Urban Geography Overview

Foundations of Urban Social Landscapes

• Urban Geography seeks to understand the spatial organisation of urban society.
• Early 20th century scholars believed urbanisation led to the death of community.
• Traditional community was based on:
  • Relationships
  • Familial relations
  • Social bonds
• Early scholars saw urban society as different, focused on economic organisation:
  • Short-lived and superficial social interactions
  • Social order based on differences and division of labour
• Simmel (1903) argued cities negatively influence society:
  • Dynamic Density: Larger populations lead to fewer social controls and weaker behaviour.
  • Rationality/Impersonality: Economic relationships influence social interactions.
  • Overstimulation: The constant "press" of people causes some to withdraw for privacy.
  • Anomie: Increased social isolation.
  • These factors could lead to deviant behaviour.
• Simmel's view represents an outdated and pessimistic view of urban life.

The Chicago School of Urban Sociology

• Burgess and Park (1925) observed social groups in urban contexts and the organisation of urban society.
• The Chicago School/Ecological School drew inspiration from biological sciences to explain human behaviour.
• Cities were viewed as "natural" ecological communities.
• Their scientific approach sought to predict social patterns based on competition for resources.
• Concepts like social distance emerged: social groups seek to minimize contact with other groups.
• Spatial distance was used to achieve this social distance.
  • This resulted in the segregated urban social landscape.
• Neighbourhoods change over time through invasion and succession.
• Social area analysis or factorial ecology argues that three primary forces shape urban areas:
  • Increasing job skills requirements
  • Changing family structures
  • Increased residential mobility
• Murdies (1969) proposed the idea of the urban mosaic:
  • Three forces identify social areas in cities:
    • Socio-economic status
    • Family status
    • Ethnic status
• The Chicago School has been criticised for reinforcing racism and segregation:
  • Using biological science for complex human behaviour is problematic and potentially social Darwinism.
  • The school overlooks complex social, economic, and political factors.
  • Social identity is more complex in metropolitan areas, influenced by various factors:
    • Race
    • Gender
    • Sexuality
    • Age
    • Lifestyle