Urbanization and Urban Sociologists - Essay Example

Urbanization is a process in which people seek to depopulate rural areas as they move to towns and cities. Urbanization is a human behavior that has been in existence for a long time dating back to several decades ago.

In urban sociology, urbanization is of great significance due to various reasons. Urbanization has pretty deep roots in history and the influence it has on the modern developments seen today in the contemporary world cannot be undermined. To comprehensively understand the dynamics of the societies, it is crucial that the process through which these particular societies developed to be evaluated. The history of urbanization in sociology gives an insight into how societies have transformed over time, the impacts of those transformations, and how they influence the current state. Several years after the initiation of urbanization, the effects are widely felt especially because it has had both negative and positive impacts (Cliffsnotes.com, n.d.).

The wave of industrialization facilitated urbanization since human labor was highly demanded. Individuals, therefore, moved to the cities seeking employment that could help them generate income that could sustain their families. The increase in the food supply in different societies as a result of urbanization also led to increased populations and people had to spread out to give space for others. Individuals became preoccupied with different activities in diverse sectors that could make them sustain the changing lifestyle. Eventually, rural-urban migration became almost inevitable with these increased socioeconomic activities leading to the rise and growth of many towns and cities (Gottdiener & Hutchison, 2011).

The social problems that came up with urbanization have virtually persisted to date and this justifies why urbanization is still a topic worth considering in urban sociology. Owing to the increase in population in the cities, crime, pollution, and violence among others became the order of the day. Today, these social problems are still widely felt across different societies despite the many efforts governments have made to curb them. Although the sparkled economic engagements brought developments and growth in the cities, social problems such as unemployment have remained a major challenge in the current society. This is attributed to the high population growth that the increased food production.

Conclusion

Urbanization is an area that attracts Urban Sociologists because of the profound influence it has had over the years in societies. To get and deep understanding of the social problems felt, their root causes should be investigated, and digging into gaining insight into urbanization ensures this. The many developments seen in the cities today were founded on urbanization. The people’s shift of interest to industrialization saw the development of cities and towns. Read More