In the 21st century, half of the world’s population lived in urban areas. By 2030, some 60 percent of the total world population will live in urban areas. Most of this increase, however, is taking place in developing countries, such as Bangladesh, much of it in megacities, e.g., Dhaka, where many live in shantytowns, and with incomes below the poverty level. This rapid expansion of urbanism requires a comprehensive understanding of urban-relevant phenomena, and urban sociology attempts to focus on the urbanized social way of life and its impact on the surroundings, the suburbs in particular.
Definition
According to Jary and Jary (2000)- ‘The study of social relationships and structures in the city’.
According to Haggerty (2000)- ‘Urban sociology studies human groups in a territorial frame of reference….with an emphasis on the interplay between social and spatial organization and how changes in spatial organization affect social and psychological well-being,…[and] are tied together by a common curiosity about the changing dynamics, determinants, and consequences of urban society’s most characteristic form of settlement, the city’
According to Flanagan (2010) ‘A cohesive sub-discipline within sociology, related in some systematic manner to a particular kind of social space, the urban arena.’
According to Barker [?] Urban Sociology deals with the impact of city life on social action, social relationships, social instruction, and the types of civilization derived from and based on urban modes of living.’
Nature of Urban Sociology
Urban sociology has its own characteristics, and these are stated below
- Urban sociology is the sociological analysis of a city and its lifestyle.
- It concerns the dynamism of society stimulated by urbanization.
- It tends to identify the urban problems and implement possible remedies to solve them.
- It is a factual study of urban social living.
- It pays attention to the social relations among the city dwellers.
- It is concerned with the geo-spatial cultural issues and comparative analysis of urban ecology.
- It studies the social relation which may be harmonious or conflicting.
- It is the subject area of general sociology.
- It is a social science.
- It is a theoretical as well as an applied science.
- It is a categorical science, not a normative science.
- It is an abstract, not a concrete science.
- It is a special, not a general, science.
- It is value-free science.
- It is based on universal, authentic, and valid scientific data.
Gottdiener and Hutchision (2011) stated that ‘In general, Urban Sociology is concerned about the everyday life in the suburban (suburban settlement space as well as in the city or urban settlement space). Yet, it has three additional dimensions-
- The shift to a global perspective.
- Attention to the political economy of pull factors (government policies including mortgage guarantees for lenders, tax deductions for homeowners, and the like) in urban and suburban development, and
- I appreciate the role of culture in metropolitan life and in the construction of the built environment.
- Urbanization.
- Rapidly growing industrial cities.
- Complex social relationships, and
- Social structures.
- Urban life-style and personality.
- Urban social organization and culture.
- Physical characteristics of cities.
- Social characteristics of the inhabitants.
- Urban dimension of society.
- Forms of association and social life in urban environments.
- Social order and organization in urban settings.
- Role of urban development in social change.
- The relationships between the incidence of social problems, i.e., crime, alcoholism, and social cohesion,
- Community studies and neighborhoods.
- Study of housing.
- Race and ethnic relationships.
- Dynamics of zone transition.
- Urban housing class, housing market, and forms of tenure system.
- Economic class interests.
- Labor class and power.
A.The social change perspectives include ---
- Morphology of cities.
- Population dynamics.
- Transformation of urban communities.
- Change in the behavioral pattern of city-dwellers.
- Transformation of urban ways of living.
- Complex structural change.
- Center for domestic and foreign activities.
- Center for commercial and non-commercial activities, and
- Center for Housing, Employment, and Education.
- Individuals,
- Groups.
- Voluntary association.
- Bureaucracy, and
- Social institution
- Population.
- Environment.
- Technology
- Environmental pollution.
- Illness.
- Family fragmentation.
- Poverty.
- Unemployment.
- Drug addiction.
- Class and juvenile delinquency.
- Prostitution, trafficking, and so on.
E. The social policy perspectives include
- Recognition and identification of the problems, and
- Ability to solve the identified problems.
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