ADS605

1. CHAPTER 2
URBAN COMMUNITY
URBAN SOCIOLOGY
ADS605
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urban sociology (ADS605)

2. CHAPTER 2
URBAN COMMUNITY
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this chapter a student should be able to :
i. Explain the emergence of urban community.
ii. Differentiate between urbanization and urbanism
iii. Explain the process of cities growth.
iv. Explain people and lifestyle related within urban territory
v. Identify issues and challenges of metropolitan
vi. Identify issues and challenges in Malaysia
urban sociology (ADS605)
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3. SNAPSHOT OF URBAN
COMMUNITY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp4q9K39UXk&index=1&list=PLrSAu6p
WkinuoPR1ALjVSav_KfNPHpgFv
urban sociology (ADS605)
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4. Emergence of Urban Community
• Urban community is a group that perceives itself as
having strong and lasting bonds, particularly when
the group shares a geographic location in the city.
• Urban community is different compared to rural
community in term of relationship referring to
theories by Ferdinand Tonnies, and Emile Durkheim.
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5. Emergence of Urban Community
• The different level of relationship
between urban community and rural
community can be measured based on:
1. Regular participation by individuals in
its activities
2. The strength of identification among
members with the perceived social
bond of the group
3. The specific physical space and location
that is commonly understood as the
group’s territory (space provides its
own set of material markers to which
community members have strong
emotional ties.)
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6. Emergence of Urban Community
• The emergence of urban
community is related with the
process of urbanization.
• The features of urbanization that
lead the emergence of urban
community are:
1. The lack of walls or fortifications
around cities
2. Real estate development as a
major component in the
economy of capatalism
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7. Emergence of Urban Community
• The features of urbanization that lead the
emergence of urban community are:
3. The ideology of privatism (limit the role of the
state and emphasizes individual accomplishment
as tha basis of community)
4. Large-scale foreign immigration and massive
population turnover within cities
5. The regional dispersal of metropolis.
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8. Difference between Urbanization and
and Urbanism
“Urbanization is not Urbanism”
Urbanization
• Urbanization is the process of city formation and city
growth
• Urbanization is the concentration of population into
cities.
• Urbanization redisributes and concentrates population
within a society and transforms many pattern of social
life.( Macionis, 2007)
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9. Difference between urbanization and
and Urbanism
• The process involves the way social
activities locate themselves in space and
according to interdependent processes of
societal development and change
• The process of urbanization can be
captured by increases in the number and
size of cities (population).
• Urban development can be seen by type
of cities (example: gigantic cities based on
population growth and explosive growth
of cities; sprawling of cities)
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10. Difference between urbanization and
and Urbanism
• Urban growth is unequally distributed globally and
led to the growth of population live in slum area.
(example: Nowdays Asia is rapidly urbanizing that
considered as hyper-urbanization)
• Studies the way social activities
• Charting the rise and fall of cities
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urban sociology (ADS605)

11. Difference between urbanization and
and Urbanism
Urbanism
• Urbanism is a way of life characterized
by density, diversity and complex
social organization.
• Urbanism is the study of cities for
example about geographic, economic,
political, social and cultural
environment and the imprint of all
these forces on the built environment.
• Most often the term today means the
culture of cities
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12. Difference between urbanization and
and Urbanism
Urbanism
• Urbanism has traditionally been associated with a
greater sophistication in understanding and
consuming the arts, expensive dining,
sophisticated entertainment and fashion
• Urbanism is also the practice of creating human
communities for living, work, and play and
covering the more human aspects of urban
planning.
• Urbanists define urban areas by their high
population density.
• Urbanists maintain that the characteristic makes
cities physically and sociologically distinct from
rural areas.
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13. How Cities Grow
• A city is a bounded space that is densely settled and has a relatively large,
culturally heterogeneous population
• According to the US census, which has a very loose definition, a city can be any
urban place of 2,500 people or more that is incorporated as a municipality
Cities are important principally because
1. their political clout that provide them
• the power to tax and the power to raise money via bonds and other
financial instruments
• hire its own police force
• provide for all social services to its residents
• the power of self-governance and they have their own elected officials.
• city administrations have political power nationally
• Mayors of cities have national political clout
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15. How Cities Grow
2. the formal municipal situation
varies enormously depending on
different systems of government
and governance.
3. The political power of cities is
related to their position as sites of
economic activity.
4. the site of ‘urban culture’
• One feature of cities that is not
characteristic of other areas is the
presence of a viable street and
pedestrian culture
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16. How Cities Grow
5. Cities have gone through enormous changes, industrial decline,
crumbling homes and schools, overcrowded neighborhoods, rigid
segregation and racial trauma, rising crime and violence, and an
alarming drain of revenues have all contributed to creating a troubled
urban landscape.
• large-scale government interventions seemed to point the way to
urban salvation
• the presence of nighttime activities
• unique aspect of cities resides in their architecture, especially the tall
structures known as skyscrapers.
• the city, housing tends to be of high density
• a true understanding of the city must involve its relationship with
other areas of urbanized regions, such as suburbs and the networks of
locations that are tied together through electronic means in the
information economy.
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17. How Cities Grow
• The type of cities related with population size such as
gigantic city, metropolitan city and cosmopolitan city.
• Ten traits of early cities are as follows:
1. Urban settlements were densely populated and large
in territory.
2. Cities supported crafts people full-time and in
specialized jobs.
3. Farmers produced an agricultural surplus controlled
by rulers.
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18. How Cities Grow
4. There was the presence of
monumental public buildings.
5. The agricultural surplus was
controlled by ruling elite and
priests within the city.
6. Cities were centers for
developing ideas and
recording them.
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19. How Cities Grow
7. Cities were centers for the arts.
8. Cities were centers for the
‘predictive’ sciences.
9. City organization was based on
residence not kinship.
10.Cities imported and exported,
i.e., the urban dwellers engaged
in trade.
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20. How Cities Grow
The Stages of Urban Growth
• Many factors have contribute to urban growth such as
• Economic forces
• Transportation, construction and communication technology
• Political changes
• Immigration policy
• Expansion into a global superpower
• The best explanation of urban patterns is found when
connection is made between the production of settlement
space and the society’s political economy.
• Sociospatial Perspective explain this does not mean stages of
metropolitan growth are directly correlated to particular stages
of economic development; rather, it means only that important
features of each period of economic development are directly
associated with important factors in the social and political
change of metropolitan space
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21. How Cities Grow
The Stages of Urban Growth
• Four distinct stages of urban growth in the United State and similar to other
country are
i. The colonial period
ii. The industrial period
iii. The metropolitan period
iv. Deconcentration and restructuring of settlement space within the
multicentered metropolitan region.
• Adam Smith and Karl Mark emphasized that capitalism is a dynamic system that
brings about changes in the social relations and political systems with which it
comes in contact.
• The stages of urban growth similar to capatalism development
i. Mercantile capitalism
ii. Industrial capitalism
iii. Monopoly capitalism
iv. Global capitalism
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22. How Cities Grow
How Cities Have Changed
• Cities have changed by the
changes of the dominant
economic activities from the
manufacturing sector to nodal
services sector (specialized in
services) to financial investment.
• The changes can be seen through
i. Economic Restructuring
ii. Social Restructuring
iii. Uneven Development
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23. People and Lifestyle
• The diversity in lifestyle and subcultures exists
not just within the city but throughtout the
metropolitan region.
• Factors influence on the diversity in lifestyle and
subcultures are the interplay between social
factors of income, gender, age and race and the
spatial patterns of population concentration or
dispersal across the metropolitan region.
• A basit tenet of the sociospatial approach is that
social factors determining the patterns of
population dispersal are also linked to particular
spaces. (class and gender are conducted through
spatial as well as social means and lifestyle and
specific environment such as street corner, the
mall and the golf course)
• Interaction is shaped through signs and symbols
of sociospatial context.
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24. People and Lifestyle
Class stratification
• Max Weber believed that an individual’s class
position is important because it helps
determine the life chances that could be
expected in the future
• stratified society is individuals and households
are located within a social hierarchy that
determines their access to resources
• Those at the very top control most of the
society’s resources; they also enjoy the most
symbolic prestige and political influence. Those
below are the most numerous and have the
least power.
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25. People and Lifestyle
The Wealthy
 They have multiple home ownership located in the cities,
hills, seaside and everywhere.
 They isolate themselves from population by living in
expensive houses with security guards and controlled
entrances, gardeners and servants.
 They always go to specific restaurants, boutiques and
social club for the upper class.
 They have the specific leisure activities in restrictive
country club and play golf.
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26.  Most of them are professional people in IT, Financial or
legal,
 They live in suburban part of the cities for example
condominium
 They prefer last-minute shopping, mall, chain-stores,
health and fitness clubs and cinemas
 Activities ‘Do it yourself’, barbeque with friends
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27.  Mostly residents in cities and some of them move to
suburban area
 They go to pub, associated to football and use streets
as playground.
 They depend on public transport and hospitals (usually
they have no health insurance) and suffer declining
education level, no fire and police protection, street
maintenance, healthcare and recreational activities
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28.  They are isolated poor and mostly women without husbands
and live in ghettoes in inner cities.
 They have few or no prospect for better life with inadequate
resources from the city authority.
 They subjected to pathological consequences of city living
such as public health crises such as AIDS, child abuse,
tuberculosis, substandard schools, juvenile crime, drug
addition, murder, rape and robbery
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29. Women, gender roles and space
 Cities are man-made built environment
 The cities are reflect toward man’s activities
 As a result city offer little benefit to women
 The alternative to fight for their right then the
emergence of feminist thought to create greater
insight into needs of women
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30.  19th Century – whole family work in factories
 Early 20th Century – Many women stays at home to copy
the lifestyle of the upper class
 Middle 20th Century – Middle class lifestyle emerged and
women return to work
 Man share domestic labour
 Outsourcing of specialised household tasks for example
child care, housecleaning and so on.
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31.  Emergence of giant merchandising stores – TESCO ,
Mydin and so on
 Service Industries like Fast food, dry cleaners and so
on
 Bigger garage minimum two cars
 Man share domestic labour
 They prefer outsourcing of specialised household
tasks such as child care, housecleaning and so on.
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32.  Space and Gender extend to communities
 Decoration of the house as expression of individuality
 Women control over environmental space of the home
 Outside the home women suffer harassment
 Need for safe environment for women
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33. Issues and Challenges
of Metropolitan
• Poverty
• Slum and squatters /
Housing
• Security / Crime and
Drugs
• Racism
• Economic issues
• Public Service
Problems
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urban sociology (ADS605)

34. Issues and Challenges in Malaysia
What are the
the issues
and
challenges in
Malaysia?
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35. Issues and Challenges in Malaysia
• Homeless in city such as Kuala Lumpur at jalan pekeliling, jalan
chow kit and jalan tunku abdul rahman.
• The project for house ownership such as Projek Perumahan
1Malayisia z(PR1MA), Projek Prumahan Rakyat (PPRT), Projek
perumahan penjawat awam (PPA1M)
• Rakan Cop, Safety City Concept, Unit Rondaan Bermotorsikal
(URB), Kejiranan Rukun Tetangga (KRT)
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36. Issues and Challenges in Malaysia
• 1Malaysia, Projects by LPPKN (Lembaga
Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga
Negara)
• 1AZAM, Permodalan Nasional Berhad, MARA
• SWM Environment, Local Government,
Deparment of Irrigation and Drainage, Public
Work Deparment Malaysia
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37. 37
urban sociology (ADS605)

38. URBAN SOCIOLOGY
ADS605
-Urban community-
Summary
Urban community is a group of residents live in the city and they have relationship with
other residents based on interest and specialization. Students can differentiate the term
urbanization and urbanism in understanding the urban community. This chapter will
explain the process and factors related with the emergence of urban community and
cities growth. The urban residents have to manage themselves in the life of urban by
represent the urban residents with different lifestyle trigerred by urban push and pull
factors. At the ends of this chapter students should be able to apply the knowledge and
concepts in urban with issues and challenges of metropolitan and in Malaysia.
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39. Reference
Gottdiener, M. , Hutchison, R. and Ryan, M. T. (2014) The New Urban Sociology,
5rd edition, Colorado: Westview Press.
Gottdiener, M. , Budd, L. and Lehtovuori, P. (2016) Key Concepts in Urban Studies,
2nd edition, London: Sage Publications Ltd.
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URBAN SOCIOLOGY
ADS605
-Urban community-

40. Quiz
urban sociology (ADS605)
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URBAN SOCIOLOGY
ADS605
-Urban community-
True False Questions
Statement True False
Urban community is a group that perceives itself as having strong and lasting
bonds, particularly when the group shares a geographic location in the city.
x
Urbanization is the process of city formation and city growth x
Cities have changed by the changes of the dominant economic activities from the
nodal services sector (specialized in services) to manufacturing sector to
financial investment.
x
The diversity in lifestyle and subcultures exists just within the city but throughout
the metropolitan region.
x
Max Weber believed that an individual’s class position is important because it
helps determine the life chances that could be expected in the future
x

41. Quiz
urban sociology (ADS605)
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URBAN SOCIOLOGY
ADS605
-Urban community-
Select the statement about The Wealthy Group in Urban
Statement True
They isolate themselves from population by living in expensive houses with
security guards and controlled entrances, gardeners and servants.
x
Women control over environmental space of the home
They isolate themselves from population by living in expensive houses with
security guards and controlled entrances, gardeners and servants.
x
They prefer outsourcing of specialised household tasks such as child care,
housecleaning and so on.
They have multiple home ownership located in the cities, hills, seaside and
everywhere.
x

42. Author
Dr. Nor Hafizah Binti Mohamed Harith
norha561@salam.uitm.edu.my
urban sociology (ADS605)
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Author
Muhamad Fuad Bin Abdul Karim
fuad645@ns.uitm.edu.my
URBAN SOCIOLOGY
ADS605
-Urban community-
Author
Ahmad Faiz Bin Yaacob
ahmad408@ns.uitm.edu.my