Chapter 14 Sociology

Gentrification

Middle-class people moving into a rundown area of a city, displacing the poor as they buy and restore homes

Compare the models of urban growth

1)The Concentric Zone Model Burgess noted that a city expands outward from its center. Zone 1 is the central business district. Zone 2, which encircles the down- town area, is in transition. It contains rooming houses and deteriorating housing, which Burgess said breed poverty, disease, and vice. Zone 3 is the area to which thrifty workers have moved in order to escape the zone in transition and yet maintain easy access to their work. Zone 4 contains more expensive apartments, 2 residential hotels, single-family homes, and exclusive areas where the wealthy live. Commuters live in Zone 5, which consists of suburbs or satellite cities that have grown up around transportation routes. The Sector Model- contain several sectors—one of working-class housing, another of expensive homes, a third of businesses, and so on—all competing for the same land. In this dynamic competition comes the invasion-succession cycle. Poor immigrants and rural migrants settle in low-rent areas. As their numbers grow, they spill over into adjacent areas. Upset by their presence, the middle class moves out, which expands the sector of low-cost housing. The invasion-succession cycle is never complete, since later, another group will replace this earlier one. The Multiple-Nuclei Model- As shown in part C of Figure 14.14, each nucleus contains some specialized activity. A familiar example is the clustering of fast-food restaurants in one area and automobile dealers in another. Some- times similar activities are grouped together because they profit from cohesion; retail districts, for example, draw more customers if there are more stores. Other clustering occurs because some types of land use, such as factories and expensive homes, are incompatible with one another. One result is that services are not spread evenly throughout the city. The Peripheral Model- Chauncy Harris (1997) also developed the peripheral model shown in part D of Figure 14.14. This model portrays the impact of radial highways on the movement of people and services away from the central city to the city's periphery, or outskirts. It also shows the development of industrial and office parks

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

A central city and the urbanized counties adjacent to

metropolis

A central city surrounded by smaller cities and their suburbs

Suburb

A community adjacent to a city

Redlining

A decision by the officers of a financial institution not to make loans in a particular area

Population Pyramid

A graph that represents the age and sex of a population

Edge City

A large clustering of service facilities and residential areas near highway intersections that provides a sense of place to people who live, shop, and work there

Megaregion

A merging of megacities and nearby populated areas into an even larger mass of people

exponetial growth curve

A pattern of growth in which numbers double during approximately equal intervals, showing a steep acceleration in the later stages

City

A place in which a large number of people are permanently based and do not produce their own food

demographic transition

A three-stage historical process of change in the size of populations: first, high birth rates and high death rates; second, high birth rates and low death rates; and third, low birth rates and low death rates; a fourth stage of population shrinkage in which deaths outnumber births has made its appearance in the Most Industrialized Nations

Discuss alienation and community, types of people who live in the city, the norm of non-involvement, and the diffusion of responsibility

Alienation- Marx's term for workers' lack of connection to the product of their labor; caused by workers being assigned repetitive tasks on a small part of a product—this leads to a sense of powerlessness and normlessness; others use the term in the general sense of not feeling a part of something. Community: Gans found a community, people who identified with the area and with one another. Its residents enjoyed networks of friends and acquaintances. Despite the area's substandard buildings, most West Enders had chosen to live here. To them, this was a low-rent district, not a slum. Most West Enders had low-paying, insecure jobs. Other residents were elderly, living on small pensions. Unlike the middle class, these people didn't care about their "address." The area's inconveniences were something they put up with in exchange for cheap housing. In general, they were content with their neighborhood. Types of People- the deprived Destitute, emotionally disturbed, and having little income, education, or work skills, the deprived live in neighborhoods that are more like urban jungles than urban villages. Some of them stalk those jungles in search of prey. Neither predator nor prey has much hope for anything better in life—for themselves or for their children. the trapped. These people don't live in the area by choice, either. Some were trapped when an ethnic group "invaded" their neighbor- hood, and they could not afford to move. Others found themselves trapped in a downward spiral. They started life in a higher social class, but because of personal problems—mental or physical illness or addiction to alcohol or other drugs they drifted downward. There also are the elderly who are trapped by poverty and not wanted elsewhere. Like the deprived, the trapped suffer from high rates of assault, mugging, and rape. Critique You probably noticed this inadequacy in Gans' categories, that you can be both a cosmopolite and a single. You might have noticed also that you can be these two things and an ethnic villager as well. Gans also seems to have missed an important type of city dweller—the people living in the city who don't stand out in any way. They work and marry there and quietly raise their families. They aren't cosmopolites, singles, or ethnic villagers. Neither are they deprived nor trapped. Perhaps we can call these the "Just Plain Folks." ed in Chapter 5 (page 151). They uncovered the diffusion of responsibility—the more bystanders there are, the less likely people are to help. As a group grows, people's sense of responsibility becomes diffused, with each person assuming that another will do the responsible thing. "With these other people here, it is not my responsibility," they reason. The diffusion of responsibility helps to explain why people can ignore the plight of others. Those who did nothing to intervene in the attack on Deletha Word were not uncaring people. Each felt that others might do something. Then, too, there was the norm of non-involvement helpful for getting people through everyday city life but, unfortunately, dysfunctional in some crucial situations.

Malthus Theory

An observation by Thomas Malthus that although the food supply increases arithmetically (from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 and so on), population grows geometrically (from 2 to 4 to 8 to 16 and so forth)

Megalopolis

An urban area consisting of at least two metropolises and their many suburbs

Megacity

City with more than 10 million people

Summarize the development of cities, the process of urbanization, U.S. urban patterns, and the rural rebound

City- A place in which a large number of people are permanently based and do not produce their own food The key to the origin of cities is the development of more efficient agriculture. Only when farming produces a surplus can some people stop producing food and gather in cities to spend time in other economic pursuits. A city, in fact, can be defined as a place in which a large number of people are permanently based and do not produce their own food. The invention of the plow about 5,000 years ago created widespread agricultural surpluses, stimulating the development of towns and cities. Urbanization- The process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities and has a growing influence on the culture The watershed year was 2008, when for the first time in history, more people lived in cities than in rural areas. Urbanization continues strongly, and today 53% of the world's people live in cities To understand the city's attraction, we need to consider the "pulls" of urban life. Because of its exquisite division of labor, the city offers 20 incredible variety—music ranging from rap and salsa to death metal and classical, 10 shops that feature imported delicacies from around the world and those that sell special foods for vegetarians and diabetics. Cities also offer anonymity, which so many find refreshing in light of the tighter controls of village and small-town life. And, of course, the city offers work

Explain why the Least Industrialized Nations have so many children, consequences of rapid population growth, population pyramids, the three demographic variables, and problems in forecasting population growth

First is the status of parenthood. In the Least Industrialized Nations, motherhood is the most prized status a woman can achieve. The more children a woman bears, the more she is thought to have achieved the purpose for which she was born. Similarly, a man proves his manhood by fathering children. The more children he fathers, especially sons, the better: Through them, his name lives on. Second, the community supports this view. Celia and those like her live in Gemein- schaft communities, where people share similar views of life. To them, children are a sign of God's blessing. By producing children, people reflect the values of their community, achieve status, and are assured that they are blessed by God. It is the barren woman, not the woman with a dozen children, who is to be pitied. There is also another powerful incentive: For poor people in the Least Industrialized Nations, children are economic assets. Look at Figure 14.6 on the next page. Like Celia's and Angel's eldest son, children begin contributing to the family income at a young age. But even more important: Children are their equivalent of our Social Security. In the Least Industrialized Nations, the government does not provide social security or medical and unemployment insurance. This motivates people to bear more children, because when parents become too old to work or when no work is to be found, their children take care of them. The more children they have, the broader their base of support and the more secure their future. Consequences of Rapid Population Growth. The implications of a doubling population are mind-boggling. Just to stay even, within fifty years, a country must double the number of available jobs and housing facilities; its food production; its transportation and communication facilities; its water, gas, sewer, and electrical systems; and its schools, hospitals, churches, civic buildings, theaters, stores, and parks. If a country fails to maintain this growth, its already meager standard of living will drop even farther.

Alienation

Marx's term for workers' lack of connection to the product of their labor; caused by workers being assigned repetitive tasks on a small part of a product—this leads to a sense of powerlessness and normlessness; others use the term in the general sense of not feeling a part of something

Contrast the views of the New Malthusians and Anti-Malthusians on population growth and the food supply; explain why people are starving.

New Malthusians, is convinced that today's situation is at least as grim as—if not grimmer than—Malthus ever imagined (Emmott 2013). For example, the world's population is growing so fast that in just the time it takes you to read this chapter, another 20,000 to 40,000 babies will be born! By this time tomorrow, Earth will have about 237,000 more people to feed. This increase goes on hour after hour, day after day, These totals terrify the New Malthusians. They are convinced that we are headed toward a showdown between population and food. In the year 2050, the population of just India and China is expected to be as large as the entire world population was in 1960 (Haub and Kaneda 2015). It is obvious that we will run out of food if we don't curtail population growth. Soon we are going to see more televised images of pitiful, starving children. Anti-Malthusians- They believe that Europe's demographic transition provides a more accurate glimpse into the future. This transition is diagrammed in Figure 14.3 on the next page. During most of its history, Europe was in Stage 1. Europe's population remained about the same from year to year, because its high death rates offset its high birth rates. Then came Stage 2, the "population explosion" that so upset Malthus. Europe's population surged because birth rates remained high while death rates went down. Finally, Europe made the tran- sition to Stage 3: The population stabilized as people brought their birth rates into line with their lower death rates

Human ecology

Robert Park's term for the relationship between people and their environment (such as land and structures); also known as urban ecology

Crude death rate

The annual number of deaths per 1,000 population

Crude birth rate

The annual number of live births per 1,000 population

Net migration rate

The difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants per 1,000 population

basic demographic equation

The growth rate equals births minus deaths plus net migration

Suburbanization

The migration of people from the city to the suburbs

Growth rate

The net change in a population after adding births, subtracting deaths, and either adding or subtracting net migration; can result in a negative number

Fertility rate

The number of children that the average woman bears

Fecundity

The number of children that women are capable of bearing

population shrinkage

The process by which a country's population becomes smaller because its birth rate and immigration are too low to replace those who die and emigrate

Urbanization

The process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities and has a growing influence on the culture

Deindustrialization

The process of industries moving out of a country or region

invasion-succession cycle

The process of one group of people displacing another group whose racial-ethnic or social class characteristics differ from their own

Urban renewal

The rehabilitation of a rundown area, which usually results in the displacement of the poor who are living in that area

Demography

The study of the size, composition, growth (or shrinkage), and distribution of human populations

Demographic variables

The three factors that change the size of a population: fertility, mortality, and net migration

enterprise zone

The use of economic incentives in a designated area to encourage investment

Disinvestment

The withdrawal of investments by financial institutions, which seals the fate of an urban area

Zero population growth

Women bearing only enough children to reproduce the population