Urbanism as a Way of Life - Essay Example

Urbanism Two European sociologists, George Wirth and Louis Simmel take interest in the study urban way of life in simpler terms urbanism.As cited in Simmel & Wirth, while Simmel related urbanism to money, his counterpart Wirth linked the urban way of life with organization of social groups. Louis Wirth was one of the Chicago school scholars who wrote a paper in urban sociology, precisely on urbanism as a way of life. According to Wirth, urbanism is determined by the population density and the heterogeneity of the individuals within an urban setup. He emphasized that an urban center was characterized by a high population. This is because of the increase of Russian immigrants and German immigrants that joined the Jewish community in the street of Maxwell. Wirth described the street as ‘Ghetto’ because it had a high population density with people from different ethnicity and religion.Therefore, the interactions between people moved from primary to secondary. Impacts of urbanism According to Wirth and Simmel, urbanism has negative effects as well as positive effects. The paper will first look at the negative effect of urbanism followed by the positive effects.The ties among people weakened due to the increased population and difference in background, culture and religion. Additionally, the sociologist noted that the difference in culture and tradition forced individuals to abandon their traditions so as to fit in the urban social organization. Wirth examined that the urbanism has several negative impacts due to the size, density and heterogeneity. The Sociologist was inspired by Simmel’s argument that the larger the population the more the need for individualism and erosion of tradition.Due to the large size in the urban areas, people tend to be less united and more individual and diversified socially. The large size in an urban setting is more likely to adapt to urban system of social control, undermining the kinship traditional system. Urbanism is reflected by the lack of division of labor in the urban areas as compared to the rural areas. This kills the tradition of differentiated roles between women and men that was observed in the rural areas. Density and heterogeneity in the urban centers made people from different background adapt to living close to strangers. Hence, result to an individual’s psychological stress due to mistrust and doubt in their heterogenic neighbors. Competition in the field of employmentincreases in a densely populated place. This is because of duplication of roles and skills among people of different backgrounds. Louis Simmel characterized urbanism with the difference of social class within an urban setting. He argues that an urban area has both the rich and the poor people. The rich people are associated with a favorable environment and good schools for their children. Conversely, the poor people are seen to work in poor conditions, minimal wages and basically, low living standards. Consequently, due to the gap between the rich and the poor, rate of social vices such as crime increases. Additionally, the majority poor are more likely to object the society ruling class and seek independence. This urbanism that caused oppression of the poor people by the sovereign society gave rise to the need for independence in America. There are positive effects that are associated with urbanism.Wirth noted that people from different backgrounds; religion, social and culture were tolerant to live as neighbors. As much as living with strangers was not an easy task, this mingling among people of different ethnic helped people to appreciate one another and reduce racism. The natives accommodate the immigrants and it gave rise to togetherness as an urban social group rather than many groups living in a similar setting. Semille examined that the difference in social class made the oppressed majority see a need to be an independent state where their rights were considered. Independence gave rise to improved living standard and the urban economy at large. Division of labor which is associated with the rural area was declined in the urban setting. Both women and men would work together to promote their own living standards and the community’s economy. Women are the most vulnerable group when it comes to division of labor. They are mostly undermined in the rural area where their role in the society is childbearing, care giving and family chores. In the urban areas, women are empowered and their efforts appreciated. Empowering women means that gender inequality is reduced by giving equal chances and rights to both women and men. Both Wirth and Simmel agree that urban areas are populated with individuals from different background. Thispopulation, with the skills and roles each plays in the urban area,increases the chance for development. Therefore, urban areas are more likely to grown into cities and later metropolitans. Competition among different people in the urban areas gives rise to a new kind of lifestyle. This increases the demand for goods and services that requires more industries and updated technology. Consequently, the urban area advances both in industries and technology. Critiques of Urbanism Urbanism having characteristics of particularly three variables namely; size, density and heterogeneity led to three approaches. The first is physical structure as aninfluence on urbanism. Physical structures are mainly the buildings, population, and technology among others. Critiques object the belief that physical structure has an influence on the growth and shape of an urban area. Rather, critiques state that the individuals shape the urban area through their different skills and human capital. The second aspect Urbanism is individualism in system of social organization. Wirth and Simmel argue that individualism and secondary communication is caused by the indifference in culture and ethnicity in the urban area. However, what the sociologist failed to note is that this strangeness among different groups lasts for a short time. After a while the different groups adapt to each other’s way of living and culture and the strangeness gradually disappears. Lastly, the theory of urban sociology concentrateson how culture has affected structure of the urban setting. Nevertheless, critiques challenged the theory by stating that it important to give first priority to how the urban life has brought about poverty among other human challenges. In the final analysis, an urban area is a residential place worth risking. This is because of the many opportunities that come with the city life. The urban life also challenges the backwardness of rural life were people rarely embrace new technology. In rural areas communication is through primary contact while in the urban areas people use secondary contact. On the brighter side of secondary contact it has brought about technology such as internet, mobile phones and the many social sites we have today. Therefore, technology makesthe world smaller with easier communication. The finer things are found in the urban areas due to industrialization and the rise in living standards. The urban life exposes an individual to many more opportunities. Works cited Wirth, George & Simmel, Louis. “Urbanism as a way of life”.In The Urban Sociology Reader. Jan and Mele (Ed.). London: Routledge, 2005. Print. Read More