The main features of urban society.
a) Enlist the main features of urban society.
Features Of Urban Society Simply put, urban has to do with
towns as rural has to do with villages. However, when it comes to defining
‘urban’, the matter is not so simple. In the exercise of census, various
national governments use various criteria to define it depending on their
specific attributes: population size, density, levels of industrialization and
development and so on. There is no universal definition. Nevertheless there are
some common grounds. It is often easy to recognize large cities but we face a
problem while distinguishing medium towns from smaller towns and smaller towns
from larger villages. Similarly, degree of urbanisation is not fixed.
Large cities like Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata are growing at
high rates, necessitating fresh classification of towns. What once was a city
now becomes a metropolis; the town becomes a city and so on. Urbanisation is a
continuous process of growth of cities both in size and number. What is meant
by the terms ‘urban’ and ‘city’? According to Encyclopedia of Sociology (1992),
urban includes ‘a set of specialized, non-agricultural activities that are
characteristic of, but not exclusive to, city dwellers’. City refers to ‘an
administratively defined unit of territory containing a relatively large, dense
and permanent settlement of socially heterogeneous individuals’. Thus ‘urban’
is a set of attributes while the city is the place whose residents possess
these attributes, though not exclusively.
Definition of Urban
Place According to the Census of India 2001, an urban place is as follows:
1)
All
statutory places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified
town area committee.
2)
Any place which simultaneously satisfies the
following three criteria: i) A minimum population of 5,000; ii) At least 75 per
cent of the male working population engaged in non-agricultural activities; and
iii) A density of population of at least 400 persons per square kilometer
(1,000 per square mile).
3)
Apart
from these, the outgrowths (OGs) of cities and towns have also been treated as
urban, under ‘Urban Agglomerations’. For example, railway colonies.
Cities can be identified on the following basis: demographic,
economic, social, morphological and functional (Ramachandran, 2007).
Demographic: The size (minimum 5000 persons) and density (minimum 400
persons per square kilometer) of population are the demographic criteria.
Usually the density of population of a city varies between 500 persons to over
10,000 persons per square kilometer, where as rural population densities range
between 200 persons to 1000 persons per square kilometre. But demographic
criterion is not enough.
Economic: The economic basis uses the occupational
criterion and gender
criterion. Rural and urban places are distinguished on the comparative
importance of agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. Activities of
secondary sector (manufacturing) and tertiary sector (services) predominate in
urban places. Also the identification of urban place takes into account the
male working population. Places with 75 per cent or more workers in
non-agricultural pursuits are taken to be urban
Social: Urban centers can be identified by the social composition of people.
It has more diversity because the population comprises of people from various
regions, religions and languages. Morphological and Functional: Urban places
have very different lay out and constructions than rural places. They have
mostly brick and mortar buildings with many storeys. Main streets are for
vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Public buildings like hospitals, courts,
schools are present in urban areas. Clustering of shops in a marketplace is an
urban phenomenon.
Even small urban places have a cluster of 20 or more shops.
Villages have a few separate shops in a marketplace. Louis Wirth (1938) has put
forward cultural dimensions in identifying urban place. He describes ‘urbanism’
to be intrinsic to urban places on the basis of large size, high density and
heterogeneity of urban population. Large population size causes greater social differentiation.
People with various ethnic backgrounds may live in a neighbourhood. At the same
time, social relations are usually segmental, impersonal and transitory. Urban
population is heterogeneous. There is complex division of labour and high
social mobility. Some of the features of urban society are discussed below:
Heterogeneity: Urban places are heterogeneous in composition. City is called the ‘melting pot’ in
which people belonging to different cultures, traditions, customs and
identities merge. The city values individual differences. The heterogeneity is
also observed in terms of the diversity of occupational as well as cultural
life pursued in cities in comparison to villages.
Anonymity: Urban society encourages anonymity.
Overcrowding: As an urban place grows and attracts large
in-migrants, scarcity of residential place follows. A large section of
population in cities is unable to find proper dwelling places. People who are unable to rent a
house due to high rent prices have to manage with very small accommodation.
Poorer people often have to live in slums. The commercial use of land does not
leave any open space.
Coexistence of class extremes: Urban community has high class extremes. Cities have
both very rich and very poor people. People indulge in conspicuous consumption
while there are many who are unable to manage two square meals a day.
High pace of life: Urban life demands high level of speed
and energy. People
work day and night, encouraging others to follow them.
If You Want Full PDF
characteristics of urban
society
describe briefly the main
features of urban society
characteristics of rural society
what are the main
features of urban economy
characteristics of
urban housing
what are some of key
characteristics of cities
urban
society in india pdf
If You Want Full PDF
Whatsapp : 8130208920
Per Subject PDF 49/- Only
Post a Comment