This lesson introduces urbanization, explains how cities developed, and explores why people move between rural and urban areas. These ideas matter because city growth shapes where people live, how they work, and what services communities need.
Urbanization is the study of the social, political, and economic relationships in cities. Urban sociology examines these relationships and the ways urban environments shape human behavior. Cities can reflect broad patterns of human life, yet also create distinctive conditions and interactions.
All flashcards
Urbanization
The process by which a growing share of a population lives in urban areas; urban sociology studies social relationships in cities.
Sjoberg’s prerequisites for city development
A favorable environment, technology that produces a food surplus, and strong social organization.
Internally displaced person
Someone who has fled home but remains within their own country.
Gentrification
The entry of middle- and upper-class residents into historically less affluent neighborhoods, often accompanied by renovation and rising housing costs.
Sustainable development in cities
Improving people’s lives and supporting urban growth without depleting resources or damaging the natural environment.
Quiz questions
What does human ecology study in relation to cities?Answer: How people interact with built and natural physical environments.
What is a NIMBY movement?Answer: Residents opposing a development or practice they fear will affect their neighborhood.
In U.S. urban studies, what does white flight describe?Answer: The movement of economically secure White people from racially mixed urban areas toward suburbs.
What does the exchange value of urban land refer to?Answer: Its market or sale value.
In Burgess’s concentric zone model, what do invasion and succession describe?Answer: New groups or businesses entering neighboring zones and then taking over their use.
Based on Introduction to Sociology 3e by Tonja R. Conerly, Kathleen Holmes, Asha Lal Tamang (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.