerned with the government,
trade, manufacture or allied interests’.
According to Anderson, ‘Urbanization is not a

one-way process, but it is a two way process. It involves
not only movement from villages to cities and change
from agricultural occupation to business, trade, service
and profession, but it involves change in the migrants’
attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviour pattern.’ Thus,
according to him, urbanization involves the following
Urban Sociology 32
i. Concentration of people at population densities higher

than those associated with agricultural populations with
only very rare exceptions on either side.
ii. Migration from rural to urban areas.
iii. Occupational shift from agricultural to non-

agricultural.
iv. Land-use shift from agricultural to non-agricultural.
Thus, urbanization can be summarized as a

process which reveals itself through changes in
demographic, social, economic, technological and
environmental aspects of life in a given society.
Urbanisation has its own positive and negative

consequences. Some of the positive implications of
urbanization are creation of employment opportunities,
technological and infrastructural advancements,
improved transportation and communication, quality
educational and medical facilities, and improved
standards of living. However, extensive urbanization
mostly results in adverse effects. They are housing
Urban Sociology 33
problem, congestion, unemployment, development of

slums etc.
Rapid growth of urban centres can lead to urban

sprawl, where new subdivisions are developed around
the outer edges of urban centres, often taking up valuable
farmland. Many residents want larger houses, more
space, and quieter and safer neighbourhoods, which they
find in the new suburban developments far removed
from the inner core of the city. This kind of growth
requires the expansion of utilities and the road network,
as well as the provision of services such as schools,
recreation, health care, and retail business. The growth of
suburbs also leads to increased reliance on automobiles
for commuting to work, resulting in frequent traffic
problems as well as air pollution through the heavy
reliance of fossil fuels. In the case of many less-
developed countries, cities are simply not able to handle
the influx of residents, which may result in the growth of
shantytowns and large suburban slum areas with a
variety of associated problems.
Urban Sociology 34
Berry indicates that urbanization may be

accompanied by ‘counter-urbanization’ or decreasing
city size and density. City growth sometimes occurs in
cycles, which begin with rapid growth in the urban core,
followed by rapid growth in the suburban ring, a decline
in growth in both the core and the ring, and then rapid
growth in the core. These cycles—of urbanization,
suburbanization, counter-urbanization, and re
urbanization—appear to be associated with
concentrations of services in city centres, followed by
improvements in commuting by the labour force and
increased suburban home ownership by urban labour
forces.
Sub-Urbanization, is closely related to over-

urbanization of a city. When cities get over-crowded by
population, it may result in sub-urbanization. Delhi is a
typical example. Sub-urbanization means urbanization of
rural areas around the cities characterized by a sharp
increase in the non-agricultural uses of land inclusion of
surrounding areas of towns within its municipal limits,
Urban Sociology 35
and intensive communication of all types between town

and its surrounding areas.
Over Urbanization refers to the increased

exemplification of the characters of urbanisation in a city
or its surrounding rural area. It results due to the
excessive development of urban traits. Due to the
expansion of the range of urban activities and
occupations, greater influx of secondary functions like
industry, increasing and widespread development of an
intricate bureaucratic administrative network, the
increased sophistication and mechanization of life and
the influx of urban characters into the surrounding rural
area, over urbanization gradually replaces the rural and
traditional traits of a community. Mumbai and Calcutta
are two such examples of cities.
City, Town, Mega-Cities, Metropolis and Megalopolis
A city is a relatively large, dense, permanent,

heterogeneous, and politically autonomous settlement
whose population engages in a range of non agricultural
occupations. Definitions of cities and their associated
Urban Sociology 36
phenomena vary by time and place, and by population

size, area, and function. The city is often defined in
terms of administrative area. The suburb is a less dense
but permanent settlement that is located outside the city
and contains populations that usually have social and
economic ties to the city. A city is a physical entity, a
functional entity as well as a social entity. Apart from
being a physical entity, a city is also a functional entity
where economic, political, and administrative activities
are performed. In cities, large volume of trade,
commerce and financial services are performed, offices
of business groups, government offices and major units
of administrative bodies are also located which sustain
educational and employment opportunities. Apart from
being a physical or a functional entity, a city is also a
social entity. The cities are heterogeneous places where
people from various social, cultural and ethnic
backgrounds live in close proximity. A city is a legally
defined entity with a structured system of governance,
and which has delegated powers to oversee local
legislation as well as the management of resources.
Urban Sociology 37
Citizens of a city are responsible for electing

representatives who form the local government that
provides local services. The city in many countries has
been defined in legal terms. A place is legally made a
city by a declaration, called a charter, which is granted
by a higher authority. In India, the State Government has
the responsibility of granting municipal/civic status to a
settlement or notifying it as a town. Such towns are
known as statutory towns. Another equally simple
approach is provided through statistical indicators.
According to the statistical definition, a place having
certain number of population will be known as a city. It
is obvious that a place does not become a city by merely
reaching that figure. It is equally obvious that a place
with that minimum number of persons and another one
with over one million persons must have something in
common, besides having a certain number of inhabitants
if we have to justify our calling them both cities, as
distinct from rural settlements. Another quantitative
criterion for defining the city on is the basis of
population density. The definitions based on the density
Urban Sociology 38
of population have been questioned for certain reasons. It

is impossible to state at what density a settlement
changes from the rural to the urban type.
A town is an intermediate between rural and

urban communities. It is too large for all inhabitants to
be acquainted with one another, yet small enough for
informal relationships to predominate. Social behaviour
more closely resembles the rural than the metropolitan
city pattern. Town and City are classification of places.
Places of residences in terms of human settlements are
often classified as cities, towns and villages. Cities are
the largest of the three in terms of area and also have the
densest population. Towns are larger than villages but
smaller than cities. Difference between town and city is
often a confusing one, and in different parts of the world,
often the two terms are used interchangeably. There are
different laws classifying a particular region as a town or
a city in different countries and what may be a town in
UK may classify as a city in the US and vice versa but in
India a minimum population of 5,000 constituted to be a
town and a population of 100,000 considered to be cities.
Urban Sociology 39
In general however, a town is a residential area that is

smaller than a city and also has a smaller population.
A megacity is defined as a city that has a

population higher than 10 million people. The term was
first documented by the University of Texas in
1904. The first megacity by modern standards was New
York, which had surpassed the 10 million population
mark by 1936. The early trend saw many of these cities
appear in traditionally developed areas—such as Paris,
London and Tokyo. However, in recent years there has
been a shift. Almost 70% of the current 47 megacities
are found in Asia, and this figure is likely to increase in
the coming years as the global movement into urban
areas continues.
A metropolis was initially the places from which

settlers were sent to discover, and colonize other areas. It
has since developed into a descriptive term for large
cities that are key centres of national and regional socio-
economic activity, sharing many of the same
characteristics with a global city. Metropolis, a Greek
Urban Sociology 40
word actually consisting of two words-meter (mother)

and polis (city). Hence, metropolis can be translated into
English as mother city Lewis Mumford classified cities
on the basis of levels of technological development in
Europe such as; Eopolis, Polis, Metropolis, Megalopolis,
Tyrannopolis and Necropolis. In ancient times, the term
metropolis was reserved for a specific type of a city: the
capital of an empire, state, kingdom and places from
which "the rest of the world" (or at least some major
territory) was ruled. Thus, a metropolis would rank
considerably higher than a provincial city. In modern
days, any major city likes to be thought of as a
metropolis, even if it is not the seat of the government. A
modern meaning of the word metropolis often is any
place which is a political, cultural, or economic centre,
though not necessarily all of them. The term metropolis
originally defined a relationship between various
settlements and a certain city – the metropolis. In ancient
Greece, a metropolis was the source or home city of a
colonial settlement. The Greek term metropolis means
home city but also implies the connotation of a capital or
Urban Sociology 41
global city. Athens, Corinth and Syracuse are examples

of such metropolises. During the 20th century, the term
metropolis began to be used as a term in public planning
to denote areas of entwinement. The American
metropolitan statistical areas refers to urban
agglomerations according to the size of their population.
A metropolis is a central space of national

importance. Dirk Bronger (2004) characterized the
metropolis using its functional primacy. The metropolis
dominates the economical, political and cultural
processes of a country. Classic examples are Paris and
London. Metropolisation describes the process of
concentration of certain functions and population in the
various cities of a country. Bronger introduced three
parameters for the metropolis. The metropolis is defined
by: (1) a minimum size of one million inhabitants, (2) a
minimum population density of 2,000 inhabitants per
sqkm and (3) a monocentric structure.
Metropolises play their role in determining the

‘urban system’. In India, the urban system primarily
Urban Sociology 42
rotates around four principal metro areas, of Mumbai,

Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The impact of metro culture
is being felt in the areas administratively and econom-
ically around the nucleus only while the areas which are
farther and even farthest from the metro city remain
affected by much lesser degree.
A cluster of well-networked cities is called a

megalopolis, a term first used in the early 20th century.
This Greek word meaning “great city”, was popularized
by Jean Gottman and signifies ‘super- metropolitan’
region extending, as union of conurbations. These can
occur for a variety of reasons since certain areas tend to
attract more growth than others. Geography can play a
large role in the location of megalopolises, as can good
international and regional transport links. The
subsequent economic growth of one city can have a
positive impact on neighbouring locations. One of the
first examples of a megalopolis was the north-eastern
coast of the USA from Boston to Washington—the Bos-
Wash Megalopolis. The dominant theme of Megalopolis
is "urbanness." In varying degrees, urban services
Urban Sociology 43
provide for the millions who live in this region, and

urban forms are never far away. There are office and
apartment buildings, small shops and mammoth
shopping centres, factories, refineries, residential areas,
gas stations. But Megalopolis also contains many green
spaces. Some are parks or other land available for
recreation. Throughout Megalopolis, it is the urban
forms and urban functions that provide the most
significant regional unity to the territory. Tall buildings,
busy streets, crowded housing, and industrial plants
accompany an array of cultural opportunities like art
museums, and large libraries. Also sometimes there are
obvious conditions like deteriorated dilapidated
structures, traffic congestion, and air pollution. All of
these and more are present in the metropolitan areas of
Megalopolis.
Ethnic Enclaves
Many major urban centres have areas with a large

number of residents of a particular ethnic or cultural
group. Sometimes referred to as ethnic neighbourhoods
Urban Sociology 44
or ethnic enclaves, these places often reflect the cultures,

foods, institutions, and entertainment of the people who
live there. An ethnic enclave is a geographical area
where a particular ethnic group is spatially clustered and
socially and economically distinct from the majority
group. Thet are usually urban areas, within which
culturally distinct minority communities maintain ways
of life largely separate from those of the generally larger
communities that surround them. Ethnic enclaves have
had significant roles in bridging the period between the
arrivals of new and culturally different immigrant groups
and their assimilation into the country of destination. By
providing a space for co-ethnics to create potentially
beneficial relations, ethnic enclaves assist members in
achieving economic mobility. The Enclaves create an
alternative labour market that is ethnic-specific and does
not demand social and cultural skills of the host country.
Overall, the benefits associated with living in
an enclave can be thought of as a “buffer,” which
reduces the cost of cultural or language assimilation by
making these requirements less necessary to labour
Urban Sociology 45
market success. Residence in an ethnic enclave may

therefore benefit immigrants' economic performance.
However, there are also reasons why ethnic

enclaves might hamper the economic assimilation of the
immigrants. An enclave economy can offer only a
limited number of jobs. While a local enclave economy
might offer job opportunities in the short term, in the
long term they might reduce the incentives for
immigrants to acquire important host-country skills,
especially language skills. This would limit the
opportunities of finding or moving to better-paying jobs
in the wider labour market, possibly outside the enclave.
Ethnic enclaves are usually located geographically far
away from the most attractive employment opportunities,
which in turn hamper immigrants’ chances in the labour
market.
Gated Communities
Gated communities have become common forms

of housing development in cities around the world.
Atkinson and Blandy have defined Gated Communities
Urban Sociology 46
as “walled or fenced housing developments, to which

public access is restricted, characterized by legal
agreements which tie the residents to a common code of
conduct and (usually) collective responsibility for
management.” The “physical barrier to entry” and the
“restricted access” for non-residents are the two aspects
most characteristic of ‘Gated Communities’. Usually all
aspects of daily life within Gated Communities are
controlled by strict rules that are accepted voluntarily by
the residents.
One of the most popular general classification of

gated communities is proposed by Blakely and Snyder,
who developed a typology based on function by studying
gated communities of USA. In this typology three types
of gated communities are identified: Lifestyle, Prestige,
and security zone communities.
Lifestyle communities focus on leisure activities

with recreational facilities, common amenities, and
shared services at their core. It includes retirement
villages, golf communities, or suburban new towns.
Prestige communities serve as symbols of wealth

and status for image conscious residents, focus on
Urban Sociology 47
exclusivity over community it includes the rich and

famous communities, top fifth communities, and
executive communities for the middle class.
Security zone communities reflect a fear of

outsiders formed by their inhabitants, because of the fear
of crime and strangers. This category includes the city,
the suburban, and the barricade perch. These are called
‘perch’ because the gates are built by residents rather
than by developers.
Several factors have influenced the expansion of

gated communities. Increased fear of crime, a search for
a better lifestyle, desire for a sense of community, a
search for social homogeneity, aspirations for higher
social status and social distinction within particular
social groups have all contributed to the emergence of
gated communities.
Classification of Urban centres: Industry, Service

and Business centred developments
The earliest towns were centres of administration,

trade, industry, defence and religious importance. The
significance of defence and religion as differentiating
Urban Sociology 48
functions has declined in general, but other functions

have entered the list. Today, several new functions, such
as, recreational, residential, transport, mining,
manufacturing and most recently activities related to
information technology are carried on in specialised
towns.
The earliest towns were centres of administration,

trade, industry, defence and religious importance. The
significance of defence and religion as differentiating
functions has declined in general, but other functions
have entered the list. Today, several new functions, such
as, recreational, residential, transport, mining,
manufacturing and most recently activities related to
information technology are carried on in specialized
towns. Some of these functions do not necessarily
require the urban centre to have any fundamental
relationship with their neighbouring rural areas. In spite
of towns performing multiple functions we refer to their
dominant function. Thus urban centres may be classified
as
Urban Sociology 49
1) Administrative Towns: National capitals,

which house the administrative offices of central
governments, such as New Delhi, Beijing, Addis Ababa,
Washington D.C., and London etc. are called
administrative towns.
2) Trading and Commercial Towns: Agricultural

market towns, banking and financial centres, large inland
centres and transport nodes etc have been important
trading centres.
3) Cultural Towns: Places of pilgrimage, such as

Jerusalem, Mecca, Jagannath Puri and Varanasi etc. are
considered cultural towns. These urban centres are of
great religious importance.
Sjoberg (1960) has described preindustrial cities

as feudal in nature and sharing social, ecological,
economic, family, class, political, religious, and
educational characteristics different from those in
modern industrial cities. In the former, the city centre,
with its government and religious and economic
activities, dominated the remainder of the city and was
Urban Sociology 50
the locale of the upper social classes. Homogeneous

residential areas were found throughout the city, but non
residential activities were not confined to distinct
neighbourhoods.
Beginning in the tenth century, further town

development in the West was facilitated by increases in
agricultural technology, population, trade, and
communication; the rise of an entrepreneurial class; and
an expanding web of social norms regarding economic
activity. Communication and manufacturing were
revived, which led to the growth of towns with local
autonomy and public administration, and eventually to
networks of cities. Surplus rural populations migrated to
towns and cities, which grew because of their
specialization and larger markets, becoming focal points
of European societies.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, some

European central place and port cities, established
commercial links with others. Meanwhile, other cities in
the Eastern Hemisphere and some cities in the Western
Urban Sociology 51
Hemisphere were linked together by long-distance trade

routes transcending the boundaries of empires and states.
Military-commercial alliances facilitated the
incorporation of territories into states. Commercial ties
expanded during the late-fifteenth and the sixteenth
centuries, as Europeans developed merchant capitalism,
and traded with and colonized peoples on other
continents.
In India, the problem of classifying urban centres

is not an easy task. This is because of several reasons.
First, the number of towns in India is too large to handle
on some viable grounds. The size of towns has a wide
span ranging between 5,000 to 10 million. Secondly, the
towns of India have a long historical background and
have been under various regimes dating back thousand
years from birth of Christ to the present era of
democratic set-up. And finally, the data about functions
and economy of Indian cities have not yet been
standardized. Due to these reasons, classifications and
categorization of urban places in India differ
considerably.
Urban Sociology 52
The most common functional classification of the

Indian cities is –
1. Administrative Cities: The main function of

the administrative cities/towns is to administer the
country, state or any other administrative unit. It includes
not only the capital cities of the country, but also all the
centres of states, districts and other administrative
divisional headquarters of the country. In the
administrative cities are placed the legislative, executive
and judiciary of the respective administrative unit. New
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore,
Hyderabad, Kohima etc. are essentially administrative
cities.
2. Defence Towns: The dominant functions in a

defence town pertain to security and defence of the
country. In fact, such towns are characterised with
cantonments, barracks, military training centres, air-
force bases, harbours, strategic locations, and naval
headquarters. Ambala, Jalandhar, Jodhpur, Pathankot,
Urban Sociology 53
Udhampur, Vishakhapatnam, etc. are some of the

examples of defence towns.
3. Cultural Cities: These cities perform either

religious educational or recreational functions. The cities
of Allahabad, Amritsar, Ajmer, Dharamshala, Gangotri,
Hardwar, Varanasi, etc. are the religious centres in which
the religious rituals are performed, and the markets are
full of religious books and accessories required for the
religious rituals. The educational cities like Aligarh,
Kharagpur, Shantiniketan, etc. are some of the examples
of educational cultural centres.
4. Collection Centres: The mining towns, fishing

ports, lumbering centres are included in this category.
The urban places of Machlipatnam, Mahe, Cuddalore,
etc. are some of the examples of collection centres.
5. Production Centres: The urban places having

manufacturing industries are included in the category of
manufacturing cities. The manufacturing cities are
generally well connected with the areas of raw material
and the markets where the manufactured goods can be
Urban Sociology 54
sold. Thus, these cities are well connected by roads and

railways. Bhilai, Bokaro, Coimbatore, Vishakhapatnam,
etc. are some of the important manufacturing centres of
India.
6. Transfer and Distribution Centres: The main

functions performed at the transfer centres are trade,
commerce and services. This category includes several
categories of towns. The market towns are characterised
by markets containing wide range of goods, godowns,
and wholesale markets. The most important commercial
centres are Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmadabad,
Gwalior, Indore, Ludhiana etc.
7. Resorts: The urban places which cater the

recreation needs of people are known as resorts or
recreation towns. These towns may be based on seaside
recreation, mountain-climbing, sports facilities, national
parks, tiger reserves and places of aesthetic beauty.
Dehra-Dun, Dalhousie, Darjeeling, Dharamshala,
Gulmarg, Kullu, Manali, Mt. Abu, Nainital, Ooty etc. are
some of the examples of resort towns.
Urban Sociology 55
8. Residential Towns: Some of the towns and

cities are developed just to provide residential
accommodation to the urban people. In Delhi, Rohini,
Indirapuram, SaraswatiVihar, etc. are some of the
examples of residential towns. Similar residential towns
are found at the outskirts of Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, etc.
9. Seaports: The basic task of seaports is to

export and import goods. Diamond Harbour, Kandla,
Kochi, New Mangalore, New-Tuticorin, Okhla,
Paradeep, etc. may be included in this category.
10. Cities with Diversified Functions: As stated,

most of the cities and towns of India are multi-
functional. The capital cities are also the commercial,
manufacturing, cultural and recreational centres. The
seaports are engaged in trade and commerce, beside
cultural activities. Cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,
Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur, Allahabad, and
Varanasi are performing highly assorted functions.
Urban Sociology 56
Over the period of time, a number of cities have

seen changes in their functional character. One has to
keep in mind these changes while attempting a
functional classification of cities. For example, some of
the important cities of the past have disappeared as they
lost their strategic, administrative, manufacturing or
commercial importance.
Urban Sociology 57
MODULE 2
URBAN ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES AND

THEORIES
Urban Ecology
Ecology is the science that studies the

interrelationship between organisms and their
environment. Urban ecology is concerned with the
problem of how human population adapted to their urban
environment. The ecological approach assumed a
significant place in urban studies in 1930s in different
parts of the world. The advocates of human ecology at
the Chicago School were Robert E. Park, R.D.
McKenzie and Ernest W. Burgess. They attempted to
relate ethnographic characteristics of urban life to the
spatial distribution of urban population. Urban ecology is
based upon identifying and mapping geographical
sectors of a large land area, and then analysing the social
phenomena which are peculiar to the various smaller
areas. In most of the ecological models urban areas are
Urban Sociology 58
compared showing some kind of central tendency for

each locale. Ecological studies produce composite
overview of group tendencies and then specific
subgroups. Thus, they provide information for
aggregates not for individuals.
Urban ecology is the study of community

structure and organization in cities and other relatively
dense human settlements. Urban ecology is concerned
with the patterns of urban community sorting and change
by socioeconomic status, life cycle, and ethnicity, and
with patterns of relations across systems of cities. Of
particular concern is the dynamic evolution of cities and
contrast in urban structure across time periods, societies,
and urban scale.
Elements of Urban Ecology- POETS
Urban ecosystems, like all ecosystems, are

composed of biological components and physical
components. In all ecosystems these components interact
with one another within a specified area. In urban
ecosystems, however, the biological complex also
Urban Sociology 59
includes human populations, their demographic

characteristics, their institutional structures, and the
social and economic tools they employ. The physical
complex includes buildings, transportation networks,
modified surfaces and the environmental alterations
resulting from human interventions. The physical
components of urban ecosystems also include use and
the import, transformation, and export of materials.
Duncan’s ecological model emphasizes the

interrelationship between four variables--
Population; Organization; Environment;
and Technology. This is a model of social change, in
which societal functions are basically sorted into four
categories. The P.O.E.T. Model is used to examine the
different aspects of an urban society. The POET
(Population, Organization, Environment, Technology)
model is regarded as an ecological model best applied to
studying the relationship between human beings and
their environment.
Urban Sociology 60
Population: The most obvious factor influencing

the urbanization process is population growth. The
components of this urban growth are threefold – natural
increase, rural to urban migration and ethnically diverse
migration from overseas. Different components affected
urban growth at different times in history.
Organization: Institutions ultimately determine

how and where the resources of the nation are to be used.
The organisational aspects influence the transformation
of a society
Environment : The biotic and abiotic factors form

part of the environment and play a significant part in
urbanisation
Technology: Elements of technology have

influenced the formation and transformation of urban
societies.
“POET” are the key factors in the analysis of

suburbs growth and any change in one element
influences all the other elements and causes a change in
the degree and pattern of urbanisation. Sociologists
argue that "Social Organization" is a critical variable in
Urban Sociology 61
this model. Thus the elements of urban ecology were

further modified to include the aspect of Social
Organisation and re designate the elements as POETS.
Ecological Processes
It means those processes by which spatial

distribution of people and activities change. They
include:
 Centralization
 Concentration
 Decentralization
 Invasion
 Segregation
 Succession
Centralisation and Decentralisation
Centralization occurs when various institutions

and establishments are drawn together along lines of
transportation and communication. Decentralization is
the scattering of functions from the main districts to the
outlying districts.
Urban Sociology 62
Invasion and Succession
Invasion occurs when new types of people,

institutions, or activities enter an area previously
occupied by a different type. Succession occurs when the
new population or new function gains dominance. Both
these processes are adopted from ecology to describe the
neighbourhood change and growth of the city whereby
one social group succeeds in establishing itself by
pushing out another in the valued urban space. These
terms are associated with the Chicago School and
particularly Burgess' Zonal Model. According to this
model, the growing demand for land of the immigrant
population for housing and other activities forces them to
move to outward areas.
lnvasion refers to the inflow of rural population

towards the city centre for various purposes-
employments, education etc. It is more reflected among
low economic status of immigrant groups. They move
into adjacent residential areas, having a negative impact
on the quality of life of the current occupant. Sometimes,
Urban Sociology 63
the highest status groups find it more comfortable and

convenient to move out of the city and shift to the
periphery of the city. The word 'invasion' has a negative
connotation which reflects negative sentiment of the
resident population for the fresh migrants.
Succession means a process that shows

successive movement of people in outward zones as the
need arise. This movement is neither abrupt nor uniform,
it moves in successive phases called succession. It is also
viewed as an attack on the ecological or natural habitat
of outer zones. Succession is a complementary process to
invasion as it proceeds only after the invasion. These
ecological processes of invasion and succession are
frequently associated with an ethnic minority group's
movement into an area and the following changes that
are characteristics of many of the city's natural areas.
Concentration and Segregation
Concentration occurs with the growth of towns

and cities. It refers to population increase in a given area,
as determined by population density. Concentration is a
Urban Sociology 64
process of urban society which is very obvious. It occurs

due to large rate of the immigration of rural population
towards the city. This rural-urban or even urban-urban
migration leads to a higher concentration of population
in the city with a variable demographic composition. A
higher concentration of population further results in
higher social interactions but is also characterized by
superficial relationship or anonymity, pressure on
available infrastructure etc. The fast growing population-
density of cities is one significant indicator of the
process of concentration. The tendency is towards
localization of economic activity in and around a
relatively small number of urban centres.
Ethnic concentration exhibits another significant

aspect of urban society. It is viewed both as a general
process of residential differentiation among urban
populations and as an aggregate effect of socio-economic
and cultural differences. A number of studies have
shown that ethnic groups vary considerably in the degree
of their residential concentration. Residential proximity
to persons of the same ethnic origin provides one
Urban Sociology 65
important means of preserving familial cultural values

and preferred modes of behaviour.
Segregation is also an important ecological

process to understand social institutions and social
groups in urban society. It refers to a process in which
urban population becomes more and more divided into
various social groups in terms of income status, social
status and other criteria. This division is due to spatial
isolation and rearrangement of the residential pattern.
Residential segregation is quite an observable
phenomenon, which further widens the social distance
among various localities. The greater the degree of
differences between the spatial distributions of groups
within an urban area, the greater their social distance
from each other. Ecological segregation arises from the
fact that people differ according to ethnic grouping,
religion, social class, or occupation.
Urban community and spatial dimensions: Park,

Burgess and Mc Kenzie
Robert Park and Ernst Burgess along with their
colleagues at Chicago school developed an ecological
approach of urban sociology. The ecological approach of
Urban Sociology 66
urban sociology focused on understanding the effects

produced by the urban environment on social
organisation and behaviour. It is presumed that life in
urban space is the creation of urban space. Hence human
concerned with how human populations adapt
collectively to their environment. Ecology represents a
fusion of different disciplines or it is an interdisciplinary
study which covers the areas of economics, geography
and sociology. Park and Burgess saw the city as a social
organism with individual and collective behaviour
governed by the competitive struggle for existence.
Robert E. Park coined the term Human Ecology that
maintains that the city and city life are product of
competition in the natural environment.
The University of Chicago produced an

extraordinary output of social thought throughout the
twentieth century. Its most famous teachers were W.I.
Thomas, R.G. Park, Burgess, McKenzie, Wirth, Cooley,
Mead and Goffman. The school focused its research on a
series of urban studies in the Chicago metropolis. In
doing so, it developed and applied ethnographic methods
Urban Sociology 67
to the study of urban society. Developing a new

perspective on the analysis of urban society and
development, the Chicago school created a benchmark
for urban research.
ROBERT PARK’S ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
The foundation of urban sociology in the United

States is credited to Robert Park. Park developed many
ideas about the ways in which spatial features of the
environment influence organisation and experience.
There are two main themes reflecting in Park’s work.
• First, is the interest in the evolving structure of

the city itself, the physical form of the city and the way
different land uses and neighbourhoods became oriented
towards one another. This interest laid the foundations
for the school of urban sociology that came to be known
as human ecology.
• Second, is the varied pattern of human

adjustment in the city, the “ways of life” of urbanites. He
emphasised firsthand investigation of the ways that
Urban Sociology 68
modern city dwellers acted, thought, and felt. This

emphasis gave rise to the study of urban culture, or
urbanism.
He saw both of these elements, ecology and

urbanism, as naturally intertwined and combined them in
his work. The ecological order was the dominant factor.
The urban arena was a self-contained universe upon
which a science could be based. The physical arena
provided a natural order, an urban ecology that gave rise
to distinctive behaviours. In this thinking, he borrowed
from Durkheim’s division of labour thesis and combined
elements of field biology, producing a very distinctive
realm of study for urban sociology.
For Park there were two levels of the urban life:

the 'Biotic level' and the 'Cultural Level'. Biotic level
consists of the forms of organizations produced by
species competition over scare environmental resources.
Over urbanization, growth of slums etc are examples of
this competition. Cultural level consists of the symbolic
and psychological adjustment process. Organization of
Urban Sociology 69
urban life is done through shared sentiments. The

cultural level include neighbourhood, local community
life and moral order.
Human ecology for Park was the study of the

process of adjustment of human groups to the
environment. And in this process of adjustment emerges
the different varieties of urbanization and urban life. The
adjustment to the urban environment is a struggle. For
Park all individuals in the city were caught up in the
struggle for being the fittest and made adjustment in
various ways.
The major elements of the urban space, the

different kinds of land use and the varied urban
populations that occupied the city sorted themselves into
distinguishable areas. These neighbourhoods had
particular affinities or aversions to one another, resulting
in a spatial division of the city that corresponds to the
functional division of labour occurring within it. Some
common examples of such specialised areas include the
central business district, exclusive residential areas, areas
of heavy or light industry, slums, ghettos, immigrant
Urban Sociology 70
communities, etc. Park believed them to be natural areas,

because they are the products of ecological forces that
work to distribute the city’s populations and functions in
an orderly pattern, with respect to one another. Those
who can afford to do so sort themselves away from
functions or elements of the population that they regard
as distasteful or dirty. Those without the economic
means are relegated to the residual areas, perhaps those
neighbourhoods popularly regarded as containing
‘abnormal’ types. Each area, whatever its qualities, is
characterised by its own ‘moral code’, which
corresponds to the interests and tastes of those who use it
and what they use it for residential or recreational
purposes. Each district is its own moral region, and in
this sense each is segregated from the others. Park says,
“the processes of segregation make the city a mosaic of
little worlds that touch, but do not interpenetrate”. In his
view, it is this segmentation and transience that generates
the superficial quality of urban life. For Park,
neighbourhood or community offered little in the way of
refuge from the impersonality of the city, and urbanites
remained loosely integrated and even emotionally
unstable in the urban environment.
Urban Sociology 71
Robert Park viewed the city as composed of

different social processes related to population size and
density. Increasing population density in the urban areas
has an impact on spatial organization of the society.
Increase in population density along with the increase in
migration leads to rise in competition among city
dwellers. This competition has an impact on the pattern
of social actions of the people, engaging them in a
struggle for survival and share of resources. Because of
this competition there is distinct and highly complex
division of labour in the city. Thus competition due to
population increase leads to the social organization of
the city. Thus for Robert Park city is a laboratory in
which man creates diverse ways of life and in the
process recreates himself.
BURGESS’ CONCENTRIC ZONE THEORY

The Concentric Zone Model is one of the earliest
and simplest theoretical models to explain urban social
structures. Ernest Burgess’ concentric zone theory was
one of the most important contributions of Chicago
school to urban sociology.
This model is a series of concentric circles
radiating outward from one central zone, with each circle
Urban Sociology 72
representing a different social or business zone. It can be

observed that quality of living increases as distance away
from central zone increases, and housing and
transportation costs increase with distance. The zones
represent areas of functional differentiation and expand
rapidly from the business centre. The zones contain
different communities formed on the basis of their
competitive power within the city. Within each zone
further areas are segregated into symbiotic natural
communities based on language, culture and race. With
the growth of the city, the occupants of the zones change
through a process of invasion and succession.
According to Burgess, an urban area consists of

five concentric zones. The zones are:
1. The loop or central business district
2. The zone in transition
3. The zone of working men’s homes
4. The residential zone of high class apartment

buildings
Urban Sociology 73
5. The commuter’s zone
1. The loop or central business district- It is usually

situated at the centre of the city. It is an area of business
and official activity. Transportation routes from all parts
of the city converge upon it. All the activities connected
with business and service such as shops of various
articles, departmental stores, restaurants, cinema houses,
banks, main post offices and warehouses are all situated
in and around the area at convenient places.
2. The zone in transition- This is the area which is

situated in the immediate neighbourhood of the market
district. It is an area of dilapidated buildings and slums.
It is in the process of transition from a residential area
into a business area. It is an area of business and light
industry. It is an area of immorality, regular vice and
disorganisation.
3. The zone of working men’s homes- This is situated

immediately after the zone in transition or the factory
area as the workers usually prefer to live near the place
of their work. This area is a near slum, congested with
Urban Sociology 74
multifamily dwellings. It is inhabited by workers who

have escaped from the influence of the area of
destruction.
4. The residential zone- The residential zone of high

class apartment buildings or exclusive residential
districts are usually situated at a reasonable distance
from the city centre and consist of decent single family
dwellings inhabited by middle and upper middle class
professionals and executives. Well planned roads, lounge
spaces and beauty are the features of this area.
5. The commuter’s zone. This lies at the outskirts of the

city and is usually an area of the rural urban fringe.
Hence this area reflects the characteristics of both types
of habitats. This area is usually inhabited by people
working in cities who also own land or by people who
cannot find accommodation in cities. The inhabitants of
this commuter’s zone go daily to their place of work in
the city through city transportation.
The central area has high density, and the

availability of land is scarce. Because of this more
Urban Sociology 75
affluent segment of the society reside away from the city

centre where they can build large houses. Burgess
described the changing spatial patterns of residential
areas as a process of “invasion” and “succession”. As the
city grew and developed over time, the CBD would exert
pressure on the surrounding zone, ie the zone of
transition. Outward expansion of the CBD invades
nearby residential neighbourhoods causing them to
expand outward. The process continues with each
successive neighbourhood moving further from the
CBD.
Concentric zone model is one of the simplest

model which accounts for the economic forces which
drive development and the study of patterns present at
the time of the study. But with the evolution and passage
of time urban areas grew more complex and this model
is found to be insufficient to explain the development of
existing cities. As the pattern of growth of cities is
different because of various circumstances, the relevance
of this model decreased over time. With the
advancement in the mode of transportation, mass transit
Urban Sociology 76
vehicles, motor vehicles, cars changed the way people

commute. Accordingly, their preference for living in a
particular zone changed. It does not take into account the
effect of political forces and the restrictions imposed by
the government for the improvement of living
conditions. In reality, no distinct zones and boundaries
exist as overlapping of areas is possible in every town.
The preference of people changes over time depending
on the importance they associate for a particular benefit.
This model is not applicable to polycentric cities as
many CDB exists in such towns. Moreover, every city is
different, and the factors influencing the growth of a city
are diverse.
THE ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY

OF THE HUMAN COMMUNITY BY R D
MCKENZIE
The study of human community was most

explicitly set out by R.D. McKenzie. He focused on the
dynamic nature of urban area and developed a
sociological theory of changing land use. He developed a
Urban Sociology 77
typology of various ecological processes instead of

focusing on configurations and shape of areas. He
defined ecology as a study of spatial and temporal
relations of human beings as affected by the selective,
distributive and accommodative forces of the
environment. McKenzie argues that these spatial
relationships of human beings are the products of
competition and selection and are continuously in the
process of change as new factors enter to disturb the
competitive relations or to facilitate the mobility. He
identified seven ecological processes, which incorporates
notions of population shifts and changes in the dominant
land use pattern. These ecological processes are
concentration, deconcentration, centralisation,
decentralisation, segregation, invasion and succession.
McKenzie distinguishes four types of

communities based on their functions. These are:
 Primary service community

 Commercial community
 Industrial town
Urban Sociology 78
 Community without specific economic

base.
The primary service community, such as the
agricultural town, the fishing, mining, or lumbering
community serves as the first step in the distributive
process of the outgoing basic commodity and as the last
stage in the distributive process of the product finished
for consumption. The size of such communities depends
entirely upon the nature and form of utilization of the
extractive industry concerned together with the extent of
the surrounding trade area. The community responds in
size to any element that affects the productivity of the
economic base or the extent of the area from which it
draws its sustenance. But, in any event, so long as such a
community does not assume any other function in the
larger ecological process, it cannot grow in population
beyond a few thousand inhabitants.
The next type of community is the one that fulfils

the secondary function in the distributive process of
commodities. It collects the basic materials from the
surrounding primary communities and distributes them
Urban Sociology 79
in the wider markets of the world. On the other hand, it

redistributes the products coming from other parts of the
world to the primary service communities for final
consumption. This is commonly called the commercial
community; it may, however, combine other functions as
well. The size of this type of community depends upon
the extent of its distributive functions. It may vary from a
small wholesale town in the centre of an agricultural
plain to that of a great port city whose hinterland extends
halfway across the continent. Growth depends upon the
comparative advantages of the site location.
The third type of community is the industrial

town. It serves as the locus for the manufacturing of
commodities. In addition it may combine the functions
of the primary service and the commercial types. It may
have its local trade area and it may also be the
distributing centre for the surrounding hinterland. The
type is characterized merely by the relative dominance of
industry over the other forms of service. There is
practically no limit to the size to which an industrial
community may develop. Growth is dependent upon the
Urban Sociology 80
scope and market organization of the particular

industries which happen to be located within its
boundaries. Industrial communities are of two general
types: first, those that have diversified and multiple
industries organized on a local sale of products, and,
second, those that are dominated by one or two highly
developed industries organized on a national or world-
sale of products.
The fourth type of community is one which is

lacking in a specific economic base. It draws its
economic sustenance from other parts of the world, and
may serve no function in the production or distribution
of commodities. Such communities are exemplified in
our recreational resorts, political and educational centres
and communities of defence, prisons or charitable
colonies. From the standpoint of growth or decline such
communities are not subject to the same laws that govern
the development of towns that play a part in the larger
productive and distributive processes.' They are much
more subject to the vicissitudes of human fancies and
decrees than are the basic types of human communities.
Urban Sociology 81
Of course, any community may and usually does have

accretions added to its population as a result of such
service. It may, for instance, be the seat of a university,
of a state prison, or it may be a recreational resort for at
least certain seasons of the year.
According to him any particular type of

community tended to increase in size until it reached its
climax point at which the size of the population was not
perfectly adjusted to the capacity of the economic bases
to support it. The community would remain in this state
of equilibrium till some new element, for example a new
mode of communication or technological innovation
disturb the balance, at which point new cycle of
adjustment would begin involving movement of
population, and differentiation of functions or both.
Competition would again sift and sort ' the population
functionally and spatially until a new climax stage was
reached. The concepts McKenzie used to express these
movements are invasion and succession, the movement
of distinctive populations into residential areas, replacing
Urban Sociology 82
the previous residential groups, which typically involves

the displacement of higher or lower economic categories.
Contemporary Human ecological approach of

Hawley and Duncan
The major developments in urban ecological

theory can be attributed to the ecological theories of
Duncan and Hawley. Hawley argued that space is not the
central concern of ecology, but the focus must be on
functional differentiation and adaptation of human
populations. His ecological theory also was very close to
Parsonian functionalism. Duncan integrates ecological
model and structural functionalism of Talcott Parsons in
developing his theory of ecological complex. Duncan
developed the notion of ecological complex, which is
also a theory of regulation and change of the community
as a social system in terms of the interaction of the four
component elements of the ecological complex:
environment, population, technology and social
organisation.
Urban Sociology 83
Hawley was influenced by Roderick D.

McKenzie. McKenzie influenced Hawley through his
idea that it is necessary to understand change through
space and time among populations or an
aggregate. Hawley learned from Mckenzie that humans
are observable units within an ecosystem with a given
technology they will interact with their environment and
develop predictable patterns. According to Hawley
(1950), the task of the ecologists should be to describe
population aggregate; to analyse the community
structure; to discern the effects of internal and external
change upon the organization of the human aggregate.
Hawley expanded McKenzie's work on

population studies and human interaction with the
environment further. Hawley contended that "the
environment, population, and the ecosystem tend to
move toward equilibrium". In his book, Human Ecology,
Hawley wrote that humans will modify their behaviour
patterns to fit with changes in their biophysical
environment. Through this adaption human groups can
either evolve or expand into complex societies. For
Urban Sociology 84
systemic change to occur, such as expansion of a

population, disequilibrium is required along with
multiple challenges to the environment.
Hawley studied rigorously the nature of change

and communities and their relation to time and space.
Cumulative change is when a series of increments or a
single increment within a social system forms a
foundation for the next increment. Hawley found that
change is irreversible because a series of events within a
state of time cannot go backward in time. Evolution, as
viewed by those in the scientific community was an
outcome of cumulative change along with expansion of
population. To understand if a given population will
expand or evolve, Hawley questioned whether
"complexity and scale were concurrent." He concluded
that "when complexity and scale advance more or less
together, the effect is growth or expansion rather than
evolution". By understanding the concepts behind
population expansion and evolution, He explored how all
organisms are connected to the environment and through
behaviour.
Urban Sociology 85
Hawley believed that organisms are connected in

a web of relationships that interdependent and are
enmeshed with the environment. In the web of
relationships organisms can have relationships of
symbiosis or commensalism. Symboisis is the close bond
relationship between the two individuals of two different
species. Commensalism is when organisms make similar
demands on the environment often resulting in
competition. Hawley believed humanity was dominant in
the ecosystem due to advances in technology and
humanity's control over the habitat. He contended that
through culture humanity is able to modify its
subsistence to match its needs and desires. Hawley
writes "thus the development of human dominance
through the agency of culture involves a reconstruction
of the biotic community. Instead of accommodating his
activities, as do primitive peoples, to the natural life
association, civilized man regulates the biotic
community in accordance with his needs.
A model of social change was developed by

human ecologist Otis Dudley Duncan. For Duncan,
Urban Sociology 86
human ecosystems consist of four key components or

properties. These are: population (P), organisation (O),
environment (E), and technology (T) with each one
closely interrelated with the others
1) Population - It may be high or low, mortality and

fertility rates can change, people can migrate,
move to different areas, the age structure can
change over time, etc.
2) Organization- It would include the organizational
structure of a society. The government and
political systems, large corporations, industries
and business patterns, communities, culture, etc
are a part of organisation.
3) Environment – It includes the biological as well
as other elements which surround us. It covers
the natural environment, the manmade
environment (buildings, roads, etc.), geography,
and the conditions of living.
4) Technology – It can include actual physical
artefacts, tools and processes that are used to
Urban Sociology 87
achieve some end. It ranges from simple to

complex.
An ecological complex is a system of four
interrelated clusters of variables—environment,
embracing both natural conditions and man-made
landscape; population, expressed in terms of distribution,
density and demographic structure; organisation,
including economic and social institutions and the
patterns of socio-economic interactions; and technology.
This ecological complex has been related to such
important ecological processes as competition,
collaboration, succession, dominance, invasion,
differentiation and spatial interaction.
Factors like population, organisation, environment

and technology make ecological complex a dynamic
concept. Duncan put stress on the urgency to investigate
the social life of man as a phase of the eco-system.
Duncan and Schnore were also in favour of analysing the
ecological structure in terms of the analysis of social
Urban Sociology 88
organization. Their logic of proposing such an expla-

nation was: ‘organization represent an adaptation to the
unavoidable circumstance that individuals are
interdependent and that the collectivity of individuals
must cope with concrete environmental conditions. The
POET model, broadened to include the role of human
agency and culture, provides a useful analytical
framework in the ecological perspective.
The increasing number of urban centres necessitates

the study of interaction between living organisms and
urban environment, and urban ecology developed as a in
the context. Urban ecology studies the dynamic
interactions between socioeconomic and biophysical
forces leading to the development of city. The
examination of complex interactions between humans
and their surrounding can be used not only for
understanding the urban systems but also for improving
the conditions of urban environments. Thus, the study of
urban ecology becomes vital understand how human
activity harms the urban environment or in which way
we could improve the living conditions of humans
without damaging the urban environment.
Urban Sociology 89
MODULE 3
RECENT THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN

URBAN SOCIOLOGY
Neo-Weberian perspectives of Pahl, Rex and Moore
The theory of Urban Managerialism of R. E. Pahl

was influenced by Max Weber. According to this theory,
Urban managers who control the access to scarce
resources such as housing and education, largely
determine the socio-spatial distribution of the population.
The theory focussed on issues of power, conflict, and the
role of market and state institutions at the context of
urban sociology.
Ray Pahl, in his book ‘Whose City?’ introduced

the idea of the urban manager and gatekeeper into the
discussion of the socio-spatial structure of city. Pahl
depended on Max Weber’s idea of power and
bureaucracy in modern societies. Weber distinguished
three types of authority: traditional, charismatic and
rational-legal. Traditional authority was usually found in
Urban Sociology 90
pre-industrial societies where power lay in the hands of

rulers by virtue of their position, usually inherited,
within the social structure. Charismatic authority was
related to the person and their ability to command a
following through their personality, skills, ideas and
accomplishments. Charismatic power was useful in
periods of transition and change from one form of
domination to another. Rational-legal domination was
usually the characteristic of modern society. In this type
of authority, legitimacy was based on bureaucratic skills
and rules, which are determined by rationality and
impersonality. Authority lay in the position rather than
the individual.
Alongside the work of Pahl was that of Rex and

Moore who analysed the changing patterns of housing
allocation within inner areas of Birmingham, UK. Their
study was focused on the nature of the zone in transition,
around the central area where the middle class were
vacating properties and areas which new migrants were
then moving into and changing the ethnic and class
composition. However, the analysis carried through
Urban Sociology 91
showed that the allocation of housing in this area was

crucially affected by the workings of the housing market
and the rules of allocation practised by public housing
authorities. This further added to a growing critique of
the Chicago School and their insufficient attention to the
political framework of resource allocation. The city,
therefore, within this managerialist framework became
understood as a set of resources to be allocated and
distributed by political and bureaucratic processes. The
key resources were seen as land, capital in its various
forms, the built environment and social resources. The
next step was to discover how these urban resources
were spatially distributed and managed by various urban
gatekeepers. Research sought to describe and examine
the allocative practices, rules and procedures, of central
and local states, especially in the area of housing, which
was considered a key urban resource. Access to housing
also determined the household’s or individual’s location
in the city and thus the facilities and other services
available within a particular urban neighbourhood.
Research showed that the distribution of such urban
Urban Sociology 92
resources as libraries, playing fields, community centres,

shops, and bus services were not evenly spread across
the urban area but were unequally distributed. The
source of this inequality displayed itself in the processes
and interplay of power within local political systems.
This involved both public officials such as planners and
policy-makers and private-sector actors such as bankers,
real estate interests, property owners, landlords and local
business owners. Analysing the outcomes in terms of the
spatial distributions of resources provided a means to
understand the nature of urban social inequality, and
peoples’ differential access to structures of power.
Rex and Moore proposed the idea of housing

classes as a key factor in urban society. According to
them, membership of a housing class is of first
importance in determining a man’s associations, his
interests, his life-style and his position in the urban
social structure. Rex and Moore claimed that housing
was not distributed by the market forces, but by a class
struggle between different housing classes, a competition
for the most desirable form of housing in the suburbs.
Urban Sociology 93
While a social class is usually based on occupation, a

housing class in their analysis was based on a group’s
ability to satisfy the rules and regulations in the housing
market. Pahl, Rex and Moore’s analyses show that the
distribution of urban resources was the result not just of
market forces but the actions and decisions of a wide
variety of urban managers in both the private and public
sectors. This inference led Pahl to propose the
managerial thesis that the key people, controlling the
distribution of such urban resources as housing, were the
building society managers, bankers, planners, etc. He
argued that these urban managers had sufficient
autonomy in the allocation of scarce urban services to
constitute an independent influence upon urban patterns
of social and economic inequality. Professional officers
or urban managers were thus deemed capable of
pursuing policies relatively independent of both electoral
constrains and interests. It is indeed the responsibility of
governments under monopoly capitalism for making the
provision of urban goods, housing and services, urban
planning and policy Thus, the state through its
Urban Sociology 94
arrangement of space becomes the real manger of

everyday life of the people. The political orientation of
the regime in power has considerable impact on housing.
The local power structure is also an important dimension
of housing policy.
One of the aspects of this theory was that

managerialism appeals to those with power as it directs
attention away from the power-holders and towards
those who are intermediaries between those with power
and the city residents. Further, it was seen to appeal to
those at the bottom of the social scale as it identified a
group who were the cause of their oppression. The initial
examination of urban managers by urban researchers was
shaped by a desire to improve their efficiency and
performance by identifying weaknesses in both their
training and in their delivery of services. One of the
criticisms of this approach was that urban managerialism
inflated the autonomy and power of the urban managers
and ignored the broader socio-economic processes,
which constrained the decision-making of urban
managers. The analysis focused upon the nature of
Urban Sociology 95
modern complex organisations and how these have

routinised the making of decisions and created new
categories of specialist administrators with their own
values, training and allegiances.
Socio spatial approach of Henri Lefebvre
Henri Lefebvre, a French philosopher, shaped the

phenomenon of a modern city in conjunction with the
idea of urban space designated for the creative class. The
right to the city is an idea that seeks to transform the
nature of urban spaces and whose roots lie in the quest
for spatial justice. The idea was first discussed by the
Henri Lefebvre. Lefebvre's works on the urban have
been instrumental in conceptualising the idea of ‘urban’
both as a process that needs to be theorised and as a site
for political organising. Henri Lefebvre is credited with
introducing the idea that space is socially produced. His
analysis includes a historical reading of how spatial
experience has changed over time depending upon social
circumstances. Until the medieval period, space and time
were largely experienced through local, lived conditions;
Urban Sociology 96
times and distances were established by the capacity of

the body. Lefebvre assumes that ‘abstract space’,
produced and perpetuated through grids, plans, and
schedules, is utilized and dominated by the capitalist
system of production. He suggests that socially produced
space and time is held in place through administrative
policies, social conventions, and technological systems
for living so that this system of space and time is
perpetuated and reproduced.
Lefebvre attempted towards making the teaching

of urbanism an interdisciplinary subject. One of his key
contributions has been to think about dialectics in spatial
terms. This understanding of dialectic differs from a
Hegelian dialectic, the thesis-antithesis-synthesis and is
extremely open-ended, stressing movement rather than
resolution. The dialectic according to Lefebvre
“highlights the relationship between form and contents
and dissolves stable morphologies to such an extent that
stability becomes a problem”. This dialectic is
conceptualised not in binary terms, but more often than
not a triad such as production, exchange, accumulation.
Urban Sociology 97
These forces are in continual relationship with each other

and the shifting balance between them produces
particular configurations of spatial and social relations.
Such an approach can be applied to an understanding of
how space is produced. Space is seen by Lefebvre as a
“product to be used, to be consumed, it is also a means
of production; Networks of exchange and flows of raw
materials and energy fashion space and are determined
by it”. This continual dialectical process can also be
understood by breaking down different moments in
space. Lefebvre discusses “conceived space” to refer to
the abstract spaces that are conceptualised or planned by
architects, the State, cartographers or urban planners. An
example of conceived space is the grid laid out in a
planned city, which parcels land in fixed ways and
assigns land use to the properties. The “conceived space”
often ignores “perceived space”, which is the space of
popular perception and action. Perceived space then
includes the popular meanings that are assigned to the
place such as a place can be seen as sacred, centre of
power, exalted, etc. However, the fully human person
Urban Sociology 98
also resides in “lived space”. Lived space brings together

the spaces of imagination and everyday life. In modern
society this space is suppressed and controlled by the
structures of capitalism and state control and yet it lives
on in the works of art and literature and in fantasy.
The spatial Triad is a model created by Henri

Lefebvre which provides a framework to recognize the
three elements of producing space. These three elements
of the Spatial Triad are i) Representation of space, ii)
Representational space and iii) spatial practices. The
formation of space occurs through these three elements
of the model. The element 'representation of space' is
most dominant in the production of space and is central
to the production of abstract space, since it is a
conceived space rather than lived. The element
'representational space' is the symbolic value is given to
a place by its inhabitants, this corresponds to the term
lived space. The element 'spatial practices' refers to daily
life. Everyday routines and experiences form their own
social space. This corresponds to the concept perceived
space.
Urban Sociology 99
At a time when the State and capitalist forces

were imposing a technical rationality on the lived
rhythms of everyday life, Lefebvre was questioning the
complacency of those around him and wondering how
populations were allowing themselves to be controlled
and were quietly accepting the changes imposed in their
lived spaces. The Production of Space argument
provides a tool to examine urban space in a open- ended
manner paying particular attention to struggles that
constitute the form, meanings, actions and subjectivities
that are constituted by and constitutive of the space
itself. Lefebvre brought this understanding of the
production of space to bear upon their analysis of the
urban, of how city forms and processes are constituted,
and in turn, constitute subjectivities.
Lefebvre discussed how ideology has played a

role in the shaping of cities in the ancient, medieval and
now the modern period. His aim in these writings was to
awaken a political consciousness in the popular
imagination about urban processes. Urbanism for
Lefebvre was too important to be left purely in the hands
Urban Sociology 100
of technocrats and bureaucrats. City spaces are not fixed,

but can be seen as dialectically moving between the
planned idea and the lived reality, between form and
content, between thought and practice. The city
according to Lefebvre is a composition and not a
product; it is a work of art and not a mere
conglomeration of economic or political structures and in
this composition that all inhabitants participate. It is not
only wealth that is accumulated in cities, but also
knowledge, techniques and art. The city streets, squares,
and its monuments are places of gathering, celebration,
and centres of unproductive consumption. Alongside, the
city is also a place where the rich and the poor, the
powerful and the popular are in conflict over the usage
of the city spaces. Giving examples from medieval and
ancient cities, Lefebvre shows how the rich and the
powerful make use of their wealth to materially and
symbolically claim space in the city – through a
pompous building of monuments, fountains and
embellishments. The working classes also bring beauty
to the city spaces through their festivities and
Urban Sociology 101

celebrations. However, in modern society the production

of products has replaced the creation of things of beauty.
This affected the social relations connected with the
lived urban spaces of diversity, conflict with a more
technocratic organisation.
To define the properties of urban time-space

differential, Lefebvre proposed new concepts:
• Isotopy — “a place and everything that

surrounds it”. It is a homologous or analogous place;
however, alongside this ‘very place’ there is a different
place, another place.
• Heterotopy — a place of difference “with

respect to the initial place”; a difference that can extend
from a highly-marked contrast all the way to conflict.
• U-topic — “the non-place that has no place and

seeks a place of its own”. It is a paradox space where
paradox becomes the opposite of the everyday.
Having defined the urban as the place where

differences can come together and generate something
Urban Sociology 102
new — the level of mediation between the global and the

private that has the form of centrality, encounter, and
interaction, Lefebvre questioned how these different
aspects are related to each other, and how they are
socially produced. All social space has a history.
Therefore, in the current mode of production and society,
space has its own reality with the same claims and in the
same global process as commodities, money, and capital.
What is specific of capitalism is the production of an
abstract space that is a reflection of the world of
business. Lefebvre is interested in the specificities of
capitalist space and he always have in mind the
possibility of the reconstruction of the social space from
below, with the socialization of the means of production.
Then, the space would be produced to satisfy social
needs.
In the ‘Urban Revolution’ written by Lefebvre,

he argued that urbanisation is a site for surplus
accumulation and so is a key to the survival of
capitalism. He predicted that cities are a crucial focus for
any political struggle, particularly those based on class.
Urban Sociology 103
Lefebvre, sought to emphasise that city spaces are not

only to be seen in terms of exchange value, but also their
use value. However, both contemporary State-centred
planning, and capitalist processes prioritise exchange
value. Such a perspective effectively crushes the oeuvre
in the city and leads to alienation. The city is a place of
encounter, a place where people from diverse
backgrounds, classes and imaginations struggle over the
shape of the city. Out of this struggle emerges the oeuvre
that is the city. However, in the way the bourgeoisie city
is emerging the cities are being produced for us rather
than by us. Monolithic State-centric planning of the city
does not allow for difference and cities have become the
sites of expropriation rather than of participation.
Lefebvre argues that the inhabitants of a city have rights
– the right to inhabit, the right to participate and right to
make the city in their image. Lefebvre's demand was for
a city that is open to encounters— to difference, to
conflict, to pleasures and is in continual dialectical
movement. Lefebvre differed from conventional
Marxists in his belief that the site for revolution is the
Urban Sociology 104

city as opposed to the factory floor. However, he was

committed to the overthrowing of capitalism and the
exploitative structures that constitute it and the right to
the city was a move in that direction.
Marxian approach of David Harvey
David Harvey has stressed that urbanism is not

an autonomous process, but is part of a larger political
and economic processes and changes. In modern
urbanism , Harvey points out that space is continually
restructured .The process is determined by large firms,
who decide where they should open their businesses,
factories etc and by policies, controls and initiatives
asserted by governments which can change the landscape
of a city. Like Harvey, emphasises that spatial form of a
city is very much related to the larger process of the
society. David Harvey tried to develop a critical
theory explaining the uneven geographical development
of capitalism over time. The ‘urban’ emerges as a
distinctive aspect of analysis in this attempt. Historians
Urban Sociology 105
have always argued that the city is a central category in

understanding the historical development of world
markets. Harvey emphasises on the processes capable of
creating and destroying urban forms of social life. In this
respect, his work is influenced by the Marxian thesis that
capital must be studied not as a ‘thing’ but a social
process, and is defined by the proposition that ‘the
urban’ is the social process where these contradictions
crystallise out in the production of landscapes,
institutions and cultures. For Marx, changing the world
requires to understand how capital works, for Harvey,
changing the world begins with understanding the
urbanisation of capital. The recapitulation of Lefebvre’s
key concept ‘the right to the city’ is characteristic of
Harvey’s capacity to keep Marxian ideas alive to
contemporary political concerns. This ability, however,
is based on a highly original conception of spatial
dynamics.
To explain the urban contours of Harvey’s

theory, most suitable concept is the ‘spatial fix’. It
describes the way cities are shaped according to internal
Urban Sociology 106
tensions between the usevalue and exchange value of

space. The idea critiques one of the core assumptions of
economic theory that the incorporation of capital in land,
labour and technology is a necessary precondition for
economic growth. For Marx, however, the accumulation
of capital does not arise through some natural evolution
of market exchange and industrial enterprise, but through
a ‘primary’ circuit of productive investment dedicated to
capturing increasing surpluses of value created by the
labour force. What Harvey points out is that the need to
invest in physical infrastructures and social institutions
require huge investment which tie capital up for long
periods. The ‘spatial fix’ examines the socially dynamic
consequences of locking capital and labour in place over
time. In the 19th Century this process was spatially
located in the form of the factory, the basic unit of
production which was able to exploit an industrial army
of wage-slaves. Harvey puts forth the question of how
fixed investment plays out, not only in terms of the
simple site of production but also the expanded field of
social reproduction. As the development of cities absorb
Urban Sociology 107

more and more economic resources, capital becomes

immobilised for months, sometimes years in the process
of development. The spatio-temporal problems arising
from fixing capital in facilities of production and
reproduction thereby impose constraints on capital
mobility, preventing it from realising its most flexible
state as money-capital in search of profit. Globalisation
might be thought of as the paradigmatic form of this
process today.
With the notion of ‘time-space compression’

Harvey argues that the financial demand for liquidity to
abolish the frictions of both space and time gives rise to
a capitalist culture that is intrinsically metropolitan.
Harvey’s analysis of the role of the state in using cities to
make people’s lives dependent on market forces reflects
a Marxian character. For Harvey, the postwar shift from
an urban capitalism to neoliberal forms of flexible
employment has had enormous consequences in the way
urban space is developed.
Urban Sociology 108

It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that it’s

difficult to imagine what the critical content of urban
studies might be without Harvey’s contributions. At the
very least, the analytical coherence of Harvey’s work has
provided urban studies with a theoretical whetstone,
sharpening the critical edge of accounts of globalisation,
neoliberal urbanism and gentrification. Harvey is a
structuralist, historicising struggle in a ‘capitalocentric’
frame, unable to absorb alternative post-Marxist
perspectives. Another criticism is that Harvey’s
commitment to theory has been at the expense of
developing a thoroughgoing empirical account of the
way capitalism creates cities in its own image. The
issues are complex and continue to be debated. But one
way to deal with them is to the contributions Harvey’s
work is making to understand the urban future of capital
accumulation and class struggle. The first is that
Harvey’s critique provides a timely antidote to the so
called ‘new urban agenda’ which see cities as global
engines of ‘smart’ growth. For Harvey, the urbanisation
of neoliberalism through the privatisation of social and
Urban Sociology 109

physical infrastructure represent a very primitive form of

accumulation, one which uses the urban process to
enmesh society in a web of rent-seeking contracts. In this
respect Harvey’s interest in examining processes of
social reproduction as an arena of value extraction, links
with an emerging body of literature examining the way
biological, environmental, corporeal, cultural and social
qualities are becoming increasingly financialised. The
second might be called the ‘performative’ dimension of
Harvey’s thought.
Neo Marxian approach of Manuel Castells
Manuel Castells made a major contribution in the

field of urban sociology in the study of information and
communication. Basically Castells is Marxist Urban
Sociologist. He has always emphasized the role of social
movements in the transformation of urban society. Urban
place is always coming out of problems which are social
and psychological in nature. Conflict, competition,
accommodation, and assimilation are the daily living
features of the city life. Men are struggling for living and
Urban Sociology 110

the daily life is a great drama of existence. Everyone is

trying to reach some goals. Most of the goals are
economic, political and related to status. After finding
with basic requirements men always try to achieve
different ambitions which are thick and thin materialistic
in nature. Men cannot live peacefully in the urban places.
They try and try for better existence. So they modify,
rectify economic, social and political institutions.
According to Castells, there are three dimensions

which play predominant role in the urban community.
They are – production, power and experience. In other
words, organization of the economy, state and its various
institutions and the ways in which people create
collective action play an important role in city life.
Castells emphasizes that the role of the government,
social movements and commercial activities shapes the
urban life as the movements are short lived and crush
away. But many changes can take place since
urbanization is dynamic. Castells is one of the great
modern urban sociologists, who is highly influenced by
cyberspace. He said that “modern societies are
Urban Sociology 111
increasingly structured around the bipolar opposition of

the Net and the Self.” He introduced the concept of
"collective consumption". He concentrated upon the role
of new technologies in the restructuring of an economy.
He introduced the concept of the "space of flows", the
material and immaterial components of global
information networks used for the real-time, long-
distance co-ordination of the economy.
Castells combines his research works of

sociological literature with urban sociology, new
knowledge and information, internet studies, culture,
social and economic changes and the role of
governments. The age of science, technology and
information reoriented the urban society in different
direction. It is sour but sweet to know that the world has
been reduced into a small place like a globe map that
within seconds one can get all information of the world.
In his work, “The Urban Question”, he presented

a model of the dynamics of the urban system with a
Urban Sociology 112
mechanism for structural change called "urban social

movements". The centre of Castell’s theory of urban
social movements that urban protest movements develop
around three major themes:
1) demands focused on collective consumption
2) defense of cultural identity associated with and

organized around a specific territory
3) political mobilization in relationship to the

state, particularly emphasizing the role of local
government
Castells demonstrates the essential role of spatial

relations in social movement mobilization around issues
of collective consumption, cultural identity and local
government. Spatial relations affect the capacity of
movements to mobilize resources, while oppressive
‘spatial forms’ can give rise to grievances. Equally
important is the fact that movements create spaces and
places as integral parts of their mobilization strategies.
Castells’ discussion of ‘space of places’ gave way to a
Urban Sociology 113

‘space of flows’ under the ‘informational mode of

development’ understands the relationship between
space, place and society provided for the analysis of
space in social science.
The citizens have responded to a wide range of

problems with collective action. Issues of housing
shortages, growing discrepancies between rents and
wages, landlords' neglect of maintenance and insufficient
healthcare and education could all be identified as issues
related to collective consumption. In developing
countries, citydwellers face a lack of water supply,
sewers and electricity. Another set of problems like
displacement and destruction of beloved cityscapes is
related to urban planning. Finally, specific groups have
mobilized around highly specific issues, such as against
the housing policies, against property taxes etc. Urban
movements tend to draw on a relatively stable set of
familiar types of action. The course of action found in
urban movements overlap with the course of action of
other social movements. Some aspects like the rent
strike, squatting and developing alternative spatial plans,
Urban Sociology 114
however, are specific for urban movements.

Organizational patterns can be bottom-up or top-down.
Bottom-up mobilization involves building networks of
activists and occasional participants, the creation of
committees, possibly formal organizations, newsletters,
neighbourhoods etc. Top-down involvement of political
groups or parties is often viewed as detrimental because
it can entail a transformation into state-oriented
bureaucracy, and because it clashes with the prevalent
ideal of self-management. Often, urban movements
exhibited a capacity for transcending social borders, such
as through cross-class mobilization. This has taken the
shape of horizontal cooperation of participants from
different class backgrounds or middle-class activists
helping poor people. Some urban movements, however,
have been restricted in terms of the participants’
ethnicity, class or age. Protest goals are often clear and
measurable, such as preventing a particular planned
transformation in the built environment, seeing to it that
particular buildings get repaired instead of abandoned,
getting a street closed to through-going traffic,
Urban Sociology 115

preventing the eviction of a building, or achieving a rent

reduction. The results of urban movements are a
combination of failure and success
Protesters’ victories may be partial such as a cap

put on a rent increase instead of succeeding in preventing
it completely or being unable to prevent an eviction but
instead securing re-housing. Also, there may be
unintended effects, such as protests against eviction of
squats leading to legalization. Sometimes the urban
movements can be self-defeating. Eg: improvements in
low-income neighbourhoods might attract gentrification,
which forces the original inhabitants out of their
neighbourhood.
Urban movement studies tend to move beyond

recording and explaining victories and defeats in
individual of cases of urban action and conflict. Urban
movements might tend to make social change. Castells,
especially, has been involved in the search for a general
theory. At first he elaborated the idea that urban
movements had a latent function in the class struggle. He
Urban Sociology 116

stated that urban movements could only be significant

for social change if they linked up with organizations
involved in the class struggle in the sphere of production.
Later, he stated that the local focus of urban movements
precedes transformation of production, communication
and government. The kind of social change that urban
movements would be capable of producing is resistance
to domination or, changing the "urban meaning", which
results in "reactive utopias”.
Urban movements could achieve their maximum

potential for social change when they were aimed at
attaining the following three goals.
First, realizing collective consumption demands

within a framework of promoting the city as a use
value against commodification.
Second, establishing and strengthening an

autonomous cultural identity and promoting
communication instead of "programmed one-way
information flows".
Urban Sociology 117

And third, territorially based self-management.
Other criteria were explicit consciousness that

active groups were part of a wider social movement,
solidarity with other parts of the movement, expression
of movement themes in the media, and - without giving
up autonomy - the maintenance of links with
professionals and political parties. Rise, fall and
transformation of urban movements have also been
analysed by Castells. Another relevant contextual
variable is the extent to which urban managers succeed
in redefining social issues as either individual or
technical problems. Besides context, analyses of
mobilization need to consider the strategies employed in
the mobilization of resources. The skills activists display
in verbalizing urban problems, identifying someone to
blame and proposing a solution are important too.
Movements tend to have a life cycle;

institutionalization i.e. being channelled into a stable
pattern based on formalized rules and laws and
cooptation i.e. activists start performing some task at the
Urban Sociology 118

request of the government are often seen as the

beginning of the end. The conventional strategies such as
consultation and negotiation do not imply that disruptive
tactics disappear from the movement’s action list.
Institutionalization and cooptation may cancel out the
impulse toward change, but it may also be a way to
secure the results of a movements’ victory. Local
governments increasingly feel contradictory pressures to
decrease welfare bureaucracy and spending and at the
same time to alleviate poverty. This results in a greater
need to co-opt urban movement groups for example as
managers of self-help programs.
Urban Sociology 119

MODULE 4
URBANISATION IN INDIAN CONTEXT
Impact of colonialism and neo-colonialism on

Urbanisation in India
India has long history of urbanization The first

phase of urbanization is associated with the Harappan
civilization. The two cities of Mohanjodaro and Harappa
represent the climax of urban development. From this
time onwards, India has had a long history of
urbanization. The early historical cities as well as the
cities in colonial and post colonial period mark the
history of urbanization in India. The British established
several new towns and cities, in addition to generating
new urban forms in the existing cities.
During the period of British rule, India’s cities

underwent a radical transformation. The British
contribution to the Indian urbanisation were
1. The creation of port cities
Urban Sociology 120

2. The establishment of administrative centres
3. The establishment of military centres
4. The introduction of the railways and modern

industry
In the British period, Indian cities became the

focal points of westernisation. Schools and colleges
trained boys and girls in western thought and languages.
A new category of urban elites whose dress, eating
habits and social behaviour reflected western values and
attitudes emerged. The Post-Independent period has
witnessed rapid urbanization in India The major changes
that have occurred in India’s urban space after
independence are:
1) The establishment of new administrative cities
2) The construction of new industrial cities and

townships
3) The emergence of megacities and metropolitan

cities
Urban Sociology 121

4) The increase of slums.
In the colonial period, the British has established

their economy on the basis of strong commodity and
population flows which were directed only towards
either the port cities or the administrative headquarters.
This weakened the regional forces which were
established during the medieval period through the inter-
settlement linkages and bi-directional movement of
goods and services between the core and periphery. The
existing rural–urban interactions were gradually replaced
by export–import oriented commodity flows.
After independence, India witnessed structural

changes both politically as well as economically. In the
initial Five year plans, public-sector investment was
done which restricted the urban hierarchy. However,
regional disparities still persisted, despite the public
sector playing a major role in backing the development
process in the backward areas through proper
investments. The transformation of large cities from
colonial to national capitals meant only an increasing
Urban Sociology 122

concentration of low productive manufacturing and

service activities. The pace of urban growth was rapid
during the first three decades after Independence, but
that led to informalisation of the urban economy and
increasing deprivation in terms of basic amenities.
Sociological implications of Indian urbanization
Urbanisation has significant consequences on the

social structures and processes. Urbanization affects not
only the family structure, but also the functions. Several
studies make it evident that urban joint family is being
gradually replaced by nuclear family, the size of the
family is shrinking, and nature and intensity of
relationship is also affected. One important change is
that patriarchal family is being replaced by ‘egalitarian
family’ where both husband and wife have equal role in
the decision-making process. Gradual modification of
the family structure in urban India is taking place such as
diminishing size of the family, reduction in functions of
family, emphasis on conjugal relationship etc. Caste
identity tends to diminish with urbanization, education
Urban Sociology 123

and the development of an orientation towards individual

achievement and modern status symbols. Caste solidarity
is not as strong as in urban areas as in the rural areas.
There exists a dichotomy between workplace and
domestic situation and caste and class situations co-exist.
It may also be observed that there is a complex
interrelation between caste and class in the context.
Neighbourhood interaction in urban settlements is
marked by a high degree of informality As a result of
urbanisation, the status of women is changing. Increasing
number of women have taken to white-collar jobs and
entered different professions. This became instrumental
in improving the social and economic status of women.
While women in cities have more opportunities to find
employment, both as white collar workers or in the
unorganized sector, they are open to more risks Urban
women are comparatively independent and enjoy greater
freedom.
Urban Social Problems
Urban Sociology 124

Though urbanisation has improved peoples living

standards, there are associated problems also emerging
as a consequence of the process. Urban poverty and
problems of housing and slums, problem of drinking
water and drainage, transport and traffic problem,
environmental pollution, crime of different types,
problems of transport and communication etc. have
drawn the attention of urban planners and thinkers.
Poverty
According to Gillin and Gillin, “Poverty is that

condition in which a person either because of inadequate
income or unwise expenditures does not maintain a scale
of living high enough to provide for his physical and
mental efficiency and to enable him and his natural
dependents to function usually according to the standards
of society of which he is a member”. Conventional
economic definitions use income or consumption
complemented by a range of other social indicators such
as life expectancy, infant mortality, nutrition, the
proportion of the household budget spent on food,
Urban Sociology 125

literacy, school enrolment rates, access to health clinics

or drinking water, to classify poor groups against a
common index of material welfare. Indicators such as
life expectancy, infant mortality, nutrition, literacy,
school enrolment rates, access to health clinics or
drinking water etc are also used to define poverty
sometimes.
There are basically two types of poverty-

Absolute poverty and Relative poverty. Absolute poverty
is measured against a pre-determined level of living that
families should be able to afford. Consumption of food
grains, vegetables, milk products and other items that are
necessary for a healthy living and access to other non-
food items are included in the absolute minimum
consumption basket. These standards are then converted
into monetary units and defined as the poverty line.
People with consumption expenditure below this
threshold are considered poor. Relative poverty is
closely associated with the issues of inequality. Per
capita income of a country could also be used to identify
the poor. Persons with per capita incomes of half the
Urban Sociology 126
country’s per capita income could be termed as poor

even though they may be in a position to afford the
minimum basket of goods and services that may
represent the poverty line. This again reflects concerns of
equality. Relative poverty is thus different from absolute
poverty, which looks more at a household’s
consumption, or income available for it to meet its
minimum consumption needs.
Anti-Poverty Programmes by Indian Government:
The government has implemented many

programmes to eradicate poverty in the country. Among
the various programmes launched for poverty alleviation,
(since independence) Community Development
Programme (CDP), National Food for Work Programme
(NFWP), Minimum Needs Programme (MNP),
Antyodaya Programme, Drought Prone Area Programme
(DPAP), Common Area Development Programme
(CADP), Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS),
Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) are
important.
Urban Sociology 127

Slums
Slums are illegal urban settlements on public land

and usually grow over a period of time in a constant and
irregular manner. Slums are considered as an integral
part of urbanization and as a manifestation of the overall
socioeconomic policies and planning in the urban sector.
The existence and rapid growth of slums have been
noted as a general urban phenomena common prevalent
throughout the globe. Slums have emerged out of the
urban development process and are unplanned,
unintended settlements ignored in the whole process of
urban development.
According to the United Nations agency UN-

HABITAT, a slum is a run-down area of a city
characterized by substandard housing and poverty and
lacking in tenure security. According to the United
Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers living in slums
decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the
developing world between 1990 and 2005. However, due
Urban Sociology 128

to rising population, the number of slum dwellers is

rising day by day.
The definition of the term “slum” varies

depending upon the interpretation of the prevailing
housing situation. Normally slums are those part of the
city which may be unfit for human habitation either
because of the structure there in are old dilapidated
grossly congested and out of repairs or because of lack
of infrastructure facilities or because sites themselves are
unhealthy.
There are three main types of slums in our cities.

These are:
a) Original slum. This is an area which from the very

beginning consisted of unsuitable buildings. These are
usually areas around an old factory or mining site which
is now given up or in the zone in transition. These
sections are beyond recovery as they consist of age old
structures and they need to be razed in order to be
eradicated
Urban Sociology 129

b) Transitional Zone Slum. The second type consists

of slums created by the departure of middle and upper
class families to other sections. Or it may be due to the
starting of a new industry or due to congestion and
subsequent deterioration of the living area. These types
of slums are to be found in the transition zone of
developing cities These are the areas which house vice
and crime and where all sorts and shades of people live.
In rehabilitation on the type of slum there is no need
wholesale demolition. Only dilapidated structure must be
replace by housing projects. The remaining rehabilitation
is mainly a matter of administration and community
organization. But vested interests act as hindrances in the
clearance of these slums.
c) The third and most unpleasant type of slum is

mainly a phenomenon of transition once the area around
a main business district has become blighted. Physical
and social deterioration spreads rapidly. It is inhabited by
transients, tramps, vagrants, chronic alcoholics, beggars,
homeless men and habitual criminals. This type of slum
Urban Sociology 130

clearly defies rehabilitation. The proper remedy is better

administration and strict zoning laws.
Population explosion and poverty force the urban

poor to live in slums and that leads to an increase in the
size of slums. Also, a regional imbalance in development
creates rural to urban migration, thus increasing the
overall urban population density which pressurizes the
urban poor to move into slums. Social backwardness
forces people to live in congested areas away from main
areas.
Slums act as an attracting factor for the rural poor

by attracting them towards city life. This it does by
partially blinding them from the hardships that
accompany life in the city. People living in slum areas
are also prone to suffer from waterborne diseases such as
typhoid and cholera, as well as from more fatal diseases.
Also, women and children living in slums are prone to
become victims of social evils like prostitution, beggary
and child trafficking. Slum dwellers in general become
victims of such social evils. Slum areas are also
Urban Sociology 131

commonly believed to be places that generate a high

incidence of crime. This is due to official neglect
towards education, law and order, and government
services in slum areas. Majority of slum dwellers earn
their living from the informal sector which neither
provides them with financial security nor with enough
earnings for a decent living, keeping them within the
vicious cycle of poverty.
Poverty is the most significant reason behind the

creation of slums. So, the issue of poverty must be
addressed first by policymakers. There is also a need for
future policies to support the livelihoods of the urban
poor by enabling urban informal-sector activities to
flourish and develop. Slum policies should be integrated
within broader, people-focused urban poverty reduction
policies that address the various dimensions of poverty.
To improve urban infrastructure, the Government

has taken various steps:
 Smart City Mission to focus on basic amenities,

education, health services, IT accessibility,
Urban Sociology 132
digitization, e-governance, sustainable

development, safety, and security.
 Housing for all by 2022 for constructing houses

for slum dwellers under the slum-rehabilitation
scheme and providing loans at subsidized rates
for the economically weaker sections.
 AMRUT: Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and

Urban Transformation to build a gap between
infrastructural necessity and their accessibility.
 HRIDAY: National Heritage City Development

and Augmentation Yojana to preserve and
holistically develop the heritage cities of India.
 Swachh Bharat Mission for improving

cleanliness and sanitation.
Gentrification
The term “gentrification” was originally coined

in the 1960s by Ruth Glass to describe the
transformation of working-class London neighborhoods
Urban Sociology 133

into middle and upper-class neighborhoods.

Colloquially, gentrification has come to mean “a process
in which a neighborhood gains wealth and sees its
population become more affluent, whiter, and younger.
On the one hand, people argue that gentrification
is good for cities because it brings a higher tax base,
revitalizes previously derelict neighbourhoods, improves
public safety, and attracts newcomers to boost the
economy. On the other hand, there is also an arguement
that gentrification is bad, made through decades of
disinvestment of poor communities. Critics of
gentrification point to displacement as the primary threat
to low-income communities. Displacement is the process
by which a neighbourhood becomes too expensive for its
long-term residents to live so that, over time, lower-
income residents get priced out due to rising rents,
property taxes, or general cost of living. Gentrification is
not just a result of individual actions.
One of the most important types of public

investment that spurs gentrification is public transit.
Neighbourhoods near subways, light-rails and other
Urban Sociology 134
forms of transport attract affluent people in dense

metros. This has the effect of driving property values up
in gentrifying neighbourhoods because individuals
moving in are able to spend a higher proportion of their
already higher salaries on housing.
Other types of public investment that spur

gentrification are investments in public schools,
investment in universities, colleges, and affiliated
medical centres, new or improved parks and open space;
and investments in waterfronts in formerly industrial
cities that transform old warehouses and factories into
restaurants, bars, workspaces, and housing.
Every country is seeing a rapid rate of

urbanization, including India. Cities and large urban
centers are experiencing a process of urban renewal and
development which is forcing many cities to expand
beyond their capacity. Through this process, every city is
experiencing various forms of gentrification forcing
middle to lower working class people outside these areas
as they become financially out of reach. Gentrification in
Urban Sociology 135

India is unsustainable on an environmental, social,

cultural, political and economic level. Gentrification has
its own positive and negative impacts. Gentrification is
defined as the arrival of wealthier people in an existing
urban area which increases property value and rent, and
often changes the district character and culture. This
process includes re-development and suggests the
displacement of the working lower class. Urban renewal,
on the other hand, is the process of improvements and
redevelopment of urban areas. It is the reconstruction of
dilapidated buildings and does not usually include
changing the function of the building. Urbanization can
be followed by urban renewal, then by gentrification,
and different areas see this play out in different orders.
Gentrification is said to be a ‘global urban strategy’
which demonstrates interconnectedness of urbanization,
urban renewal and gentrification
When gentrification occurs, the individuals have

the financial freedom and ability to pay for access to
clean running water, electricity, proper garbage and
waste disposal. On the other hand, there is a focus
Urban Sociology 136
needed on the environmental impacts of the displaced

people who don’t have the means implement and
maintain sustainable ways of living. Gentrification forces
many Indian people into slums which ultimately grows
their environmental impact.
With increase demand for environmentally

sustainable neighbourhoods, gentrification increases
property value which has many social, economic,
cultural and political impacts. It contributes to the wealth
gap through the displacement of the lower working class
which physically increases the space between the rich
and poor. As more and more people continue to move to
urban centers, property close to downtown,
transportation, good shopping and restaurants become
more desirable. As a result, property value continues to
increase through the combination of huge amounts of
people moving to city centers and gentrification.
In India, gentrification is happening more than

ever which increases the social divide in addition to
many other negative impacts. On an economic level,
Urban Sociology 137

gentrification is unsustainable because of the ever

increasing property value which creates a physical divide
between the rich and urban poor due to the fact that
property value becomes financially out or reach. In
reality, the continuous increase in property value and
taxes due to gentrification is unsustainable.
Gentrification creates social tension and conflict when
people who have long lived in these neighbourhoods are
forced out. Many families have roots and their
livelihoods depend on their living location with their
work and businesses nearby. Gentrification results in the
formation of gated communities in and around existing
neighbourhoods which undoubtedly causes social
tension, bitterness and conflict.
From a cultural standpoint, the concept of

gentrification argues that it is able to preserve a
neighbourhood’s existing physical heritage and culture.
Many cities and local governments have sponsored and
created initiatives in hopes of revitalizing decaying
historic infrastructure. Gentrification continues to be
implemented without considering its’ impact on local
Urban Sociology 138
population and cultural heritage which leads to the

inevitable loss and demolition of a regions cultural
identity
On a political level, there is a lot that can be done

to limit gentrification to minimize the damage to several
parts of India’s society. However, almost all states have
accepted gentrification in their urban renewal policies. It
is known that governmental policies have a lot of power
and hold the potential for change, but in this case is a key
player in the current gentrification that is taking place.
The newly forced government policies and schemes are
aiming to give a transformed look to urban areas.
Gentrification is unsustainable in many ways

which. On every level, there needs to be careful
consideration and planning to maximize space, develop
sustainably without prioritizing economic gains and the
need to stop neglecting the common man who is
impacted the most by gentrification. On a cultural level,
there needs to be encouragement of ordinary people, the
lower and working class, to participate in cultural
Urban Sociology 139

activities State governments need to move towards an

urbanization model that takes factors in the people’s
livelihood, the city’s cultural preservation and the
country’s sustainability.
With such a large population and so many

factors, India faces a huge challenge as the rate of
urbanization and gentrification continues to increase.
There is no known correct way to urbanize or develop
sustainably. Dealing with the continuous increase of
people moving to urban centres is a learning process. As
cities implement policies, urbanize and gentrify, they
need to be adaptive Cities need to change their priority
of economic gain in urbanizing India through the process
of gentrification.
Urbanisation in India
Urbanization in India has been relatively slow

compared to many developing countries. The percentage
of annual exponential growth rate of urban population
reveals that in India, it grew at faster pace from the
decade 1921-31 to until 1951. Thereafter it registered a
Urban Sociology 140
sharp drop during the decade 1951-61. The decades

1961-71 and 1971- 81 showed a significant improvement
in the growth rate. But 1981-1991 shows decreasing
trend which continued even in 1991-2001. In 2001-11 it
shows a very small increase to the present rate of 2.76%.
According to the 2011 Census, the urban population was
377 million showing a growth rate of 2.76% per annum
during 2001- 2011. The level of urbanization in the
country as a whole increased from 27.7% in 2001 to
31.1% in 2011 – an increase of 3.3 percentage during
2001-2011 compared to an increase of 2.1 percentage
during 1991-2001.
Urbanization in India has developed through the

five year plans. The first two plans focused on institution
and organization building and same was instructed to the
states to do. The third plan emphasized on importance of
towns and cities in balanced regional development. So, it
advised urban planning to adopt regional approach. It
also emphasized the need for urban land regulation,
checking of urban land prices, preparation of master
plan, etc. The fourth plan continued with the theme of
Urban Sociology 141
third plan and development plans for 72 urban areas

were undertaken. Regional studies in respect of
metropolitan regions around Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta
were initiated. During fifth plan, urban land ceiling act
was passed in 1976. It also advised the state
governments to create metropolitan planning regions to
take care of the growing areas outside administrative city
limits. It also emphasized the urban and industrial
decentralization. The sixth five year plan stressed the
need to develop small and medium sized towns and a
scheme of Integrated development of Small and Medium
towns (IDSMT) was launched in 1979 by central
government. During the seventh plan, some important
institutional developments were done, which shaped the
urban development policy and planning. The National
commission on urbanization submitted its report in 1988
and 65th constitutional amendment was introduced in
Lok Sabha in 1989, this was first attempt to give urban
local bodies a constitutional status with three tier federal
structure. But it was not passed and was finally passed in
1992 as 74th constitutional amendment act and came
Urban Sociology 142

into force in 1993. During Eighth plan, the Mega city

scheme was introduced in 1993-94 covering five mega
cities of Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore and
Hyderabad. The ninth plan, continued with the schemes
of the eighth plan and also emphasized on
decentralization and financial autonomy of urban local
bodies. A new program called Swarna jayanti Shahari
Rozgar yojna (SJSRY) in 1997 with two sub plan–
1. Urban self-employment program and 2. Urban wage
employment programme, targeting for urban poverty
reduction and employment. It was decided by central
government to revamp SJSRY in 2013 as National urban
Livelihood Mission (NULM). The Tenth plan(2002-07)
recognized the fact that urbanization played a key role in
accelerating the economic growth in 1980s and 1990s as
a result of the economic liberalization and also stressed
that without strengthening the urban local bodies, the
goal of urbanization cannot be achieved. The eleventh
plan (2007-2012) introduced some innovative changes
through capacity building, increasing the efficiency and
productivity of the cities, dismantling the monopoly of
Urban Sociology 143

public sector over urban infrastructure, using technology

as a tool for rapid urbanization. In this direction major
initiative launched by central government was JNNURM
(Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban renewal mission) in
2005 for focused and integrated development of the
urban infrastructure and services, initially for 63 cities.
This program was to be continued till 2012, but it has
been extended, covering more number of cities. Focus of
JNNURM was on provisions for urban poor, including
housing, water supply and sanitation, urban transport,
road network, and the development of inner/old city
areas, etc. The earlier programs, as mentioned above like
Mega city, IDSMT, etc. were merged with it. Under
JNNURM it was made mandatory for each cities to
formulate City Development Plan (CDP) for long term
vision of development. It also aimed to make private
players part of urban development through PPP (Public
private partnership) Rajiv Awas Yojana, was launched in
2011 for creating “slum free India” as a pilot project for
two years. But now it has been extended till 2022. It is
applicable to all slums in the city whether notified or
Urban Sociology 144

non-notified. It is also applicable to urban homeless and

pavement dwellers. The 2011 Census was the first one
that collected data on people living in slums that have
become commonplace in a rapidly urbanizing India. It
found that around one out of every six households in
urban India (17.4%) is in a slum, and that well over one-
third of all slum households in the country (38%) are in
cities with a population in excess of a million. The
twelfth five year plan (2012-2017) proposed to
consolidate JNNURM and envisaged its wider role in
urban.
In India out of the total population of 1027

million, in 2001, about 285 million persons lived in
urban areas. The proportion of urban population has
increased from 19.9% in the year 1971 to 27.8% in the
year 2001. The decadal growth of urban population was
31.2% in 1991-2001. At the country level, natural
increase has been principal source of urban population
growth. Increasing concentration of urban population in
larger cities is one of the key features of urban India. The
number of cities over 1.0 million population, in 2001,
Urban Sociology 145
was 35 and population share was over 37 percent. The

salient aspects of urbanisation in India in recent decades
are:
a) The trend of concentration of urban population

in large cities and agglomerations is getting stronger;
b) Slowing down of urbanisation during 1981-

1991 and 1991-2001 as compared to 1971-1981 and
1961-1971;
and c) Large variations in patterns of urbanisation

in various states and cities.
Contributions of Patric Geddes
Between 1915 and 1919 Geddes wrote a series of

"exhaustive town planning reports" on at least eighteen
Indian cities. Through these reports, Geddes was
concerned to create a "working system in India", righting
the wrongs of the past by making interventions in and
plans for the urban fabric that were both considerate of
local context and tradition and awake to the need for
Urban Sociology 146

development. According to Lewis Mumford, writing in

introduction to Tyrwhitt’s collected reports:
"Few observers have shown more sympathy…with the

religious and social practices of the Hindus than Geddes
did; yet no one could have written more scathingly of
Mahatma Gandhi’s attempt to conserve the past by
reverting to the spinning wheel, at a moment when the
fundamental poverty of the masses in India called for the
most resourceful application of the machine both to
agricultural and industrial life."
His principles for town planning in Bombay

demonstrate his views on the relationship between social
processes and spatial form, and the intimate and causal
connections between the social development of the
individual and the cultural and physical environment.
They included:
 Preservation of human life and energy, rather

than superficial beautification.
Urban Sociology 147

 Conformity to an orderly development plan

carried out in stages.
 Purchasing land suitable for building.
 Promoting trade and commerce.
 Preserving historic buildings and buildings of

religious significance.
 Developing a city worthy of civic pride, not an

imitation of European cities.
 Promoting the happiness, health and comfort of

all residents, rather than focusing on roads and
parks available only to the rich.
 Control over future growth with adequate

provision for future requirements.
Geddes' efforts to pay attention to the social and

particular when attempting city renewal or resettlement
remains relevant, particularly in light of the plans for
slum resettlement and redevelopment ongoing in many
Indian cities.
Urban Sociology 148
"Town Planning is not mere place-planning, nor even

work planning. If it is to be successful it must be folk
planning. This means that its task is not to coerce people
into new places against their associations, wishes, and
interest, as we find bad schemes trying to do. Instead its
task is to find the right places for each sort of people;
place where they will really flourish. To give people in
fact the same care that we give when transplanting
flowers, instead of harsh evictions and arbitrary
instructions to 'move on', delivered in the manner of an
officious policeman."
Contributions of MSA Rao

Urbanisation is a universal process implying
economic development and social change. Urbanisation
also means, according to one view, “a breakdown of
traditional social institutions and values”. However, in
India, one cannot say that urbanisation has resulted in the
caste system being transformed into the class system, the
joint family transforming into the nuclear family, and
religion becoming secularised.
Urban Sociology 149

M.S.A. Rao (1974) observes that the

‘breakdown’ hypothesis originated from the western
experience, and it ignores the fact of traditional
urbanisation’ in India. Modern urbanisation’ is different
from the traditional urbanisation. Urban centres in
traditional India were important places of worship,
annual congregations, trade and navigation. They had a
stable population. Today, cities have come up as places
of industry, headquarters of districts and states or as
centres of higher education. A city has a highly
diversified population. Chandigarh, Gandhinagar,
Bokaro, Bhilai and Sindri are examples of new towns
and cities. Some towns have lost their traditional
significance, whereas some have acquired added
importance because of economic and political factors.
Rao classifies urban studies into three categories:
(1) those concerned with the institutional approaches
(2) those treating cities and their growth in the general

context of history of civilisations,
Urban Sociology 150

(3) those which formulate the cultural role of cities in

the context of social organisation of the great tradition.
M.S.A. Rao has dealt with urbanism and cities in

early historical India. In his essay Rao analyses the urban
styles of lives and processes in pre-colonial India in the
framework of civilization. He points out that there is not
one Hindu civilisation or great tradition but a
multiplicity of civilisations which accounted 23 for
varied urban institutions, styles and images in a situation
of interaction. According to Rao India's urbanism has
essentially been shaped by three civilizations: the Hindu,
during the early period; the Muslim, during the medieval
period; and the Christian, during the modern period. The
rulers representing these civilizations tried to impose
elements of their culture on the urban life of India.
Moreover, the urban settlement patterns in India often
show juxtaposition of old and new. Thus historical
perspective adds an important dimension to our
understanding of the urban situation in India. He
describes varied patterns of urbanism and urbanisation in
terms of ecological features, social organisation of
religions, artistic, scientific, technological, economic and
political activities and rural urban networks. In the
Urban Sociology 151

context of urbanism and urbanisation in traditional India,

he argues that the towns and villages formed a part of the
civilisational process, with structural continuities and
organisational differences. Rao is of the opinion that the
process of urbanization in India is complex and that
categorisation of Indian cities on the basis of one factor
will be too simplistic, although he agrees that British
colonialism is a cutoff point in the history of Indian
urbanisation.
According to Rao a more direct source for a

sociological study of urbanism and urbanisation come
from the studies of sociologically relevant aspects of
urban social life and of segments of urban population,
relating to issues such as immigration, caste system,
occupational segmentation, family organisation, politics
and religion etc. The birth and growth, and the state of
urban sociology in India as a distinct branch of sociology
discipline can be examined by taking stock of the studies
on urban social settings in India that contributed to the
development of the discipline.
*****
Urban Sociology 152

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URBAN SOCIOLOGY

Sri. Shailendra Varma R,

BASICS OF URBAN SOCIOLOGY

Urban sociology is the sociological study of life

Classical sociological traditions of Urban Sociology

The classical theories of urban sociology are

Karl Marx, George Simmel, Max Weber and others.

One of the key founders of sociology, Émile

social ties still exist in larger, urban societies. He called

Emile Durkheim indicated urbanization in his

Durkheim argues that increase in human

people become specialists in a particular activity. Thus, a

Durkheim was of the opinion that cities generate

Durkheim considered that the result of evolving

products of the rapid rate at which industrialisation had

Max Weber, the German sociologist in his book

He considered the social structure of city as well

Weber undertook survey of various cities throughout

· Weber defined urban community as an ideal type

1. trade or commercial relations, e.g. market

2. court and law of its own

3. partial political autonomy

4. militarily self-sufficient for self-defence

5. forms of associations or social participation

Weber identified three types of cities:

• The consumer city, which relies on wealthy consumers

• The producer city, which is sustained by the

• The merchant city, where consumption capacity rests

The city can also be identified as a politico-

demanded the allegiance of individuals in return for the

· Weber suggested that cities are linked to larger

Simmel considered the importance of urban

Size: According to Simmel, the size of the metropolis is

Differentiation: The effects of differentiation are most

that only large human groups give rise to and can

Rationality: Simmel argues that ‘The metropolis has

Simmel argues that urban life irreversibly transforms

In his discussion of Philosophy of Money, Simmel

modern societies. Money replaces personal ties by

Conceptualisation of Tonnies on Urban Society

Tonnies considered the social structure of city.

1. Gemeinschaft (community): characterized country

bound by common language and traditions,

2. Gesellschaft (association): characterized large city.

· There are three types of Gemeinschaft

1. Kinship Gemeinschaft is based on Family; the

2. Kinship develops and differentiates into the

3. There is also Friendship, or Gemeinschaft of the mind,

Tonnies in his book Community and Society

succession of typologies of which the best known are the

Conceptualisation of Redfield on Urban Society

Robert Redfield has given the concept of rural -

Robert Redfield has made an important

urban continuum. He has constructed a continuum from

In the Mexican village of Tepoztlán, Redfield

this background that the concepts of ‘folk society’ and

Redfield's speculations about what he saw as the

traditions in a process of constant interaction, where

Urbanism is the concept which incorporates

Size of Population: Since, the time of Aristotle, it has

Density: Increase in the size of the population over a

necessary concomitant of urbanization Density increases

Heterogeneity: Heterogeneity is another aspect of

Louis Wirth believed that the larger, the denser,