Urban Places & Social Problem – Dr. P. Prickett
HC1 Seeing the city as a sociologist
Thinking spatially
- Sampson writes “the city is ordered by a spatial logic”
- Distance is both geographical and social
- Spatially inscribed social differences are discussed as ‘neigborhood effects’
What does it mean to think spatially as a sociology?
- Think relationally
o People/people
o People/places
o Places/places (historically bijv)
- Uncover meanings people attach (or not) to places
Emic=internal
Interaction in the city
The metropolis and mental life – Simmel (1903)
The modern urban self:
- George Simmel (1858-1918)
- Writes often from outside perspective: jewish in germany
“an inquiry to the inner meaning of specifically modern (…) adjustments to external forces’
Germany in 19th century was very suburban, know everybody etc. Late 19th century: industrialization
in Germany
- What is the psychological basis of metropolitan life?
o Intensification of nervous stimulation
- In response the city inhabitant develops a ‘protective organ’ (intellectuality) head over heart
Alienation
Consequences (individual)
- Blasé attitude (adaption as survive mechanism
- Self -preservation at all costs
- Reserve
- Feelings of worthlessness
Consequences (societal)
- Urbanites impersonal
- Decline of social capital
- Community lost
But also: liberation!
,• Metropolis = Locale of freedom
• Independence
• Individualism
• Uniqueness
“The sphere of life of the small town is, in the main, enclosed within itself…The most significant
aspect of the metropolis lies in this functional magnitude beyond its actual physical boundaries and
this effectiveness reacts upon the latter and gives to it life, weight, importance and responsibility.”
SAFETY
Chapter 2: the uses of sidewalks in the life and death of great American
cities – Jacobs (1961)
• Jane Jacobs (1916-2006)
What makes cities unique from towns or suburbs?
They are full of strangers
• If we don’t feel personally safe among
strangers, our fear will breed decline
• “Streets and their sidewalks, the main
public places of a city, are its most vital
organs” (p.29)
• If streets look interesting, the city looks
interesting
• And safety is their fundamental task!
Who keeps the peace in cities?
Not police but the people
• What are the three main qualities
streets must have?
1. Public/private space
, 2. Eyes upon the street (also people who will intervene if something goes wrong)
3. Must have users continuously
• “Public street civilizing service”
Bars
Churches
Other examples?
• Without eyes upon the street, you have
either danger, refuge, or turf wars
The modern urban self
• The daily ballet
“Under the seeming disorder of the old city, wherever the old city is working successfully, is a
marvelous order for maintaining the safety of streets and the freedom of the city. It is a complex
order. Its essence is intricacy of sidewalk use, bringing with it a constant succession of eyes. This
order is all composed movement and change, and although it is life, not art, we may fancifully call it
the art form of the city and liken it to the dance…an intricate ballet in which the individual dancers
and ensembles all have distinctive parts which miraculously reinforce each other and compose an
orderly whole.” (p. 50, added)
HC 2
Chicago school of urban sociology
- Dominated sociology for 50+ years (1842-1942)
- Chicago seen as ideal/typical urban space
- Reportedly trained half of the world’s sociologists by 1930
- City as a research lab
Background: sociology as a science
Cities have always been places of migration
Background: Europe’s influence
- German sociologists (weber, simmel)
- British settlement movement
Background: reform and action
- Jane Addams (1860-1935)
HC1 Seeing the city as a sociologist
Thinking spatially
- Sampson writes “the city is ordered by a spatial logic”
- Distance is both geographical and social
- Spatially inscribed social differences are discussed as ‘neigborhood effects’
What does it mean to think spatially as a sociology?
- Think relationally
o People/people
o People/places
o Places/places (historically bijv)
- Uncover meanings people attach (or not) to places
Emic=internal
Interaction in the city
The metropolis and mental life – Simmel (1903)
The modern urban self:
- George Simmel (1858-1918)
- Writes often from outside perspective: jewish in germany
“an inquiry to the inner meaning of specifically modern (…) adjustments to external forces’
Germany in 19th century was very suburban, know everybody etc. Late 19th century: industrialization
in Germany
- What is the psychological basis of metropolitan life?
o Intensification of nervous stimulation
- In response the city inhabitant develops a ‘protective organ’ (intellectuality) head over heart
Alienation
Consequences (individual)
- Blasé attitude (adaption as survive mechanism
- Self -preservation at all costs
- Reserve
- Feelings of worthlessness
Consequences (societal)
- Urbanites impersonal
- Decline of social capital
- Community lost
But also: liberation!
,• Metropolis = Locale of freedom
• Independence
• Individualism
• Uniqueness
“The sphere of life of the small town is, in the main, enclosed within itself…The most significant
aspect of the metropolis lies in this functional magnitude beyond its actual physical boundaries and
this effectiveness reacts upon the latter and gives to it life, weight, importance and responsibility.”
SAFETY
Chapter 2: the uses of sidewalks in the life and death of great American
cities – Jacobs (1961)
• Jane Jacobs (1916-2006)
What makes cities unique from towns or suburbs?
They are full of strangers
• If we don’t feel personally safe among
strangers, our fear will breed decline
• “Streets and their sidewalks, the main
public places of a city, are its most vital
organs” (p.29)
• If streets look interesting, the city looks
interesting
• And safety is their fundamental task!
Who keeps the peace in cities?
Not police but the people
• What are the three main qualities
streets must have?
1. Public/private space
, 2. Eyes upon the street (also people who will intervene if something goes wrong)
3. Must have users continuously
• “Public street civilizing service”
Bars
Churches
Other examples?
• Without eyes upon the street, you have
either danger, refuge, or turf wars
The modern urban self
• The daily ballet
“Under the seeming disorder of the old city, wherever the old city is working successfully, is a
marvelous order for maintaining the safety of streets and the freedom of the city. It is a complex
order. Its essence is intricacy of sidewalk use, bringing with it a constant succession of eyes. This
order is all composed movement and change, and although it is life, not art, we may fancifully call it
the art form of the city and liken it to the dance…an intricate ballet in which the individual dancers
and ensembles all have distinctive parts which miraculously reinforce each other and compose an
orderly whole.” (p. 50, added)
HC 2
Chicago school of urban sociology
- Dominated sociology for 50+ years (1842-1942)
- Chicago seen as ideal/typical urban space
- Reportedly trained half of the world’s sociologists by 1930
- City as a research lab
Background: sociology as a science
Cities have always been places of migration
Background: Europe’s influence
- German sociologists (weber, simmel)
- British settlement movement
Background: reform and action
- Jane Addams (1860-1935)
