Sociological Theory & Urban Change Patrick J. Kennealy
Jan 13, 2016
Sociological Theory & Urban Change
Patrick J. Kennealy
Urban Sociology• Social order of cities
– Poverty– Homeownership– Capital
• Human, Social, Financial, and Built
• Spatial inequalities– Who has access to what?– Gentrification?– Environmental Racism & Class struggle?– Segregation?
Functionalism• Society as a series of interrelated parts – like a
machine
• Neighborhoods, streets, homes, businesses, etc. “function” to serve the good of people
• Fails to explain oppression and exploitation – Or are they explained as functions?
Chicago School & Concentric Zones
• Park, Burgess, and McKenzie, in The City. Published 1925
• Ecological (functionalist?) explanation of urban development
Park, Burgess, and McKenzie. 1925. The City. Concentric Zones model. Downloaded 10/1/08 from: http://www.wps.prenhall.com/.../834339/Chicago_ecology.GIF
Hoyt, Homer. 1939. diagram Downloaded from: http://www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/topics/landusemodels.html 10/1/08.
Harris and Ullman. 1945. Downloaded from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_nuclei_model 10/9/2008
Conflict Theory• Power is at the core of social relationships
• Constant struggle for scarce resources
• Those who have vs. those who don’t have
• Marxism often comes to mind– Economic determinism & division of labor
Conflict or Marxist Approach
• Conclusions about capital and condition of worker
– Capitalist exploits labor resources
– Economic Determinism• What you have determines what you get
– Eventually labor unites and revolts
– Communal system ensues
Marxism & Urban Change
• City is like a production system
– Renters as laborers
– David Harvey 1985 “The Urban Experience”
City as a “Growth Machine”
• Logan and Molotch in 1987 published “Urban Fortunes: The Political Economy of Place” University of California Press
– Exchange & Use Value of place
– Entrepreneurs control city space
Interactionist• Micro
• Focus on individual perceptions
• Concept of “Self” and personal identity
Capital• Social
• Human
• Financial
• Built
• Cultural
More info & reference: Green, Gary Paul and Anna Haines. 2002. Asset
Building & Community Development. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Community Capacity
• Community ability to direct positive change
• Forms of capital… human, social, financial, built, etc.
• Low-income housing rehab & development
• Business development
More info & reference: Chaskin, Robert J., Prudence Brown, Sudhir Venkatesh, and Avis Vidal. 2001. Building
Community Capacity. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.
Capacity Building
• Develop affordable homeownership opportunities
• Develop & encourage community base stakeholders
• Homeownership education
• Address or eliminate public policy supportive of abusive & predatory lending
Habitat for Humanity• Local funding
• Local volunteers
• Local capital
• Good example of capacity building
Asset Based Development
• Kretzmann & McKnight in 1993 published “Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Mobilizing Community Assets” Northwestern University
– Emphasis on capacity development instead of sweeping government/private endeavors
Government, Planners, Developers, & Investors
Infrastructure Housing Commerce Transportation
Traditional Development
Government Commerce
Investors
Community Stakeholders & Residents
Community Centered Approach