USEFUL URBAN SOCIOLOGY DEFINITIONS

URBANIZATION

	a process by which rural areas become transformed into urban areas
	refers to the changes in the proportion of the population of a nation living in urban areas and to the process of people moving to cities or other densely settled areas
	term is also used to describe the changes in social organization that occur as a consequence of population concentration
	in demographic terms, it refers to an increase in population concentration (numbers and density)
	Four-fifths of the US 2000 population of 281 million is now urban

URBANISM - see Louis Wirth

	a social and behavioural response to living in certain places
	refers to social patterns and behaviours associated with living in cities
	often seen as one consequence of urbanization with its changes in values, mores, customs and behaviours of population
	research is undertaking concerning the social psychological aspects of urban life, urban personality patterns and behavioural adaptations required by city life
	Implicit premise in much writing about cities today is that cities produce a characteristic way of life known as urbanism

NB: Can live in a low level of urbanism (urban behaviours) and a high degree of urbanization (population concentration), e.g. large cities in the developing world where city is filled with immigrants who now reside in an urban place but remain basically rural in outlook; less commonly is a low level of urbanization and a high level of urbanism, e.g. decentralization in US where there is decline in urbanization but urban lifestyles become more universal with city folk living on edges of suburban areas

Megalopolis

Densely populated areas containing 2 or more cities and their suburbs, e.g. Boston to Washington area which includes New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, refers in the first instance to the cluster of cities on the East Coast of the United States. An urban region classifies as a megalopolis when it has a density of 500 inhabitants per square mile (and many more of such arbitrary numbers).

Global city

Type of megalopolis cities oriented to international trade rather than domestic trade and commerce, e.g. London, Paris, Zurich, New York

Gentrification

Recycling of older central city neighbourhoods, middle and upper middle class move into older, decaying neighbourhoods and renovate, causing value of property to rise

Exurb

Neighbourhoods on the edge of suburbs, where upper middle class settlement that is taking place in outlying semi-rural areas beyond the second ring of densely settled subdivisions, usually widely separated homes often with woods between, and homes tend to be large and expensive, also often settle around old villages or small towns. Exurbanites are as a rule affluent, well-educated professionals, urban seekers of the American Dream who seek to reside in rustic settings

Edge City

Edge cities encompass offices, dwellings and all sorts of urban resources, without, however, containing a historical downtown core. They appear as clusters of urban activity along the highways that circle large American cities -- which accounts for the "edge" in the term.

Sprawl

Unbridled, poorly planned, low-density, spread out, auto-oriented and dependent residential development that spreads out from the center of communities, occurs when land usage expands dramatically faster than population growth, common ills include traffic congestion, air pollution and massive destruction of natural environment, common is strip or leapfrog commercial and residential development

Redlining

Neighbourhoods are redlined when they are high risk areas which are undergoing or thought to be undergoing racial change, Title VIII of 1968 prohibited realtors and financial institutions from employing discriminatory mechanims to maintain dual markets for while and minority homebuyers, e.g. steering where potential minority buyers are only shown homes in minority or already integrated neighbourhoods

Blockbusting

Real estate agents instill and create a panic and fear in members of white neighbourhoods where African Americans attempt to move into such areas, and thus urge whites to sell their homes before property values decline.

CENSUS BUREAU DEFINITIONS

Urban

Incorporated and unincorporated places with at least 2,500 inhabitants.

Urbanized Area

An area with a central city and surrounding fringe that together has a population of at least 50,000. Population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

Central city with at least 50,000 inhabitants and the counties in which they are located, and any adjoining counties that are tied social/economically to central city county

Standard Metropolitan Consolidated Area (SMCA)

A large metropolitan Complex made up of two or more MSAs. Found in several locations in the U.S.

	Urban sociology syllabus
	Urban sociology course documents
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