Invitation to Urban Studies

Ch. 1
Conceptual Challenges
Understanding Urban Space
 Urban is sociological variable affecting people
systematic/identifiable ways;
 Urban sociology scientific study seeking to
discover systematic causes and effects;
 Urban sociology has difficulty defining what
is meant by urban ;
 Going to study city- matrix of structures and
activities comprising largest, most complex
social organizational forms;
Two Kinds of organizations: Enacted
and Crescive
 Enacted- planned as a unit from beginning,
changes are deliberate and planned out;
 Crescive- elements emerge gradually,
interrelationships not due to formal
deliberation but spontaneous accomodations
among different parts;
 Ecology- refers to natural order worked out
over time by individuals; variety of life forms
use same environment in mutual ways;
Challenge of understanding informal
structure of cities fact that urban areas lack
physical or spatial closure; we have not
reached limits of urban influence when we can
no longer see city skyline on horizon;

Another challenge: cities and nature of urban

life vary among societies; Urban places look
and operate differently within same society at
different pts of time;
Experiencing Urban Space
 Public spaces- there is need to reach back into store of
knowledge- of public or streetlore-about how to move
through crowds, what seat to choose on bar or bus, how not
to draw unwanted attention, conducting yourself while
standing in lines;
 Cities as Culture- Cultural influences in city communicated
to rest of society; high culture as representing “true”
cultural expression of city;
 What do cities symbolize? City as dangerous place; high
visibility of minorities and immigrant groups; cultural
transitions, immigrant groups make peace with host
society; transforming neighborhoods and streets;
What do cities symbolize? Cont…

 Prejudice and discrimination leading to exclusion;

 Going private- public places-parks, squares, bear
logos of corporate sponsors; bringing
unpredictability of urban environment under
control; e.g. surveillance of homeless, street kids,
punks;
Structuring Personal Experience
 Structural elements channel perception and movement;
 Lynch(1960) identified five elements: paths, edges,
districts, nodes, and landmarks;
 Paths- directs people travel in moving;
 Edges- barriers hemming in movement
 Districts- large areas having cohesive quality; e.g.
Chinatown in SF;
 Nodes- smaller public places, junctions, turning pts, traffic
circles, squares;
 Landmarks- outstanding feature of cityscape; anchor
individual’s mental map; people usually pass them rather
than entering; (12)
Micro Order
 Whyte(1988) How welcoming is our public space?
People are drawn to other people and to crowds;
obstructed pedestrians squeezing past are polite and
unruffled (13) Crowded sidewalk “schmoozers” natural
habitat; engineering of microenvironments important
in whether space is seen as welcoming;
 Low ledges along buildings designed to discourage
sitting intended to keep people moving;
 Food, sound of falling water, shade in summer and
sunlight in winter will comfort them;
Urban environments shape social life.
Personal Management of Public
Experience
 Lofland(1985) people taking matters into own hands
making public space their own
 Passing from status of regular “customer” to
“patron” to “resident” recognizable fixture in minds
of others; “colonized the territory” a semi-privatized
realm;
 Envelope- layer(s) of attitude, demeanor, and details
of performance; other public actors where individual
operates threatening to envelope one’s envelope
urban public space rich in situated energies;
Cities for Fun and Profit

 Growth industry private consulting companies

specializing engineering financially successful
festivals; behind expression of solidarity and
tradition are promoters doing business (25)
theming of contemporary urban spaces
promoting tourism leading to constantly
improving level of facilities, amenities, and
services; cities underwriting costs of stadiums,
festival themed malls, convention centers (27)
Reengineering Urban Space

 Agents of development are doing urban

sociology; applied sociology; modifying
urban environments produce particular
perceptions/ behaviors compatible with profit
motive;
 Faciliating recreational behavior or shaking
down the suckers Disney and the sanitation of
experience making public spaces safe and
predictable
Cities and Political Expression

 Offering natural setting dramatic political

expression; providing large #s of people that
can be mobilized; providing critical mass;
containing large numbers of poor and
minorities; confrontations between law
enforcement, poor and minorities; streets and
public squares provide setting for massing of
human energies e.g. Stonewall defiance against
suppressed right to gay sexual identity