Urban Sociology Essay: Analyzing Urbanization Factors and Problems

This essay explores the multifaceted aspects of urban sociology, focusing on the process of urbanization and its impact on societies. It examines the factors driving urban growth, such as social organization, population size, and voluntary associations, while highlighting the resulting problems, including weakened family ties, social segregation, and insecurity. The essay references the works of Louis Wirth and others to analyze these issues, offering solutions such as education and family planning to mitigate the negative effects of urbanization. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the complexities of urban environments to foster tolerance and address challenges associated with population growth and social change. The essay provides a comprehensive overview of urbanization and its impact on various aspects of life.

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Urban Sociology
Student’s Name
Date of Submission
Urban sociology
Urbanization is a process which is inevitable and has been taking place throughout the
world. It has been associated with both positive and negative effects. It however important to
note that the features of urbanism have some similarities with the traditional ways of living of
that society (Chauvin, Juan Pablo, et al.p.19). Cities are considered to be a place where cultures,
different people, and races merge together to form a hybrid of both culture as well as some
biological aspects of life. Some of these resultant hybrids have positive while others have
negative effects on the lives of the people. All in all, urbanism makes it possible for people of
different ideologies and differences to tolerate one another. The author Louis Wirth has played a
paramount role in seeking to understand the effects of urban growth. The author has highlighted
several factors and their effects on the growth of urban environments.
Factors of growth in urban environment
The first factor is the social organization resulting from urbanism. In this case, social
factors are converted from secondary to the primary state because the sense of neighborhood is
lost. As a result of rural to urban migration in search of the world and other opportunities, the
kinship ties are lost as families reside far apart. It is a common observation that majority of the
adult-urban people are employed as compared to the adult-rural people. Moreover, urbanism
results in a higher population of its people being in business, and professional work as opposed
to the countryside (Louis, p. 4). The second factor is the size of the population aggregate
resulting from an increased settlement of people in a certain place. The cultural and individual

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differences between these people result in spatial segregation on the basis of ethnicity, economic
status, and color among other differences. Moreover, the urban dwellers meet one another
specifically in segmental duties (Chauvin, Juan Pablo, et al.p.19). This is because these people
depend on more people to meet their needs as opposed to the rural people. Another factor
described by Louis Wirth is the aspect of voluntary associations which plays a critical role in
urbanism. Voluntary association enables different people to negotiate and come up with new
values to facilitate their relationship with one another.
Problems
The problems associated with social organizations is that people tend to associate with
people of their social interest and class. This has led to weakened family ties as people are very
busy making ends meet. Moreover, there are little communication between people of different
class leading to low level of socialization. According to Muggah, Robert. P.356, another problem
linked to urban growth is insecurity, due to differences between the rich and the poor. There are
people who get frustrated in life because they may not get the opportunities in urban centers.
Such people may hence engage in criminal activities to earn a living (Thuo Aggrey, p.77).
Voluntary association is linked to anomie, whereby there is a lack of social and ethical standards
for an individual or groups resulting from urbanism.
Solutions for problems linked to growth
To counter the problems of population growth, people need to have access to education to
open more opportunities for them. Education makes people take advantage of innovative
technologies to earn a living. Family planning should also be introduced to control population
upsurge which is linked to poverty and overdependence
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Cited Work
Chauvin, Juan, et al. “What is different about urbanization in rich and poor countries? Cities in
Brazil, China, India and the United States. “journal of Urban Economic, 98, (2017): 17-
49.
Louis, W. “Urbanization as a way of life”. American Journal of Sociology, 44, (1938): 1-24.
Muggah, Robert. “deconstructing the fragile city: exploring insecurity, violence and resilience”.
Journal of Environment and Urbanization, 26, 2, (2014): 345-358.
Thuo Aggrey, “Impacts of urbanization on land use planning, livelihood and environment in the
Nairobi rural-urban fringe, Kenya”. International Journal of Science Technology
Research, 2, (2013): 70-79.
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