This document discusses the concepts of urbanism and urbanization. Urbanism is defined as the sociological study of life and human interaction in metropolitan areas, as well as the role of cities in societal development. It originated from the work of sociologists like Marx, Tonnies, Durkheim, Weber and Simmel. The Chicago School further developed sociological theories of urbanism. Urbanization refers to the phenomenon of rural to urban migration and the factors driving this migration. The document examines elements that define an area as "urban" and discusses early urban sociologists' framing of symbolic interaction in urban settings. It provides an overview of sociologist George Simmel's work on the impacts of city life on mental life and

1. URBANISM
-Mehul Kanodia
(2012CODP015)

3. URBANISM
URBANISM URBANISATION
• Sociological study of life and • A phenomenon of people
human interaction in moving from rural areas
metropolitan areas. towards urban cities.
• Moreover it studies the role • It studies the significance of
of cities in role of migration and the reasons
development of society. acting behind it.

4. URBANISM
• Philosophical foundation of modern urban
sociology originate from work of sociologists such
as Karl Marx, Ferdinand Tonnies, Emile Durkhiem,
Max Weber and George Simmel.
• Importance of the philosophies into sociological
theories was propounded and developed by
Chicago School of Sociology.
• (Started off to study the expansion of Chicago in 1860 from
population of 10,000 to over two million in next half century
due to Industrial Revolution.)

5. URBANISM
• A sociologically significant definition of the city seeks
to select those elements of urbanism which mark it as
a distinctive mode of human group life such as :
• Transportation
• Communication
• Cities
• Growth
• Mode of life
• (Although largely population is the only element which is considered,
these elements are more significant in defining an area as “Urban”.)

6. URBANISM
• Early urban sociologists framed the
significance of symbolic interaction into urban
settings. (Max Weber)
• City as a “Superorganism” where individual
communities and systems contribute to the
seamless functioning of the city itself.

7. George Simmel
• Born on March 1, 1858 in
what is now the middle of
downtown Berlin.
• With the help of Julius
Friedlander, a wealthy family
friend, Simmel moved into
academia.
• Had the backing of important
colleagues including Mac
Weber.
• Died on September 28, 1918.
• Wrote Einleitung in die
Moralphilosophie, Philosophie
des Geldes and Soziologie.

8. The Metropolis and Mental Life
• Focuses on elucidating the “modern aspects of
contemporary life with reference to their inner
meaning.”
• “Instead of reacting emotionally, the
metropolitan type reacts primarily in a rational
manner… Thus the reaction of the metropolitan
person to those events is moved to the sphere of
mental activity that is least sensitive and furthest
removed from the depths of personality.”
• Thus there’s a prerequisite of creation of a
“protective organ.”

9. In short…
• People and environment (just like rural
settings) are coexistent. Just the
“environment” in an urban setting is much
different.
• The emotional availability of urban population
is comparatively lesser than rural population.
• Characteristic features according to Simmels:-

10. Characteristic Features
• INDIVIDUALITY
• AUTONOMY
• INDIFFERENT
• TECHNOLOGICAL PESSIMISM
• INTENSIFICATION OF NERVOUS STIMULATION
• PUNCTUALITY, CALCULABILITY and EXACTNESS

12. BLASÉ ATTITUDE
• Incapacity to react to new sensation due to
saturation.
• The individual gets caught up in the complex
structure of the city life.

13. OBJECTIVITY vs. SUBJECTIVITY
“The development of modern culture is
characterized by the predomination of what one
can call the objective spirit over the subjective…
the growth of which is followed only imperfectly
and with an even greater lag by the intellectual
development of the individual.”

14. David Frisby
• Not just a sphere of circulation and exchange
of merely money and commodities but also
that of social groups and individuals.
• This flow plays a homogenizing role where
unique ideas and traditions of diverse groups
are hybridized into a single urban way of life.

17. THANK YOU