Urbanism: Concept, Definition & Characteristics

The concept of urbanization simply signifies the process of becoming ‘urban’ and an urban area has several socio-economic and demographic as well as spatial connotations which rural areas do not possess. In the context of urban areas or cities, the concept of urbanism is very important which implies the way of life of the city dwellers.

Sociologists define urbanism simply as ‘a way of life’. It displays an organization of society in the context of a complex division of labour, high levels of technology, high mobility, and interdependence amongst its residents in achieving better economic functions and impersonality in social relations.

Louis Wirth, an American sociologist and member of the Chicago School of Sociology, coined the term ‘urbanism’ in 1938 and he has given four characteristics of urbanism-

Transiency: An urban dweller’s relationship with others is short-lived and he/she is likely to forget his/her previous acquaintances and engage with new ones.

Superficiality: An urbanite has very few people with whom he interacts and his relationship with them is nothing but impersonal and formal. People meet each other in a very segmental manner and that too for meeting some needs in their life.

Anonymity: People residing in Urban areas do not know each other deeply. The mutual acquaintance between the residents which is explicitly observed in a neighbourhood is absent here.

Individualism: Urbanites give more value to their own vested interests only.

Wirth has identified three aspects of city-population size, population density and heterogeneity which directly determine the degree of urbanism in an urban society.

The Effect of Population Size:

• The larger the population size, the greater the possibility of diversification and individualisation in society.
• Similarly, the larger the population, the greater the chances of specialization and functional heterogeneity of social norms.
• Competition as well as traditional mechanisms of social control replace primary relations of kinship as a way of organizing society.
• Impersonality and segregation of social interactions too escalate with the size of the city/town.

The Effect of Population Density:

• High population density reinforces the effects of large population size.
• It also results in greater stress as well as tolerance for living closely with strangers.
• Low-density city growth causes the development of the fringe and higher land value in suburbia.
• An increase in population density leads to competition by compounding the effects of population size.

The Effect of Heterogeneity:

• The greater the heterogeneity more would be the tolerance among social sects.
• Heterogeneity permits ethnic and class barriers to be broken down.
• Individual roles and contacts become compartmentalised in accordance with the different circles of contacts. Anonymity and depersonalisation in public life escalate.

According to him, urbanism has several harmful impacts on society as it leads to loosening the unity in the family, makes people isolate, tends to postpone marriage, lowering the reproduction rate etc. On the contrary, the positive effects of urbanism are it promotes freedom and tolerance etc.

Although Wirth claimed his theoretical statements as general to all cities, these can be applied to industrial cities only. What is true for the urbanism of Western societies may not be true in
India.

Dube (2013) has identified several key elements of urbanism in the context of India. These are as follows-

• Dilution of the functions of family, kinship and jati.
• Formal and impersonal human relationships.
• Relaxation of social norms.
• Prevalence of secularism.
• A higher degree of privacy in life.
• The organisation of life is based on community organisations and voluntary associations.
• The level of income or economic condition of the individuals determines their identity.
• People aspire to a higher standard of living.