Characteristics Of Urban Community
New Sociology
Pitirim Sorokin and Zimmerman have suggested the following characteristics which give us a greater sense of urban community.
Heterogeneity: Urban community is a heterogeneous group, where people belong to different race, religion, language, caste and creed. For example, in a city like Mumbai, people from different states, people from different cultural groups live and they are completely different. Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis have their own colonies in London.
Social Mobility- Social status in urban society is not based on traditional but on economic status, educational level and talent. In other words, individual intelligence and talent bring progress and heredity is not important.
Personal freedom- Men and women get more freedom in the urban community. People are more individualistic in their behaviour. The townspeople are more selective in their choices and more
Occupation: All people are engaged in non-agricultural activities, such as trade, marketing, offices, police, courts, industries and factories, transport communications, hospitals and educational institutions, theatres, stock markets, etc. That’s why they always stay away. From nature and simple living.
Secondary control: Individual behavior in an urban community is not controlled by family, religion and neighbourhood. It is controlled by secondary organizations like government, police, courts etc.
Lack of community spirit: There is a lack of community spirit, sense of unity, family, neighborhood unity and integrity in the city. People in urban community are busy with their personal achievements, so naturally they neglect the feeling of unity and oneness with the city.
Social disorganization: There are many organizations and associations in the urban community. They are working independently. So there is always struggle, conflict and competition. Thus social disorder is seen and felt.
o Unstable family: The family is no longer an economic, educational, protective, recreational and effective unit. The family has lost its control over its individual members. Many traditional functions of the family are transferred to outside agencies. It is said that the urban family is not rigidly organized.
Secondary relationship: Urban community is characterized by secondary relationship. People are indifferent to each other. Face-to-face, friendly or intimate relationships cannot be seen between people.
Voluntary Organization: All the people in the city are doing non-agriculture work. They are necessarily members of several voluntary associations. According to the standard of living they form their own residential groups and necessary institutions and associations.
Concept Of Urban Community
Although the city has existed since ancient times, but the sure history of its origin and development is not available. Gist and Halvert have said, “Like the birth of civilization, the birth of cities is lost in the darkness of the past.” The concept of the city is seen in the context of the rural concept.
(1) According to Louis Worth, “From the sociological point of view, a city can be defined as a large, densely settled and permanent residence of persons of social diversity.”
(2) Definition according to population- The definition of the city has been given on the basis of the size of the population. And they are also recognized. A place with a population of 2,000 or more in France, 11,000 in Egypt and 25,000 or more in America is defined as a city. A place with a population of one lakh or more in India has been called. A place with a population of five thousand or more is defined as a town.
The following three grounds are also necessary for the town-
(1) Population more than five thousand.
(2) the density of population is 400 persons per square kilometer or more, and
(3) At least 75 percent of the adult male population should be engaged in non-agricultural activities.
According to Theodorson and Theodorson, “An urban community is a community characterized by high population density, predominance of non-agricultural occupations, a high degree of specialization resulting from complex division of labour, and a formal system of local government. Urban communities are characterized by diversity of population, prevalence of impersonal and secondary relationships and dependence on formal social control. ,
On the basis of the above definitions, it can be concluded that the meaning of urban community is – excess of population, division of labor and specialisation, formal and secondary relations, dominance of formal means of control and people engaged in non-agricultural activities. According to the Indian census report, the additional society whose population is more than 5 thousand and the density of population is 400 persons.
If there is more than substance, it is called an urban society.
Features of urban community.
Along with the high population in the cities, the population density is also found high. , Followers of many faiths and religions, people of different sects, classes, castes, races, languages and provinces live in cities. All the facilities related to health are available to the person in the cities.
- Means of entertainment and means of sports and facilities are easily available in the cities. People of different economic classes, many types of occupations, division of labor and specialization are seen in cities.
- Due to the abundance of population and diversity in cities, there are more formal relations. • Mobility is found more in cities.
- Stratification is more in cities, a person tries to strengthen his social status according to his ability, skill and ability.
- The life of the cities is more of show off, people live a pompous and artificial life. , Today, cities have become centers of social problems like corruption, class-struggle, juvenile delinquency, crime, unemployment, poverty, prostitution, alcoholism, malnutrition, pollution, youth-stress, disease etc. There are different types of schools, colleges, universities in the cities, schools and colleges of engineering, medicine, arts, music, technology, vocational training etc., in which admission is given according to the interest of the students.
- In urban life there are individualistic and centers of competition and political activities. Cities are centers of transport and communication facilities.
- Due to the increasing influence of education in the cities, their attitude has become rational.
- Police Police in cities. There are courts etc. by which a person gets protection from threats like looting, theft, murder. ,
Difference Between Rural And Urban Community
To explain the difference between rural and urban community, sociologists have presented different grounds. In these P. A . Sorokin and C.C. Zimmerman (P.A.Sorokin and C.C.Zimmerman) have mentioned eight bases in the book ‘Principles of Rural and Urban Sociology’. By which the difference between rural and urban community can be understood. A . R . Desai has considered these grounds relevant in the context of Indian society. In this way, differences can be made between rural and urban communities on the basic eight grounds. this is the following
(1) Occupation: Differences related to occupation in rural and urban communities are explained. Rural community is basically an agricultural society. Most of its people depend on agriculture. People who do work other than agriculture, have a close relationship with agriculture, such as shepherds, traders of cattle and grains, carpenters and blacksmiths who make plows, laborers who carry grains, etc. By the way, some people are engaged in fishing, animal husbandry and handicrafts, while the urban community is the center of trade and industry. Big industries and business establishments are always established in the cities. Here people are specially involved in manufacturing of goods, mechanical work, trade, industry, business and governance.
(2) Environment (Environment): There is a distinction between rural and urban community. The rural community is close to the natural environment. They have direct contact with nature. Be it farmers or fishermen, hunters or artisans, owners or lovers, all have direct contact with nature. They are in contact. They are full of natural light, air and water while urban community is near to unnatural environment. In other words, man-made environment is said to be its specialty. Artificial light, air, fire and water are found. The people there live away from nature, bricks, stones, iron etc. are its parts.
(3) Size of the community; There is a size-related difference between rural and urban communities. The rural community is small in terms of size. Every person needs a certain amount of land for a community with agricultural business and other business based on nature. In such a situation, it is difficult for a large number of population to reside in a single area. Therefore, the size of the population in the village is small while the urban community is comparatively large. The city has facilities for trade, industry, education and employment etc. As a result, the population there is more. It keeps on increasing continuously. There is a close relationship between urbanization and increasing population.
(4) Density of Population: There are differences related to the density of population in rural and urban communities. The density of population is less in rural communities. When a large amount of land is required per person while being directly dependent on nature, then definitely only a limited amount of people will be able to live in a square mile area. In general, there is a negative correlation between the density of population and rurality, while the density of population is higher in urban communities. The higher the urbanization and industrialization. The more the population per square mile, the more it will be. Generally, there is a positive correlation between the density of population and urbanization.
(5) Homogeneity and Heterogeneity: Homogeneity of population in rural and urban community
There is a distinction between affinity and heterogeneity. Homogeneity is more in the rural community. Equality is seen in most of its people’s living-tolerance, food-drinking, speech, festival-festival, customs, etc. while the heterogeneity is more in the urban community. People of different religion, caste, class, language culture etc reside under it. Also, they are related to different professions and beliefs. Also, there is a lot of difference in their lifestyle, food habits, speech etc. Therefore, there is a positive correlation between urbanization and ethnicity.
(6) Social Differentiation and Stratification: There is a difference in social differentiation and stratification between rural and urban communities. There is caste discrimination in the rural community. Where there is a lot of distance between the upper castes and the scheduled castes. Despite this, social distances on other grounds are less in villages, while differentiation and stratification between groups on various grounds are found in urban communities. Class discrimination is the main one among them. E . s . Bogais (E.S. Bogardus) has written, ‘Extreme class disparities are the characteristic of the city. (“Class extremes characterize the city.”)
(7) Social Mobility: There is a difference in social mobility between rural and urban communities. Mentioning this distinction, P.A. P.A. Sorokin and Cc. Zimmerman wrote, “The rural community is like still water in a pitcher and the urban community is like boiling water in a kettle. Stability is the characteristic of one, mobility.” (The rural community is similar to calm water in a pail and the urban community to boiling water in a kettle. Stablity is the typical trait for the one, mobility is the tupical for the other. “) It is said that rural community is comparatively stable. They lack social mobility. The status that is given by birth, it also has very fast mobility, it also rarely changes, while mobility is the quality of urban community. This mobility is social, Residence, profession, status etc. can be seen in all areas.
(8) Social Interaction: There is a difference in social interaction between rural and urban communities. There is close interaction in the rural community. As a result, they have primary, informal and personal relationships. His last action is full of affinity. Cooperation and conflict are often overt, whereas there is a lot of social interaction in an urban community. Individuals have a work relationship with each other. As a result there are secondary, formal, impersonal and indirect relations. Here the process of competition is seen more. In this way, the difference between rural community and urban community has been clarified on the above grounds. Apart from this, on the basis of mentality, lifestyle, culture, methods of social control, form of migration and social organization etc., a difference is also made between rural and urban community. In the context of Indian society, it is seen that there is a difference in the quality and degree of change between rural and urban communities. The characteristic of generality is prominently found in the rural community, then that characteristic is not seen completely absent from the urban community, but is found comparatively less. Therefore, in place of Rural-Urban Dichotomy, there is talk of Rural-Urban Continuum.
Generally the community is divided into two parts – rural and urban community. Every human being resides in one of these two types of community. Village and city are two aspects of life. Direct and close contact with nature is found in villages while artificiality prevails in cities. Even after the differences found in villages and cities, it cannot be said that both are completely different. The increasing influence of modernity has connected the villages with the cities, due to which rural life in urban life, and rural life in urban life. Many elements are found in which the continuity of village and city is continuously increasing.
Rural-Urban Continuum
– The concept of urban harmony refers to rural-urban integrity. It can also be expressed in this way that there is an expression of the continuity of rural-urban life in the human way of life. Some scholars are of the clear opinion that rural and urban way of life are two different systems. That’s why they should also be studied differently. From this point of view, two separate subjects of rural sociology and urban sociology were developed over a period of time. Scholars of rural sociology developed an independent method of study of rural society and urban sociology thinkers provided a new form to the study of urban sociology. From the point of view of study, both the scriptures
In order to separate the areas of the rural-urban society, mutual differences have been highlighted so that both the areas can be studied separately.
In general, the concept of rural-urban continuum is the study of rural-urban differences while the concept of rural-urban continuum is based on continuity of rural and urban characteristics. Anyway, to clarify practically from where the villages start and
yes it ends. Similarly, where does the city limit start? And where does it end, it is not an easy task to draw a line between these two, at least from the sociological point of view. Keeping this perspective in mind, sociologists have developed the concept of rural-urban continuity. In short, it can be said that rural and urban concepts are relative. We cannot study any society by separating these two. For example, we name any town as a city or a city in relative terms.
Often, an area is called a village or a city on the basis that how much more or less the characteristics of a village and a city are present in a certain area. If the characteristics are more present, then we give it the noun of a city. G. V. Fyter is of the opinion that “if rural and urban sociology is to continue to be a distinct subfield of its patron discipline and to differentiate them from other subfields on meaningful conceptual grounds, the need for a new direction is self-evident Bertrand’s opinion.” that “proponents of the continuum theory feel that the rural-urban differentiation is of comparable degree and develops in a series between two polar extremes – the rural and the urban”. In fact, the rural-urban continuum emphasizes the continuity of the different characteristics of rural and urban sociology, rather than highlighting the rural-urban differences. Thus, the concept of rural-urban continuity is related to the integrity of the rural-urban elements. Bertrand finally Accepted that in fact the characteristics that explain the difference between rural and urban are deeply related to each other, but in spite of this, the differences found in them cannot be completely discarded because there is accuracy and certainty in them. This continuum explains, he wrote, that environmental influences are closely and co-related with the differences found between these two groups. The more approximately the environment is rural or urban, the greater the differences in the individuals included in that group. Will be found targeting.
Prof. Wirth has a special contribution in the development of the concept of rural-urban continuum. Prof. Wirth has considered rural-urban life as a separate type of life-style. Similarly, Redfield, The Serokin, Mirman, Pekar and Weber have also classified rural-urban differences. On the contrary, some sociologists have bitterly criticized the rural-urban differences. R 0 E 0 U
The first thought is that there are villages even in cities. These urban villages are situated in the middle of the cities where there are primary relations based on blood relation. Rural cultural values are present in these. The Mayor is of the opinion that the rural people who live in the cities. It is not urbanised. The concept of rural-urban harmony has been severely criticized by many scholars. This theory has been called imaginary. Roseman has criticized this by writing that “the so-called theory of rural-urban difference is preserved in the textbooks of the students and gets ostentatious rituals at the time of examination.
Therefore, in the words of Lewis, his lack of research related value as a purifier plant was also not proved. 3.8 Rural-Urban Continuum as a Modern Process Rural-Urban Continuum is a modern process which enters any rural or urban area and starts exerting its influence. It is a phenomenon that is reflected in the parts. In fact, any social event in modern society can neither be called completely rural nor completely urban. All rural events take an urban form over time as a process. The proponents of the theory of rural-urban continuum are of the view that the rural-urban difference is not so clear mainly in geographical, demographic and economic terms as in terms of social relations. As far as the social relations between the village and city communities are concerned, there are differences in the social activities of the two places. The processes of urbanization in villages and ruralization of cities develop as a result of the social action and interaction of mutual inter-relationships. By combining these two processes, a coordinated form emerges which Galpin and his colleagues term as ‘Rural Urbanization’. The form of inter-relationships between the village and the city that develops from such interactions includes the process of syncretism and sanskritization.
The active components in these are responsible for the changes in the rural social structure. Rural society is small but organized. Here the area of social contact is very limited. But through whatever contact social relations are formed, the nature of closeness and permanence is more in them. Rural society is bound to its small area. The scope of his social relations is also limited because of this. This is the reason that there is more uniformity and less diversity in their mutual relations. Due to all these reasons, his thoughts, thinking, attitude, attitude etc. become narrow. On the contrary, there is no simplicity in the social relations in the urban society. The web of urban social relations is complex. City
Every moment a person comes into new contacts. That is why formality, individualism, artificiality etc. are easily seen in urban social relations. These characteristics are not limited to the limits of the city, but also enter those areas which are villages near the city and are taking the form of the city, which we call city-like villages (suburbs). There are villages around the big cities, in which the characteristics of the city and the village can be seen together. In Bombay and Calcutta, one clearly says that we live in the suburbs. That means our house is not in the metropolis. The characteristics of cities can be seen in these city-like villages.
The towns which are situated on the outskirts of a metropolis are also called sub-urban (Sub-ruban) like Gore in Bombay and Sahibabad near Delhi etc. These examples make it clear that the process of rural-urban continuum is accelerated when the area of social interaction expands and social relations become diverse. In fact, when villages and cities come close to each other, the characteristics of both the societies enter into each other’s society. This is the reason why we can easily see many features of rural society in any city. Over time, the rural life adjacent to the city becomes urbanized. Pahal has also said that the lives of the villages which are near the metropolitan cities get urbanized. These areas are known as urbanized rural areas. Pahal’s study area was the villages of London which were settled at a distance of 40-50 miles. Because the housing problem in London was becoming very serious, therefore the residents of London started building houses in the nearby villages. Advances in the means of transport and communication accelerated the process of urbanization in these metropolitan villages. This example can also be seen in India as the upper middle class and upper class people of Bombay are making their residence away from Bombay instead of building a house in a metropolis like Bombay.
The people of Delhi are also doing the same today. In this way a metropolis is developing into several sub-metropolitan areas. Urban and rural characteristics are seen together in these areas, but in the course of time, metropolitan civilization and culture establish their identity in these sub-metropolitan areas and metropolitan-villages become a part of the metropolitan culture, instead of remaining metropolitan villages. Huh . If we consider from the point of view of mobility, different forms of mobility are seen in villages, towns, cities, metropolitan and metropolitan villages. There will be more mobility and social awareness in the people of Karbe than in the village. In this way, mobility and social awareness will be more in a metropolis than in a city and mobility and social consciousness in a metropolitan village or a sub-metropolitan village will be more than in an ordinary village. The main reason for this is that whenever a person comes in contact with a progressive and modern society, he has to put himself accordingly. The rural way of life is completely different from the urban way of life.
With rural attitude, values, thoughts and mindset, it is difficult to live and work in the city. Astu, whether he wants it or not, he has to adopt the urban method. Urban values have to be imbibed. The urban way of life is sufficient for urbanization. That’s why urbanization affects the rural person both directly and indirectly and he follows the lifestyle of the middle and upper class people here. It does not mean that the rural person abandons all the values, traditions, conventions and customs of his rural area. He doesn’t leave them. But with the passage of time, their importance keeps decreasing in his life. For example, when a rural person comes to work in a mill or factory in the city, he wears clothes accordingly. But when he goes to the village, he wears the village dress.
While living in the city, he speaks the city language, but after reaching the village, the same person speaks the language of his village. His behavior in the city is different and in the village his behavior is like the people of his area. In this way, if there is continuity, we see it only in the form of social process. The changes that are visible in the rural-urban way of life today have arisen as a result of a long social process and this process is still dynamic with the process of mechanization and urbanization. Despite this, we cannot determine any boundary that from this boundary point rural ideas are seen and from that boundary point the urban life, system begins. Just like we have been unable to give a universal definition of village and town. Then how can it be known from which point the social process of rural-urban continuum begins and at which point it ends? The process of rural-urban continuum actually depends on many factors and whose form and nature keeps on changing according to time.
This process does not work equally in all societies. The intensity of the process of rural-urban continuum depends on how progressive and prosperous a country is economically and socially. For example, Indian villages remained backward for thousands of years.
, Industrialization, urbanization, mechanization and scientific achievements had no effect on the rural way of life here, but after independence, these things are having an intense effect on the rural life system. In the course of development, villages are turning into towns and towns are turning into cities and cities into metropolises. In the process of this change, many changes have been visible in the local, regional, rural and urban life philosophy. It is true that rural elements and characteristics are present in every city, which are urbanized over a period of time. Because the city is more dynamic, progressive and changeable than the villages, therefore the impact of the cities easily falls on the villages. Nevertheless, it can be said that no social phenomenon is completely rural and neither completely urban. After independence, the speed of the process of industrialization and mechanization has increased in the Indian society.
Through various rural schemes, the government has tried to bring changes in the entire economic, social and cultural structure. Progress in the means of transport and communication has connected the town and the village. The tools of scientific agriculture have modernized the agriculture business. With the modernization of agriculture business, there has been a radical change in the way of life of the rural society. Changes are taking place in the rural-economic structure. These changes are indicative of progress and modern society. That’s why cities are reaching villages and rural societies are becoming day by day the reflection of the characteristics of urban society. Urban elements are developing rapidly in rural society. Such situations are continuously being created that one day the rural characteristics, which have made their identity, all those elements will turn into urban characteristics.
Villages will also be centers of machines like cities. All the work will be done with the help of machinery and spare parts, which has started in the rural society. In place of plow and oxen, tractors have started plowing the fields and harvesting the crops. Machines are used to cut and clean the crop. Tube-vine is used for irrigation. The trend of scientific fertilizers is increasing day by day. Apart from this, many small-scale industries are being built in the rural society by machines. The means of transport have now connected the rural person directly with the city. All these facts symbolize that the person has been directly connected to the city. All these facts are a symbol of the fact that industrialization and mechanization are ending rural characteristics and their place is being taken by urban characteristics. It may not happen that in the future the elements on the basis of which we identify the village and the city, they will end and the village will take the form of the city as is happening in the western countries.
In such a situation, the rural-urban continuum, which we are studying today in the context of rural and urban society, we probably will not be able to do because when the villages turn into cities, then the rural-urban continuum will automatically cease to exist. But we believe that no matter how deep the impact of industrialization, mechanization and urbanization may be on the rural society and rural way of life, the rural society will give up its basic characteristics, values, traditions, ideals and beliefs only because land and agriculture are not business. The spirit of the centuries attached to it is the same, if something has changed then the means of forest farming have changed and this is also necessary for the progress of the country. Thus the study of the rural-urban continuum will survive in the Indian society as long as there are farmers and farms on this land. 3.9 Rural-Urban Continuum The basis of difference in society The difference in rural-urban society has been told by various scientists – Bogardus, Sorokin, Zimmerman, Sims, Ross, Nels Anderson etc. Which we can present in the form of a table as follows S. No. 0 Rural community Population on the basis of difference Urban community Population less than 5,000 1 2 Density of population 5,000 or more Population 400 persons per square kilometer More than 400 persons per square kilometer Determination of chief by less than kilometer Election, political views personal.
On the basis of affiliation in the rural-urban continuum, there is mutual exchange and interaction between the village and the city, as a result of which the lives of both keep changing. The mutual influence of village and city has given rise to the processes of ruralisation, urbanisation, rural-urbanisation, rural-urban continuity etc. As a result of these processes, a mixed form of characteristics of village and city has appeared. Industrialization and economic-social development have ended the self-sufficiency of the villages. Now the dependence of cities on villages for raw material has increased. The dominance of the cities and the abundance of resources available there attracted the villagers towards the cities. The villagers are getting urbanised.
The co-presence of characteristics of village and town contact and interaction can be seen. A mixed life of both will be seen in the suburbs around the big cities. The people of the city build their bungalows in the open air away from the city. They try to create a natural environment by planting gardens in the bungalows. All the facilities of modern cities are available in these bungalows. electricity, plumbing,
Fridge, gas stove, sofa, modern furniture, car are all available in this. The people living in it depend on the urban business. In this way we can see rural-urbanization and
The processes of village-town continuity are seen as occurring as a result of mutual relations between village and town. Today the urbanized life is not completely urban but it is a rural life influenced by urban life. Urbanized life can also be seen in villages. The process of rural-urbanization depends only on the prosperity of cities and maximum urbanization. If the cities do not develop and urbanization does not increase rapidly, then the need for the creation of such areas ends. If the people working in the industries established in the cities are settled in the wide areas of the ‘rural-towns’, their expansion and area of residence will become vast and there will be distance between the place of work and the place of residence. In such a situation, they will not be able to get the facilities of the city. It will be difficult to get the facilities of tap, electricity, road, administration, education, transport and communication, due to which the standard of living of the urban people will come down to the rural level. In this way, more expansion of rural urbanization will increase the problems instead of solving them and the future possibilities of its expansion may end.
Urban culture expands due to rural-urbanization, metropolitan civilization and culture establish their supremacy and metropolitan villages become part of metropolitan culture. Similarly, we see more mobility in cities than in villages. Due to urban influence, the rural people adopt the language, values and way of life of the city and abandon the rural values, traditions, customs and way of life. The process of rural-urbanization continuum does not work equally in all societies, but it depends on the economic and social progress of that country, industrialization, availability of means of transport and communication, modernization of agriculture, etc.
New Sociology