ASC 320 (1) Urban Sociology

COURTESY OF SIR GOODLUCK OMONDI
0798836363
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
P.O BOX 43844 – 00100
NAIROBI, KENYA
ASC 320: URBAN SOCIOLOGY
BY
1. DR. JUSTUS W. OTIATO
2. MR. S. K. GATANG’I
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LESSON 1
DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS IN URBAN SOCIOLOGY
1.1 Introduction
This is our first urban sociology lesson. We shall expose ourselves to the meaning of urban
sociology as an academic field and concepts related to the understanding of the discipline. This is
important for it is aimed at exciting your quest for deeper understanding of urban phenomena
especially urban sociology. We shall introduce you the concept of urban sociology, new urban
sociology, urbanization, metropolitan region and sociospatial approach .The purpose of this lesson
is to enable you appreciate sociology is keeping abreast with the changing landscape of
urbanization.
1.2 Lesson Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
1.2.1 Explain the concept of urban sociology
1.2.2 Explain the concept urbanization.
1.2.3 Distinguish between cities and Metropolitan region.
1.2.4 Illustrate the sociospatial approach
1.2.1 Urban sociology

Urban sociology is a branch of sociology that endeavors to study human interactions in cities and
their impact on social development. The emphasis is on the traditional sociological areas of city
life include changing dynamics, and consequences of social structure, population size, density of
population, social organization, environmental changes, social problems, and political economy of
the city among others with major aim of providing input to planning and policy making. But
recently there is a shift in the focus of this discipline in what is called New urban sociology. This
new focus claims that the city is not just a container of the social interactions but an active
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participant of the interactions. Consequently, in addition to the traditional urban sociology, new
urban sociology has three fundamental dimensions:
 The shift to a global perspective
 Attention to political economy of pull factors in urban areas
 And an appreciation of cultural force
E-tivity 1.2.1 - Urban sociology
Numbering, pacing and 1.2.1

sequencing
Title Definitions and concepts in Urban sociology
Purpose To explain the fundamental concepts of Urban sociology
Brief summary of overall task Read this video and explain what is urban sociology
Spark
Individual task 1. What is urban sociology?

2. Discuss one example of a growing urban region in the
Kenya. What are its characteristics?
Interaction begins a) Post two themes that are common in the definition of urban
sociology and New urban sociology
Do this on the discussion forum 1.2.1
E-moderator interventions 1 Ensure that learners are focused on the contents and
context of discussion.
2 Stimulate further learning and generation of new ideas.
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3 Provide feedback on the learning progress.

4 Close the e-tivity
Schedule and time This task should take one hour

Next Urbanization
1.2.2 Urbanization.
Urbanization is the process whereby a sizeable percentage of a population lives in densely populated
urban centers away from rural areas. This particular process inevitably effects changes in the
social, economic, political and cultural arrangements of society. Archaeological evidence suggests
that these cultural changes began over 6000 years ago in the Middle East. The causal factors for
the emergence of cities are not just the need for trade but deliberate conscious efforts of humans‘
beings because cities were spaces endowed with special social meaning.
E-tivity -1.2.2 Urbanization.

sequencing
Title Urbanization.
Purpose Enable you explain the concept urbanization
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and explain the concept of urbanization
Spark
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Individual task 1. What were some differences between the rural

and urban ways of life?
2. What were some of the earliest cities and what
were some structural features and innovations
that allowed them to prosper?
3. Why was it necessary for cities to exercise
power over their extended space? How didthey
do it?
Interaction begins 1. Name one early city and describe how it was built
using symbolic codes.
2. What is one difference between classical and medieval
cities?

E-moderator interventions 1. Ensure that learners are focused on the contents and
context of discussion.
2. Stimulate further learning and generation of new ideas.
3. Provide feedback on the learning progress.
4. Closing the e-tivity
Schedule and time This task should take two hours
Next Theories of Entrepreneurship
1.2.3 Distinguish between cities and Metropolitan region.

The most basic differentiating factor between cities and metropolitan regions is that metropolitan
regions lack a single focal business point. Traditional cities usually have a central business district
(CBD) as the main focal point of business and suburban areas where most affluent raised families.
While the new multi-centered metropolitan regions have several specialized zones or satellite
districts.
E-tivity 1.2.3 Distinguish between cities and Metropolitan region.
sequencing
Title Distinguish between cities and Metropolitan region.
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Purpose Enable you distinguish city from a metropolitan region
Brief summary of Watch this video and differentiate cities from metropolitan region
overall task
Spark
Individual task Explain the main differences between cities and metropolitan
regions
Interaction begins 1. Discuss the emergence of metropolitan regions
E-moderator 1. Ensure that learners are focused on the contents and context of
interventions discussion.
Next Motivation towards entrepreneurship
1.2.4 The sociospatial approach
This is a new paradigm that sheds light on the interaction between built environment and society.
Urban space is not only a container of social relations but an active participant in giving meaning to
the urban space. Social factors such as age, ethnicity, race and gender structure our interactions in
reaction to the nature of a particular given space.
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E-tivity 1.2.4 The sociospatial approach

sequencing
Title The sociospatial approach
Purpose Enable you apply the sociospatial approach to the study of urban
sociology
Brief summary of Watch this video and read this document then illustrate the concept
overall task of sociospatial
Spark
Individual task In a paragraph of 300 words, analyze the strengths of sociospatial

approach
Interaction begins a) Explain the main characteristics of sociospatial approach.
E-moderator 5. Ensure that learners are focused on the contents and context of
interventions discussion.
Next Motivation towards entrepreneurship
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1.3 Assessment Questions
1. Urbanism is described here as

a. The space between buildings
b. The connected system of public and private spaces
c. Big cities
d. The public realm
2. Which of the following is not one of the features of urban community

a. Face to face relationships
b. complex life
c. Materialistic
d. Glamour in life
3. Who introduced the concept of Gesellschalt ?

a) George simmel
b) Durkheim
c) Tonnies
d) none of these
4. Mark out the correct statement in relation urban society
a. Urban life produces greater emotional tension than village life
b. Urban life produces greater insecurity than rural life
c. Urban life is faster than village life
d. All of the above
5. Unlike village community, urban society lacks in

a) secondary social control
b) Social tolerance
c) self-sufficiency
d) All of the above
1.4 E-References
1 Mumford L (1938) The Culture of Cities. Harcourt Brace: New York. Google Scholar
2 Glaeser, E., & Gottlieb, J. (2006). Urban resurgence and the consumer city. Urban Studies,
43(8), 1275–1299. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar
3 Glaeser EL and Steinberg BM (2017) Transforming cities: Does urbanization promote
democratic change? Regional Studies; 51 (1): 58–68.
4 OECD. (2012) Redefining "Urban‖: A New Way to Measure Metropolitan Areas. OECD
Publishing: Paris, France.
5 K. LynchThe Image of the City MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (1960) Google Scholar
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LESSON TWO
ORIGINS OF URBAN SOCIOLOGY
1.1 Introduction
In this second lesson, we are going to reflect on the origins of urban sociology as an academic field
of study. It is important to know the factors that triggered the emergence of urban sociology as a
specialized area of study. In doing so we shall survey the rise of urban civilizations, the rise of
industrial towns and theories of urban sociology.
2.2 Lesson Learning outcomes

By the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
2.2.1 Explain beginning of urban civilizations
2.2.2 Discuss the rise of the industrial city
2.2.3 Examine origins of urban sociology
2.2.4 Identify theories of urban sociology
2.2.1 Urban civilizations

A civilization is any complex society characterized by urban location, social stratification, a form of
government and symbolic culture. For over 6000 years human beings have increasingly been
moving to live in highly dense urban areas. This transition has transformed the nature of human
social interaction. Most cities grew out of villages, and some ultimately became city-states, which
are self-governing urban centers and the agricultural territories under their control. The surplus food
production generated by villages in the vicinity allowed for some residents not to participate in food
production, which led to the development of distinct specialized roles and associated classes.
E-tivity 2.2.1: Early urban civilizations
Numbering, pacing and sequencing 2.2.1
Title urban civilizations
Purpose Expose you to the dramatic rise and formation of early
urban civilizations
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Brief summary of overall task Watch these videos 1video, 2 and then explain the role
of political revolutions in the development of sociology.
Spark
Individual task 1. What were some necessary elements of

medieval cities?
2. Name some features of the industrial city that
differed from the medieval one..
Interaction begins After posting your answers on the discussion forum

provided, read and react to what your colleagues have
done.
E-moderator interventions For this discussion forum, am at the background
monitoring your progress, focussing the discussion,
providing feedback and wind up the activity.
Schedule and time This task should take 40 minutes

Next Rise of the industrial city
2.2.2 Rise of the industrial city

Across time and space, cities have been centers of commerce and business. But what gave this
process impetus was the emergence of capitalism which was like a catalyst for the other elements
such as ecological, social and administration.
E-tivity 2.2.2: Rise of the industrial city

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Title Rise of the industrial city

Purpose To understand the rise of the industrial city
Brief summary of overall task Watch these videos video, and then explain the rise of
the industrial city
Spark
Individual task Explain the central role of the French revolution in the
emergence of sociology in Europe.

done.

Next Origins of urban sociology
2.2.3 Origins of urban sociology

Emergence of urban sociology is associated with the rise of capitalism. Capitalism itself was
propelled by the emergent nation-state in Europe with its attendant political and legal trappings
afforded nascent capitalism prosperity never imagined before. Land hitherto held by the nobility and
church was liberalized and became a commodity to be bought by anyone with money. Serfs were
emancipated to offer their labour at a bargained price in the new industrial towns. Albion Small
started the first department of urban sociology in the US at the University of Chicago in 1893.
E-tivity 2.2.3: Origins of urban sociology
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Title Origins of urban sociology

Purpose To analyse the origins of urban sociology
Brief summary of overall task Watch these video and then explain Origins of urban
sociology
Spark
Individual task 1. Name two early urban sociologists and describe

some of their main ideas.

done.

Next Theories of urban sociology
2.2.4 Theories of urban sociology

Urban sociology emphasis is on the traditional sociological areas of city life including changing
social structure, population size, density of population, social organization, environmental changes,
social problems, and political economy of the city makes it amenable to sociological theorisation.
To this end the three major sociological perspectives of functionalist, conflict and symbolic
interactionism informed the following scholars in theorising about the urban phenonem;Ferdinand
Tönnies (1887/1963), Emile Durkheim, (1893/1933), Louis Wirth (1938),), Thorsten Sellin (1938),
Roderick McKenzie,Georg Simmel 1936) , Emile Durkheim (1858–1917), Friedrich Engels (1820–
1895), Robert Park (1864–1944) among others.
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E-tivity 2.2.5: Theories of urban sociology

Title Theories of urban sociology
Purpose To expose to theories of urban sociology
Brief summary of overall task Watch these video 1 & 2 and read this document then
explain the role theory in urban sociology
Spark
Individual task 1. What were some of the ideas promoted by Park,

Burgess, and McKenzie as ―Human Ecology?‖

done.

Next Theories of urban sociology
1. What was the Chicago School‘s approach to the study of urban life called?
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a) urban reserve
b) urban ecology
c) urban economics
d) urban sociology
2. Mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity are concepts introduced by which theorist?
a) Emile Durkheim
b) Amos Hawley
c) Immanuel Wallerstein
d) Mark Gottdiener
3. The ecological approach to urban sociology involved studying:
a) how social groups colonized different areas of the city and competed for resources
b) the forms of wildlife and natural habitats that could be found on the edges of the city
c) the way in which people organized collective protests about environmental issues
d) how men and women used the city's public spaces differently
4. Which of the following describes a city's CBD?

a) An area with important businesses, government buildings and high-class retail stores.
b) An area with residential development and large areas of open space.
c) An area on the edge of the city where new developments include housing estates and
parks.
d) An area of industry, particularly the heavier industries that require large amounts of
raw materials
5. Who developed the concept of urbanism as a way of life?
a. Louis Wirth b. Fisher

c Louis Coser d none of these
2.4 E-References
1 Nawratek, K. (Ed.). (2017). Urban re-industrialization. Brooklyn: Punctum Books. Google
Scholar
2 Burgess, Ernest. 1925. ―The Growth of the City.‖ Pp. 47–62 in The City, edited by R. Park and
E.Burgess. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
3 Chandler, Tertius and Gerald Fox. 1974. 3000 Years of Urban History. New York: Academic
Press.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
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4 Park, Robert. 1936. ―Human Ecology.‖ American Journal of Sociology 42:1–Sjoberg, Gideon.
1965. The Preindustrial City: Past and Present. New York: Free Press
5 Dodman, D., Leck, H., Rusca, M., And Colenbrander, S., 2017. African Urbanisation And
Urbanism: Implications ForRisk Accumulation And Reduction. International Journal Of
Disaster Risk Reduction. 26. 7-15
LESSON THREE
URBAN SOCIOLOGY TODAY
3.1 Introduction
In this third lesson we are ready to look at urban sociology as it appears today. You are expected to
look at the conceptual shift from the Chicago school to the present involving the current emphasis
on the nexus between global capitalism and emergence of metropolitan regions. We shall purposely
reflect on the political economy of cities, the role of political economy and development of cities
and finally sketch an understanding of the sociospatial approach to the study of urban sociology.

3.2.1 Examine Political economy and the development of cities
3.2.2 Explain urban political economy
3.2.3 Discuss the sociospatial approach
3.2.1 Political economy and the development of cities

It is instructive to interrogate how the both Karl Marx and Max Weber diagnosed how modes of
social organization, such as feudalism or capitalism, work through a form of space—the city—and
social relations situated within that spatial form. This is how the political economy of built
environment is to be understood.
E-tivity 3.2.1: Political economy and the development of cities
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Title Political economy and the development of cities
Purpose To understand the role of political economy in the
development of cities
Brief summary of overall task Watch these video and then explain the role of political
economy in urban development
Spark
Individual task What is urban political economy? Discuss

done.

Next urban political economy
3.2.2 Urban political economy

In Marxian terms, we can deduce that the political economy of industrial capitalism that weaved a
spatial form around manufacturing centers would morph into deindustrialization, and ultimately,
then, a new spatial form would have to emerge corresponding to the new political economy- global
capitalism and neoliberal government policy . This obtaining new political economy is responsible
for this new spatial arrangement called MCMR
E-tivity 3.2.2: Urban political economy
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Title Urban political economy

Purpose To understand the urban political economy
Brief summary of overall task Watch these video and then explain urban political
economy
Spark
Individual task 1. How do Engels‘s observations of Manchester‘s

industrial urban space help explain the political,
economic, and social changes brought about by
multicentered development?
2. What is uneven development and how does it
affect contemporary urban analysis?

done.

Next The sociospatial approach
3.2.3 The sociospatial approach

The sociospatial perspective is an integrated theory that explains urbanization and the production of
space. Nevertheless, it involves ideas that distinguish it from previous approaches to urban
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sociology. It achieves this by incorporating the following; pull and push factors, the role of real
estate, politics and culture. Significantly is its understanding of cities not as containers of social
relations but as a constituent part of the interaction that produces the urban culture.
E-tivity 3.2.3: The sociospatial approach
Title The sociospatial approach

Purpose To understand the sociospatial approach
Brief summary of overall task Watch these videos 1video, 2 and then explain the role
of political revolutions in the development of sociology.
Spark
Individual task 1. How did the Chicago School neglect the role of
capitalism and the role of government in urban
development? Use the sociospatial perspective
to critique them.

done.
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Next Structure and agency in the history of suburbanization
4 The spatial feature of urbanisation in India has been
a. localised in nature b. balanced
c. both a & b d. none of the abov
True or False
5 The peak of urban life today is represented by what is called megalopolis. _____
6 The development of modern cities has had an enormous impact on pattern of thought and
Feelings. __________
7 It is easy to control offensive content in cyber space. ___

8 The modern city may seem paradoxical. ______
3.4E-References
1. Lin, J., & Mele, C. (Eds.). (2012). The urban sociology reader. Abingdon: Routledge.
Google Scholar
2. Baohua, L. L. G. (2006). A study on the theory of the livable city. Urban Studies, 2, 16.
Google Scholar
3. Brenner, N., Marcuse, P., & Mayer, M. (Eds.). (2012). Cities for people, not for profit:
Critical urban theory and the right to the city. London: Routledge. Google Scholar
4. Marcuse, P. (2009). From critical urban theory to the right to the city. City, 13(2–3), 185–
197. Google Scholar
5. Van Noorloos, F., et al., 2017. Urban Studies.
6. OECD. (2012) Redefining "Urban‖: A New Way to Measure Metropolitan Areas. OECD
Publishing: Paris, France.
7. OECD. (2015) The Metropolitan Century. OECD Publishing: Paris, France.
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LESSON IV
SUBURBANIZATION, GLOBALIZATION, AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE
METROPOLITAN REGION
1.1 Introduction.
Welcome to lesson four on the interplay between globalization and the emergence of metropolitan
regions. Ladies and gentlemen, this is an important section because it will expose us to the global
nature of our current cities. Growing urbanization has often led to the physical expansion of cities,
where urban cores are now characterized by the deconcentration and restructuring of settlement
space across the multicentered metropolitan region (MCMR) with which they share infrastructure,
housing and workplaces, creating new functional urban areas that go beyond the traditional
administrative boundaries.
4.2.1 Distinguish structure and agency in the history of suburbanization
4.2.2 Explain the role of Real estate and state subsidies
4.2.3 Illustrate deindustrialization and globalization
4.2.1 Structure and agency in the history of suburbanization

Structure is the recurrent patterned arrangements which influence or limit the choices and
opportunities available while Agency is the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make
their own free choices.The structure versus agency debate may be understood as an issue of
socialization against autonomy in determining whether an individual acts as a free agent or in a
manner dictated by social structure
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The decision to live outside the city by individual citizens provoking the development of
metropolitan regions is the so called agent-side while the development of metropolitan region in
response to the quest of special interests, especially networks of capitalist investors aided by allies
in government that promote development to acquire profits is the structure-side of suburbanization.
E-tivity 4.2.1 : Structure and agency in the history of suburbanization
Title Structure and agency in the history of suburbanization
Purpose To explain Structure and agency in the history of
suburbanization
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate structure and agency in
suurbanization
Spark
Individual task 1. Explain the agent-side and structure-side of

growth of metropolitan region

provided, read and react to what your colleagues
have done.

Next the role of Real estate and state subsidies
4.2.2 The role of Real estate and state subsidies
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Real estate, encompassing housing, land and commercial property, is a key driver of
the urban economy—in terms of economic development, the distribution of opportunities across
space and through the evolution of the local built environment. These processes coupled by
government subsidies have an impact on the emergence of metropolitan regions.
E-tivity 4.2.2: The role of Real estate and state subsidies

Title The role of Real estate and state subsidies
Purpose To explain the role of Real estate and state subsidies
suburbanization
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and read this document then explain
the contributions of real estate and government
subsidies in urban development
Spark
Individual task 1. What push and pull factors characterize the

relationship between real estate developers and
political actors of the state in urban
development?
done.
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Next deindustrialization and globalization
4.2.3 Deindustrialization and globalization

Deindustrialization is the impact of the heightened geographic mobility of capital on traditionally
high-wage manufacturing employment from one section of the globe to the other. This process
started in the 1960s and it has had a lasting impact on cities and suburbs
E-tivity 4.2.3: Deindustrialization and globalization

Title Deindustrialization and globalization
Purpose To expose you to the process of deindustrialization and
globalization
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and explain the relationship between
Deindustrialization and globalization
Spark
Individual task Explain the causes and impacts of deindustrialization

done.

Next the disappearance of the suburb
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1 The movement of people from central cities to smaller communities in the surrounding area is
known as...
A. Reverse migration b. Under urbanisation
c. Suburbanisation d. Over- urbanisation
2 Which among the following meaning is closest to the term ‗ over urbanisation;
a. Urbanisation at the cost of village development
b .urbanisation without the essential infrastructure.
c. rapid urbanisation
d. emergence of megalopolis.
3 The term 'collective consumption' (Castells 1977) refers to:

a) the privatization of public services by the Conservative government
b) the lifestyle practice of shopping in peer groups
c) the form of tuberculosis suffered by those who collect stamps
d) the provision of health, housing, and education services by the state
4. Where megacities are mostly found?
a) In Europe
b) In North America
c) In developing countries
d) In developed countries
5. What is a megacity?
a) A city with a population of over 10 million people
b) A city with a population of 5 million people
c) A city with a population of 7 million people
d) Non of the above
4.4 E-References
1. Calzada I (2017) Metropolitan and city-regional politics in the urban age: why does ―(smart)
devolution‖ matter?. Palgrave Communications. 3:17094 doi: 10.1057/palcomms.2017.94
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2. Acuto M (2009) Global cities as actors: A rejoinder to Calder and de Freytas. SAIS Review
of International Affairs; 29 (2): 175–178.
3. Cox KR (2010) The problem of metropolitan governance and the politics of scale. Regional
Studies; 44 (2): 215–227
4. Fricke C and Gualini E (2017) Metropolitan regions as contested spaces: The discursive
construction of metropolitan space in comparative perspective. Territory, Politics,
Governance; 6 (1): 1–23. Google Scholar
5. allbé J-J, Magre J and Tomàs M (2015) Being metropolitan: The effects of individual and
contextual factors on shaping metropolitan identity. Journal of Urban Affairs: 1–18.
6. Walker D (2010) ‗Metropolitanisation‘ in economic development: Exclusion and
marginalization through the dominance of national policies. An English perspective. Regions
Magazine; 279 (1): 14–15. Google Scholar
7. Ortiz PB (2014) The Art of Shaping the Metropolis. McGraw-Hill Education: New York.
Google Scholar
8.
LESSON V
URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN WESTERN EUROPE
5.1 Introduction
Ladies and gentlemenwelcome to our fifth lesson which is on urbanization in Europe.
European countries have been experiencing a decrease in urbanization in the recent
past.These trends interact with one another to produce multicentered metropolitan
regions similar to those found in the United States. The pattern of urban change is not
consistent or uniform across all of the nations in the Eurozone. Some countries, such
as the United Kingdom have experienced decentralization of the population away
from the large urban centers. In this lesson we shall sample United Kingdom,
Germany and Spain.
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5.2.1 United kingdom
5.2.2 Germany
5.2.3 Spain
5.2.1 United kingdom

By the year 2010, 80% of UK population was urbane with 28 % of this urbanites living in
London. This makes London the primate of United Kingdom given that majority of people
living in cities in the UK actually lives in London. Deindustrialization as a consequence of
globalization has had a dampening impact on the growth of the city of London over the years
since the 1980s.But the converse of this was the emergence of new manufacturing centers tied
to high-tech development have emerged as part of global restructuring in the new stage of
capitalism. This gave rise to a new stratum of high earning professionals which had an impact
on the property market in London. This has been paralleled by the growing marginalization of
the less skilled, the unemployed, and various minority groups in other areas of the city.
E-tivity 5.2.1: United Kingdom
Title United kingdom
Purpose To enable you to explain contemporary urbanization in
UK
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and then illustrate urbanization in UK
Spark
Individual task Explain the process of deindustrialization and its

effects on the working class in UK
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done.

Next Germany
5.2.2 Germany
Germany is considered an economic hub of the European Union. Berlin, the capital city, is the
largest urban center in Germany, with a population of some 5.2 million persons—almost twice that
of Hamburg, the second largest .This a second case of primate city in Europe the same as London.
E-tivity 5.2.2: Germany
Title Germany
Germany
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and then illustrate the meaning of
culture
Spark
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Individual task Explain the process of deindustrialization and its effects

on the working class in Germany

done.

Next Spain
5.2.3 Spain
In the Middle Ages Cities in Spain was the envy of other European powers. For centuries Córdoba
was the largest city in the world, by then the capital city of the Moorish empire. In the 1500s,
Catholic Spain rose to world dominance, and millions of dollars of wealth poured into the country
from colonies in the Americas and Asia. But the wealth generated by this mercantilist empire did
not produce a well-developed
urban system, nor did it lead to industrialization in the 1700s and 1800s. Consequently Spain is one
of the least urbanized countries in Europe.
E-tivity 5.3: Spain

Title Spain
Spain
Brief summary of overall task Watch this 1video and 2 video and list five elements of
culture
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Spark
Individual task Explain the process of deindustrialization and its effects

on the working class in Spain

done.

Next Urban development in developing world
1. Which of the following cities has not experienced significant urban unrest since 2000?
a) London, UK
b) Sydney, Australia
c) Paris, France
d) All of them have
2. What is urban recycling?
a) renovating inner-city buildings for occupation by the middle classes
b) a new domestic waste reduction strategy for inner-city areas
c) councils buying up cheap housing to turn into commercial developments
d) refurbishing old buildings and finding new uses for previously used land
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3. Saskia Sassen‘s 1991 book, The Global City compared 3 cities. Which ones?
a) New York, London, Paris
b) London, Mumbai, Karachi
c) New York, London, Tokyo
d) London, Moscow, Toronto
4. Which regions of the world currently have the highest and lowest proportions, respectively,
of population living in cities?
a) Highest: Asia; Lowest: Africa
b) Highest: Europe; Lowest: Oceania
c) Highest: North America; Lowest: Africa
d) Highest: Europe; Lowest: Africa
5. Class segregation was apparent in mid-twentieth century Britain insofar as:
a) middle class owner-occupiers moved into the inner city through gentrification
b) working class communities formed in the inner cities, while the middle classes
moved out to the suburbs
c) the middle classes lived in the countryside while the working class lived in the city
d) the upper and middle classes dominated public space, while working class people
were more home-centred
5.4E-References
1. Häussermann, H., & Haila, A. (2005). The European city: A conceptual framework and
normative project. In Y. Kazepov (Ed.), Cities of Europe: Changing contexts, local
arrangements, and the challenge to urban cohesion (pp. 43–63). Malden: Blackwell. Google
Scholar
2. Bagnasco, A., & Le Galès, P. (2000). Introduction: European cities: Local societies and
collective actors? In A. Bagnasco & P. Le Galès (Eds.), Cities in contemporary Europe (pp.
1–32). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar
3. Pareja Eastaway, M., Turmo Garuz, J. et al., (2008). Why inBarcelona?: Understanding tha
attractiveness of the metropolitan region for creative knowledge workers. ACRE report 5.2.
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Amsterdam: AMIDSt, University of Amsterdam. Available from:

http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/acre (Accessed on 25thOctober 2011).
4. Bentham CG (2007) Urban problems and public dissatisfaction in the metropolitan areas of
England. Regional Studies; 17 (5): 339–346. Google Scholar
5. Calzada I (2017a) Metropolitan and post-national urbanity beyond (Pluri)Nation(al)-States
in the EU: Benchmarking Scotland, Catalonia and the Basque Country. JEMIE Journal on
Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe; 16 (1): 51–78. Google Scholar
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LESSON VI
URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN DEVELOPING WORLD
1.1 Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen welcome to our lesson six. In lesson six we are focusing on urban
development in developing countries. WE have sampled urban development in Asia, Africa and
Arabia as our points of concern. In our analysis we are going to look at the following characteristics
of: the demographic transition, primate cities, informal settlement spaces, spaces of exception, and
importance of the informal economy.

At the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
6.2.1 Explain urbanization in Asia
6.2.2 Explain urbanization in Africa
6.2.3 Explain Urbanization in Arabia
6.2.1 Urbanization in Asia

The global region of Asia represents great diversity and contains at least half of the world‘s
population. Urbanization that took place over a period of several decades in Europe and North
America is happening in just a few years in Asia, as shown by the emergence of megacities and
hundreds of small and medium urban settlements. The region will continue to urbanize rapidly as
economies shift from agriculture to manufacturing and services, with several hundred million
people migrating to cities over the next two decade.
E-tivity 6.2.1 Urbanization in Asia
Title Urbanization in Asia
Purpose To enable you to explain Urbanization in Asia
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate Asian urbanization
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Spark
Individual task List and describe the unique spatial patterns in Asia

done.

Next Urbanization in AFrica
6.2.2 Urbanization in Africa

Africa's move into the 'urban age' is projected to be without precedent in its swiftness. While the
continent is still largely rural, it is one of the fastest urbanizing regions around the world. Africa's
urban population is expected to more than triple over 40 years, from 395 million in 2010 to 1.339
billion in 2050, corresponding to 21% of the world's projected urban population . Currently, the
continent has seven megacities, that is cities with populations over 10 million: Cairo, Kinshasa,
Lagos, Accra, Johannesburg–Pretoria, Khartoum, and Nairobi. In 15 years, Luanda and Dar es
Salaam will be added to this list. Despite high rates of urban population growth, many African
countries still have a high degree of urban primacy. That is, one city—usually the capital—has the
population, economic activity, and political power that are several times greater than the next largest
city.
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Beyond the glitter domes of development in these primate cities, they are surrounded by massive
shantytowns—where entire families follow a precarious existence and involve themselves in the
formal and informal economy in an effort to acquire some meager portion of the wealth circulating
through the center result.
E-tivity 6.2.2 Urbanization in Africa
Title Urbanization in Africa
Purpose To enable you to explain Urbanization in Africa
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and explain urbanization in Africa
Spark
Individual task The global economic system is increasingly important to

the developing worl.Discuss

done.

Next Urbanization in Arabia
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6.2.4 Urbanization in Arabia

Urbanization in the Arab world—what we are defining as the Middle East and Northern African
countries of Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya—has taken shape under the shadow of the collapse
of the Ottoman Empire, colonialism, the discovery of oil, and a state of almost perpetual war
stemming from anti-colonial struggles, internal revolutions, the site of Cold War struggles, religious
differences among Arabs, and most recently terrorism and the global war on terror. Most Arab cities
suffer from uneven development except Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates which are even.
E-tivity 6.2.3 : Urbanization in Arabia
Title 6.2.4 Urbanization in Arabia
Purpose To enable you to explain urbanization in Arabia
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and explain urbanization in Arabia
Spark
Individual task Is Dubai an outlier in urbanization or is it a model of

future urbanization in developing world. Discuss

done.
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Next Urban social problems
1. What features are uncommon in shanty towns?

a) Overcrowding
b) Diseases
c) Toilets
d) Non of the above
2. Why do people move to cities in developing countries?
a) For a lower standard of living
b) For better housing
c) Low-paid jobs
d) All of the above
3. Which of these is not a reason why the rate of urban growth is larger in developing countries?
a) living in closely connected settlements is a social feature common in developing
countries
b) fertility rates are generally higher in developing countries, including among city
dwellers
c) greater job opportunities encourage large-scale internal migration from rural areas to
cities
d) reverse migration (from cities back to rural communities) can be harder in
developing societies once a livelihood in a rural community is lost
4. The spatial feature of urbanisation in India has been
a. localised in nature b. balanced
c. both a & b d. none of the above
5. What is a push factor?
a) A negative reason to leave a place
b) A reason to stay in a place
c) A positive reason to leave a place
d) All of the above
6.4 E-References
1. Parnell, S. and Pieterse, E., (eds.) 2014. Africa‘s Urban Revolution. Zed Books, London.
2. Brown, D., and McGranahan, G., 2016. The Urban Informal Economy, Local Inclusion And
Achieving A Global Green Transformation. Habitat International. 53. 97–105
3. Turok, I., 2013. Securing The Resurgence Of African Cities. Local Economy. 28(2). 142–
157
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4. Buckley, R., and Kallergis, A., 2014. Does African Urban Policy Provide A Platform For
Sustained Economic Growth? In Parnell, S., and Oldfield, S., (Eds.) The Routledge
Handbook on Cities of the Global South Routledge, London. 173 –190
5. Resnick, D. (2011) ‗In the Shadow of the City: Africa's Urban Poor in Opposition
Strongholds‘, The Journal of Modern African Studies, 49(1), pp. 141-166. DOI:
10.1017/S0022278X10000686
LESSON VII
URBAN SOCIAL PROBLEMS
1.1 Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen welcome to lesson seven of this semester. In this lesson, we are going to
focus on urban social problems. Unlike the traditional urban sociologists, we are going to examine
this lesson using the lens of new urban sociology. This means that we are going to use sociospatial
approach in explain urban social problem. To achieve our aim, this lesson will reflect on the
following topics; sociospatial approach to social problems, urban Poverty, housing crises and urban
Crime.

7.2.1 Illustrate the sociospatial approach to social problems
7.2.2 Explain urban Poverty
7.2.3 Recognize the housing crises
7.2.4 Explain urban Crime
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7.2.1 The sociospatial approach to social problems

Social problems are the unwanted conditions that are out of a person‘s control and have negative
consequences on their life chances such as; ethnicity, poverty, the lack of affordable housing,
polluted air, and crime. These are so called social problems because they cannot be solved by an
individual. For the sociospatial approach, its understood that life chances result from an interaction
between social factors and spatial organization.
E-tivity 7.2.1: The sociospatial approach to social problems
Title The sociospatial approach to social problems
Purpose Illustrate The sociospatial approach to social problems
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate sociospatial approach to
social problems
Spark
Individual task Explain three features of urban social problems from a

sociospatial approach.

done.
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Next urban Poverty
7.2.2 Urban Poverty

Poverty is not having enough material possessions or income for a person's needs. In urban set up,
the sociospatial approach claims that this is always concentrated in certain spatial spaces in cities.
These areas are disproportionately populated by the minority groups. The poor in urban areas
experience Poor quality, and overcrowded housing, eminent risk of forceful eviction, lack of safe,
regular supply of water, Poor provision for sanitation, drainage and solid waste collection, Lack of
access to affordable healthcare and proper policing services.
E-tivity 7.2.2: Urban Poverty

Title urban Poverty

Purpose Explain urban Poverty
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and explain urban poverty
Spark
Individual task Using poverty as an example differentiate between

personal problems, social problems and urban social
problems
done.
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Schedule and time This task should take15 minutes

Next Recognize the housing crises
7.2.1 The housing crises

This crisis results from the fact that housing-related household expenses are rising faster than salary
and wage increases in many urban centers around the world. This has sociospatial implications
given that where one lives determines the type and quality of the school children will attend,
Neighbourhood security and the value of
the property.
E-tivity 7.2.3 :The housing crises
Title The housing crises
Purpose To identify housing crisis
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and explain the urban housing crisis
Spark
Individual task Employ the sociospatial approach in solving the housing

crises in any African city of your choice
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done.

Next Urban Crime
7.2.4 Urban Crime

Urban crime violations of laws or deviant acts' performed in 'urban areas' that are prohibited by state
laws and are punishable in accordance to the set of that law. Criminals seize opportunities‘ offered
by the convergence of property, victim and place. Urban areas are ideal spaces for one to commit
crime because there are high population densities in a given place, rapid changes in social
environments and poor living conditions. This in interaction with massive urban poverty,
unemployment and inequality are considered causal factors of urban crime.
The spatial effect of concentrating the poor minorities in specific neighborhoods explains why crime
is not randomly spread throughout the urban area.
E-tivity 7.2.4: Urban Crime

Title Urban Crime
Purpose To explain urban crime
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate the meaning of urban
crime
Spark
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Individual task Use the sociospatial approach to explain crime in cities

done.

Next Urban public health
1. The term 'collective consumption' (Castells 1977) refers to:

a) the privatization of public services by the Conservative government
b) the lifestyle practice of shopping in peer groups
c) the form of tuberculosis suffered by those who collect stamps
d) the provision of health, housing, and education services by the state
2. Social distance in a city is due to:
a) Income
b) b. Ethnicity
c) c. Age
d) d. All of the above
3. Which of these was NOT a major problem with the suburban development model?
a) It consumed valuable farmland and sensitive ecological areas
b) It created social inequality
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c) It increased emissions from automobile travel

d) It drew people out of declining city cores
4. _____________ believe that today‘s urban problems are the result of mass migration from
rural areas during the Industrial Revolution, large-scale immigration in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries, and mass suburbanization.
a) Conflict theorists
b) Functionalists
c) Feminist theorists
d) Interactionists
5. Who wrote The Metropolis and Mental Life (1903)?
a) Louise Wirth
b) Robert Park
c) Georg Simmel
d) Max Weber
7.4 E-References
1. Ranci, C., Brandsen, T., & Sabatinelli, S. (Eds.). (2014). Social vulnerability in European
cities: The role of local welfare in times of crisis. Berlin: Springer. Google Scholar
2. Simmel, G. (1903). The metropolis and mental life. In G. Bridge & S. Watson (Eds.), The
Blackwell city reader. Oxford and Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell
3. Mitlin, D., And Satterthwaite, D., 2013. Urban Poverty In The Global South: Scale And
Nature. Routledge, London
4. Chitekwe-Biti, B., And Mitlin, D. 2015. ―‗The Devil Is In The Detail‘: Understanding How
Housing Assets Contribute To Gender- Just Cities.‖ In: Moser, C. (Ed). Gender, Asset
Accumulation And Just Cities: Pathways To Transformation. Routledge.London, UK.
5. Gonsalves, G., Kaplan. E., And Paltiel, A., 2015. Reducing Sexual Violence By Increasing
The Supply Of Toilets In Khayelitsha, South Africa: A Mathematical Model. Plos ONE.
10(4): E0122244. Croese, S., 2018. Global Urban Policymaking In Africa: A View From
Angola Through The Redevelopment Of The BayOf Luanda. 42(2). 198-209
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LESSON VIII
NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES
8.1 Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to lesson eight. In this lesson we shall be examining the nature of
urban community; it‘s Neighbourhood and finally interrogates the place of gender and women in the
built environment.

8.2.1 Urban community
8.2.2 Urban Neighbourhood
8.2.3 Women, gender, and space
8.2.1 Explain urban community

Urban community is a high density population which is geographically focused but which also
exists as a discrete social entity, with a local collective identity and corporate purpose, with basic
requirements and a high opportunity of employment. For the sociospatial approach, the study of
community will involve the examination of how groups interact with social space thereby producing
markers of identity and community.
E-tivity 8.2.1: Urban community
Title Urban community
Purpose To explain urban community
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate the features of Urban
community
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Spark
Individual task Discuss Ferdinand Tonnies assertion that community is

grounded in physical space

done.

Next Urban Neighbourhood
8.2.2 Urban Neighbourhood

Neighbourhoods are spatial units in which face-to-face social interactions occur—the personal
settings and situations where residents seek to realise common values, socialise youth, and maintain
effective social control. In most larger cities, urban neighborhood consists of apartment buildings,
townhouses, and condominiums. An urban neighborhood is not a suburb there are no homes or
apartments with large lawn space, picket fences, or homeowners associations. A neighborhood can
be defined as any sociospatial environment where primary relations, such as intimacy, among
residents dominate.
E-tivity 8.2.2: Urban Neighbourhood
Title Urban neighbourhood
Purpose To explain urban neighbourhood
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Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate the features of Urban
community
Spark
Individual task What is the difference between community and

neighbourhood

done.

Next Women, gender, and space
8.2.3 Women, gender, and space

Gender and urban development are intimately interrelated, and the politics of space are never far
from the picture. Recognition that space and the built environment are constituted by, as well as
constitutive of gender, has long been established in feminist analyses of the city, even if the
‗private‘ space of the household has tended to be somewhat neglected in mainstream theory .The
subordination of women in the public spaces of cities has deep roots in the built environment, where
the phrase ―man made‖ is taken literally -- the fields of architecture and construction are dominated
by men. The implication is that unless the concerns and needs of women are considered during
design phases, it is unlikely the buildings, neighborhoods, and cities we live in are constructed with
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women in mind. In line with Ortner‘s nature-culture dichotomy, men not only dominate the
professions tasked with building cities, but their creations are lasting, permanent, objects that shape
and reflect culture. The built environment is an overwhelming visual reminder of male dominance
in cities..
E-tivity 8.2.3: Women, gender, and space
Title Women, gender, and space
Purpose To illustrate the nexus between urban Women, gender,
and space
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate gender in urban space
Spark
Individual task Explain the role of gender in urban planning

done.

Next Urban Regeneration
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1. Which of the following is not identified by Fulcher & Scott as a criterion of community?
a) a shared sense of identity and belonging together
b) common activities involving all-round relationships
c) a fixed geographical location
d) collective action based on common interests
2. Which of the following is not identified as a new form of community?
a) ethnic communities, based on shared identity and experiences of discrimination
b) gay villages, which are formed in certain parts of large cities
c) sociological communities, formed by unpopular lecturers
d) virtual communities that exist only in cyberspace
3. Why does Mike Davis (1990) describe Los Angeles as a ‗city of quartz‘?
a) it has more millionaires than any other city
b) it has been hardened against the poor
c) it has more large shopping malls than any other US city
d) it has a policy of promoting opportunity for all
4. What term does Stephen Graham use for the increased surveillance and monitoring of city
spaces and city dwellers?
a) urban securitization
b) urban moral panic
c) new military urbanism
d) created environment
5. The fundamental element of the sustainable neighbourhood is the
a) Pedestrian shed
b) Transit stop
c) Wildlife corridor
d) District energy plant
8.5 E-References
1. G. GalsterOn the nature of neighbourhood Urban Studies, 38 (12) (2001), pp. 2111-2124
View Record in ScopusGoogle Scholar
2. A. Kearns, M. ParkinsonThe significance of neighbourhood Urban Studies, 38 (12) (2001),
pp. 2103-2110 View Record in ScopusGoogle Scholar
3. Freeman, L. (2009). Neighbourhood diversity, metropolitan segregation and gentrification:
What are the links in the US? Urban Studies, 46(10), 2079–2101. Google Scholar
4. Ranci, C., Brandsen, T., & Sabatinelli, S. (Eds.). (2014). Social vulnerability in European
cities the role of local welfare in times of crisis.. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. Google
Scholar
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5. Hagerman, C. (2007). Shaping neighborhoods and nature: Urban political ecologies of urban
waterfront transformations in Portland, Oregon. Cities, 24, 285–297. [Crossref], [Web of
Science ®], [Google Scholar]
6. Wei, F., & Knox, P. L. (2013). Neighborhood change in metropolitan America, 1990 to
2010. Urban Affairs Review, 50(4), 459–489. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google
Scholar]
7. Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. Oxford: Polity Press. Google Scholar
LESSON IX
URBAN REGENERATION
9.1 Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen welcome to lesson nine. In this lesson you will be exposed to the concept of
urban renewal or urban regeneration. In covering this lesson it will be imperative that you
understand concepts such as at gentrification, central business district and urban semiotics and final
reflect on the role of meaning in lived spaces.

9.2.1 Gentrification
9.2.2 Central Business district and urban semiotics
9.2.3 The Role of Meaning in lived spaces
9.2.1 Gentrification
Gentrification is a process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more
affluent residents and businesses. Gentrification often increases the economic value of a
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neighborhood, but the resulting demographic change is frequently a cause of controversy.

Gentrification often shifts a neighborhood's racial/ethnic composition and average household
income by developing new, more expensive housing and businesses in a gentrified architectural
style and improving resources.
Gentrification often occurs in poor urban neighborhoods, in part because lower rents make the
promise of profit from capital investment more likely, but also because poorer neighborhoods are
close to often involves socioeconomic changes in a less affluent urban space that forces the existing,
typically working-class residents out of their neighborhood.
E-tivity 9.2.1: Gentrification

Title Gentrification
Purpose To identify gentrification
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and explain gentrification
Spark
Individual task Discuss the relationship between embourgeoisement and

gentrification

done.
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Next Central business district and urban semiotics
9.2.2 Central business district and urban semiotics

Every place on the planet earth is defined by a certain enduring character. This subjective
characterization of a given spatial space is in terms of of its history, cultural history and the
architectural form. Urban semiotics focuses on this interaction between the built environment and
symbolic marks that bestow identifiable and clearly understood meanings to urban space. The key
point implied by semiotic analysis is that we can understand where, when, and by whom or for what
reason a specific sign or symbol was created and sustained in the local culture. This means we can
account for the role of powerful and influential authority actors in creating reputations that have a
disproportionate influence over the meaning of place.
E-tivity 9.2.2: Central business district and urban semiotics

Title Central business district and urban semiotics
Purpose To explain urban semiotics
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate the nexus between
Central business district and urban semiotics
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Spark
Individual task Using examples identify and explain urban semiotics of

a city of your choice

done.

Next The Role of Meaning in lived spaces
8.2.3 The Role of Meaning in lived spaces

Urban spaces such as the historical city skyline or a neighborhood school, are physical places
imbued with subjective meanings, where people impute distinct emotions with. As people interact
with the physical environment the resultant unique mental maps and image of the city are so
powerfyl. The location‘s identity is socially constructed through lived experience, objective
observations and subjective perceptions of the built environment and patterns of social activities
throughout
E-tivity 9.2, 3: The Role of Meaning in lived spaces
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Title The Role of Meaning in lived spaces
Purpose To explain the Role of Meaning in lived spaces
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate the role of Meaning in
lived spaces
Spark
Individual task Is it possible to change the cultural meanings of a given

space? Discuss

done.

Next Planning and urban issues
1. Cultural restructuring has involved:

a) regenerating cities in economic decline
b) turning industrial landscapes into tourist attractions
c) selling sites and images through the 'symbolic economy' of media advertising
d) all of the above
2. What is gentrification?
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a) the movement of the middle classes into suburban areas

b) a policy aimed at renovating inner-city council housing stock
c) building shopping centres in cities to create employment
d) renovation of run-down city neighbourhoods to attract high income groups
3. Design for change and resilience is important because
a) neighbourhood will grow and change in unpredictable ways
b) A neighbourhood‘s growth must be controlled
c) The urban designer needs to know which businesses or activities will likely occur
d) A neighbourhood can always be rebuilt when it becomes unfashionable
4. The fundamental element of the sustainable neighbourhood is the
a) Pedestrian shed
b) Transit stop
c) Wildlife corridor
d) District energy plant
5. What is urban recycling?
a) renovating inner-city buildings for occupation by the middle classes
b) a new domestic waste reduction strategy for inner-city areas
c) councils buying up cheap housing to turn into commercial developments
d) refurbishing old buildings and finding new uses for previously used land
9.4 E-References
1. Marcuse, P. (2013). Abandonment, gentrification, and displacement: The linkages in New
York City. In N. Smith & P. Williams (Eds.), Gentrification of the city (pp. 169–193).
London: Routledge
2. Bianchini, F.; Parkinson, M. Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration: The West European
Experience; Manchester University Press: Manchester, UK, 1993.
3. - Ley,D., andDobson, C., (2008). Are There Limits to Gentrification? The Contexts of
Impeded Gentrification in Vancouver.Urban Studies 45(12), pp. 2471–2498.
4. reeman, L., & Braconi, F. (2004). Gentrification and displacement: New York City in the
1990s. Journal of the American Planning Association, 70(1), 39–52. [Taylor & Francis
Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
5. Wyly, E. K., & Hammel, D. J. (2004). Gentrification, segregation, and discrimination in the
American urban system. Environment and Planning A, 36, 1215–1241. [Crossref], [Web of
Science ®], [Google Scholar
6. Gurr, J. M. (2017). All those who know the term ‗gentrification‘ are part of the problem.
Resistance: Subjects, Representations, Contexts, 3, 117–134. Google Scholar
LESSON X
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PLANNING AND URBAN ISSUES

10.1 Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen welcome to lesson ten. Lesson ten is planning and urban issues. This lesson
will be alive to the 21st century social urban questions which include poverty, environmental
degradation, global-local corruption and the role of global capital in urban planning and
development. Urban planning is a technical and political process concerned with the development
and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing
into and out of urban areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks.
Urban planning deals with physical layout of human settlements. The primary concern is the public
welfare, which includes considerations of efficiency, sanitation, protection and use of the
environment, as well as effects on social and economic activities. To achieve this this lesson will
cover the following:
 Role of planners
 Pruitt-Igoe project
 New Urbanism
 Sustainable growth and development

10.2.1 Role of planners
10.2.2 Pruitt-Igoe project
10.2.3 New Urbanism
10.2.4 Sustainable urban growth and development
10.2.1 Role of planners

Urban planners are professionals charged with the intellectual duty of conceiving the built
environment under certain principles and within given policy frameworks. The planers work in
interaction with the developers, speculators, homeowners, renters, local community activists, and
public officials. Urban planning is largely informed by the 19 century reforms that highlighted
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zoning of land use so that placing a sewage plant next to housing drastically ruined the quality of
life.. Space is partitioned into zones reserved for residential use, commercial activities, and
industrial work, among other functions.
E-tivity 10.2.1: Role of planners
Title Role of planners
Purpose To explain role of planners in urbanization
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate the role of urban
planners
Spark
Individual task Explain the main ideas of the following urban

planners; Howard, Le Corbusier and Wright

provided, read and react to what your colleagues
have done.

Next Pruitt-Igoe project
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10.2.2 Pruitt-Igoe project

This was an ambitious public housing project constructed in the early 1950s in St. Louis, Missouri,
for low-income tenants. The project consisted of thirty-three eleven-story buildings with a total of
2,700 apartment units on a site that encompassed almost sixty acres (about one-tenth of a square
mile). The project started experiencing problems immediately it was opened in 1954. Failure of
routine repairs turned it into a ruin. Children were injured playing in corridors or stairwells that
could not be monitored adequately by adults. Crime became common place and people started
moving out and within 5 years it was abandoned. By 1970, vacancy rates in the buildings had
reached more than 50%. By 1976, the entire project was completely torn down. This is a key pointer
to the perils of physical determinism.
E-tivity 10.2,2: Pruitt-Igoe project

Title Pruitt-Igoe project
Purpose To explain examine housing projects
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and analyse the Pruitt-Igoe project
Spark
Individual task What is meant by physical determinism in urban

planning

done.
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Next New Urbanism
10.2.3 New Urbanism

Starting in the US in the 1980s, New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes
environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighborhoods that combine both residential
and place of work thus discouraging urban sprawl.
Their designs feature houses with porches and emphasize pedestrian pathways rather than streets for
automobiles.
E-tivity10.2.3: New Urbanism
Title New Urbanism
Purpose To recognize new urbanism
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and explain new urbanism
Spark
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Individual task Describe and contrast the approaches of Simmel and

Wirth to urbanism

done.

Next Sustainable growth and development
10.2.5 Sustainable urban growth and development

This entails incorporating environmental soundness in the development plans of a city. Sustainable
development employs concepts such as smart growth akin to ―ecological footprint.‖ The concept of
an ecological footprint refers to the built environment‘s change in the natural landscape that
increases its use of polluting resources and business practices.
E-tivity 10.2.4: Sustainable growth and development
Title Sustainable growth and development
Purpose To explain sustainable growth and development
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate Sustainable growth and
development
Spark
Individual task Environmental problems are sociospatial problems.

Discuss
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done.

Next Urban social policy
1. Howard's idea of the garden city consisted of:

a) six small towns surrounded by green belts and linked to a larger central city
b) planning cities to have plenty of trees, flowers and public gardens
c) each privately owned house to have its own front and back garden
d) tower blocks to displace the population vertically and leave most of the land available as
green open spaces
2. The 'decentralized city' can be identified by:
a) the shift of employment and services away from the inner city towards multiple
centres in smaller towns and rural areas
b) the degendering of public space as women use local facilities more
c) gentrification: the movement of middle class people back into the inner city
d) all of the above
3. What two land use zones make up the inner city?
a) Old housing zone and CBD
b) Old housing zone and old industrial zone
c) New industrial zone and new business district
d) All of the above
4. Design for change and resilience is important because
a) neighbourhood will grow and change in unpredictable ways
b) A neighbourhood‘s growth must be controlled
c) The urban designer needs to know which businesses or activities will likely occur
d) A neighbourhood can always be rebuilt when it becomes unfashionable
5. A Early modernists like Le Corbusier advocated city planning based upon
a) Isolated and standardised components
b) Differentiated components
c) Organic complexity
d) Regional differences
10.4 E-References
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1. Massam, B. H. (2002). Quality of life: Public planning and private living. Progress in
planning, 58(3), 141–227. Google Scholar
2. Thörn, H. (2012). In between social engineering and gentrification: Urban restructuring,
social movements, and the place politics of open space. Journal of Urban Affairs, 34(2),
153–168. Google Scholar
3. Cattacin, S., Kakpo, N., & Naegeli, P. (2012). Urban policy innovations in local welfare:
Core ideas. Guidelines for the research tasks. Geneva: Department of Sociology, UM.
Google Scholar
4. City of Austin. 2000. Neighborhood planning workbook. Austin : Planning, Environmental
and Conservation Services Department. Austin, TX.
5. Grimes A, Mitchell I. January 2015. Impacts of planning rules, regulations, uncertainty and
delay
on residential property development. Motu working paper 15–02. Motu Economic and
Public
Policy Research.
6. Watson, V., 2009. ‗The planned city sweeps the poor away…‘: Urban planning and 21st
century urbanisation. Progress in Planning. 72(3) 151-19
7. Wirth, L., (1938/2000). Urbanism as a Way of Life. In: Le Gates,. In R. T. Stout, F. (ed.).
The city reader - Secondedition. New York: Routledge
LESSON XI
URBAN SOCIAL POLICY
11.1 Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen welcome to lesson eleven. In this lesson we shall be looking at urban social
policy. As sociologists interested in urban sociology, it‘s imperative that we acquaint ourselves with
urban social policy and its mechanisms. The principles of urban social policy are predicated on the
strategic importance of the city in the national development of the nation and its sustainability. In
this lesson we endeavor to look at the following; urban social policy, neoliberal urban social policy
and final cover the global-local nexus.
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11.2.1 urban policy
11.2.2 Neoliberal urban policy
11.2.3 The global–local nexus
11.2.1 Urban policy

Urban policy is a conceptual, systematic and deliberate activity by a public authority (e.g. the
government of kenya) aimed at the development of cities. Its objectives are derived fromthe
identification of major urban development problems. Urban policy today is not about the old narrow
cluster of problems – big city fiscal woes, concentrated poverty, crime-ravaged neighborhoods, and
distressed public housing. Today, ―urban policy‖ covers far more territory – both geographically
and topically- The city and suburban jurisdictions that make up metro .
E-tivity 11.2.1: urban policy
Title A brief history of urban policy
Purpose To explain a brief history of urban policy
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and develop A brief history of urban
policy
Spark
Individual task Is the market the best allocator of resources across the
metropolitan region? Discuss

done.
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Next Neoliberal urban policy
11.2.2 Neoliberal urban policy

Neoliberalism is a policy that advocates for minimum government role in commerce and citizens
life in general. In social policy this will mean tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses, privatization,
deregulation, and austerity. This translates in little funds available for social programs such as
housing. There are other problems too, such as the belief in using the market as the decision-making
mechanism for making decisions involving the allocation of resources, called neoliberalism.
E-tivity 11.2.2: Neoliberal urban policy

Title Neoliberal urban policy
Purpose To state neoliberal urban policy
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate Neoliberal urban policy
Spark
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Individual task Explain how privatization has affected urban policy

done.

Next The global–local nexus
11.2.3The global–local nexus

This is the interaction between local and global cultural, political, and economic forces with the
resultant effect of privileging people or organizations with big cash and/or power to the detriment of
the poor, weak local minorities. This is made successful through market regimes that rule to exclude
the poor socially and spatially.
E-tivity 11.2.3: The global–local nexus
Title The global–local nexus
Purpose To explain the global–local nexus f urban development
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate the meaning of The
global–local nexus
Spark
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Individual task Explain the role of global capital in urban development

in the world

done.

Next The global–local nexus
1. Class segregation was apparent in mid-twentieth century Britain insofar as:

a) middle class owner-occupiers moved into the inner city through gentrification
b) working class communities formed in the inner cities, while the middle classes
moved out to the suburbs
c) the middle classes lived in the countryside while the working class lived in the city
d) the upper and middle classes dominated public space, while working class people
were more home-centred
2. What is a utility?
a) Something you shower with
b) A service provided to a population, such as water, natural gas, electricity and
communication facilities
c) Something provided to a small business such as a cafe, or smoothie bar and they use
it in return for profit from the business
d) Something you use to help you complete a task at school
3. Which of these is not a reason why the rate of urban growth is larger in developing countries
a) living in closely connected settlements is a social feature common in developing
countries
b) fertility rates are generally higher in developing countries, including among city
dwellers
c) greater job opportunities encourage large-scale internal migration from rural areas to
cities
d) reverse migration (from cities back to rural communities) can be harder in
developing societies once a livelihood in a rural community is lost
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4. Spatial separation of the poor and visible minorities in cities is determined by the following
factors: racialization and ethnicity, economic factors, and __________.?
a) age
b) tenure
c) family size
d) uneven development
5. The aesthetic quality of urbanism matters most because
a) a. It reflects the vision of leading contemporary artists
b) It stimulates shopping and economic activity
c) It raises property values
d) It promotes quality of life and sustainability
11.4 E-References
1. Caprotti, F., Cowley, R., Datta, A., Broto, V. C., Gao, E., Georgeson, L., et al. (2017). The
New Urban Agenda: Key opportunities and challenges for policy and practice. Urban
Research & Practice, 10(3), 367–378. Google Scholar
2. Sabatier, P. A. (1999). Theories of the policy process (Theoretical lenses on public policy,
Vol. VIII, 24). Boulder: Westview Press. Google Scholar
3. Grazioli, M., & Caciagli, C. (2018). Resisting to the neoliberal urban fabric: Housing rights
movements and the re-appropriation of the ‗Right to the City‘ in Rome, Italy. VOLUNTAS:
International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-018-9977-y. Google Scholar
4. Mayer, M. (2007). Contesting the neoliberalization of urban governance. In H. Leitner, J.
Peck, & E. Sheppard (Eds.), Contesting neoliberalism: The urban frontier. New York:
Guilford Press. Google Scholar
5. Collier, Paul. 2016. African Urbanization: An Analytic Policy Guide. Fourth Seminar in
TICAD Seminar Series, ―Land Use Planning and Spatial Development for Smart Growth in
African Cities,‖ World Bank Tokyo.
LESSON XII
URBAN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND NGOS
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12.1 Introduction
This is the twelfth lesson. In this lesson we are going to reflect on the nature of urban social
movement and other non-state actors To achieve this we are going to discuss urban social
movements, environmental justice and have a comment on the nature of urban public health.

12.2.1 Urban social movements
12.2.2 Environmental justice
12.2.3 Urban public health
12.2.1 Urban social movements

Social movements are the collective actions of social actors in making claims for protective rights
and to question the values, social norms, and institutional practices outside of conventional political
channels employing strategies, such as composing oppositional narratives to the dominant ideology
of neoliberalism, in order to explain their grievances, situate their claims in cultural frames, and
present their physical bodies in a non-threatening manner to attract supporters and secure
protections from the state. The following are the identifiable makers of an urban social movement:
1. Collective consumption;
2. distinct spatial characteristics;
3. space as part of the protest.
E-tivity 12.2.1: Urban social movements
Title Urban social movements
Purpose To list urban social movement
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and analyse Urban social movements
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Spark
Individual task Discuss the features that define urban social movement

done.

Next Environmental justice
12.2.2 Environmental justice

Environmental justice concerns the distribution of environmental goods and bads, due to either
intentional or institutional reasons. Environmental benefits include attractive and extensive
greenspace, clean air and water, and investment in pollution abatement and landscape
improvements. Environmental burdens include risks and hazards from industrial, transport-
generated and municipal pollution. The distribution of these goods and bads is disproportionately
heavier against the poor of minorities in our society-bads like hazardous wastes plants are always
situated next to poor neighbourhoods.
E-tivity 12.2.2: Environmental justice
Title Environmental justice
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Purpose To explain environmental justice
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate the meaning of
Environmental justice
Spark
Individual task Use the sociospatial approach to explain the distribution

of environmental bads in a city of your choice.

done.

12.2.4 Urban public health

Public health has been defined is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and
improving quality of life through organized efforts and informed choices of society. Analyzing the
determinants of health of a population and the threats it faces is the basis for public health, therefore
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urban public heal is the study of the health of urban populations. Infectious diseases such as
diarrhea, respiratory disease, vaccine-preventable diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and
vector-borne diseases will continue to persist and spread in urbanenvirons. Additionally,
noncommunicable diseases(NCDs) such as ischemic heart disease, stroke,chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, and diabetes will increase. Urban public health issues require state interventions
and public investment, especially in marginalized areas. Public investment is also necessary to
replace aging sanitation and water infrastructure. Aging pipes crack. Lead pipes poison the water.
Sewage treatment facilities become overwhelmed in rainstorms and dump raw sewage into our
lakes, rivers, and oceansEnvironmental and social conditionssuch as indoor/outdoor air pollution,
obesity, depression and other mental health issues, vehicular injuries, gang culture, and gun violence
will likelyalso increase, affecting all economic strata
E-tivity 12.2.3: Urban public health
Title
Urban public health
Purpose To identify Urban public health
Brief summary of overall task Watch this video and illustrate Urban public health
Spark
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Individual task Explain the limits of using an ecological approach in

understanding urban public health problems

done.


1. Which of these was NOT a major problem with the suburban development model?
a) It consumed valuable farmland and sensitive ecological areas
b) It created social inequality
c) It increased emissions from automobile travel
d) It drew people out of declining city cores
2. Which of the following cities has not experienced significant urban unrest since 2000?
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a) a) London, UK
b) Sydney, Australia
c) Paris, France
d) All of them have
3. Who says ‗‘ city life bombards the mind with images and impressions, sensations and
activity
a) Simmel
b) Karl Marx
c) Webber
d) M.S.A . Rao ‗‘?
4. The ------of the urban community is source of social groupings both vertical and horizontal
a) Economic differentiation
b) age grading
c) Social differentiation
d) Caste
5. .......... is the term used to refer the relationship between human beings and their physical
environment
a) human physiology
b) Human ecology
c) human environment
d) None of these
12.4 E-References
1. Andretta, M., Piazza, G., & Subirats, A. (2015). Urban dynamics and social movements. In
D. Della Porta & M. Diani (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of social movements (pp. 200–
215). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar
2. Bitusíková, A. (2015). Urban activism in Central and Eastern Europe: A theoretical
framework. Slovensky Narodopis, 63(4), 326–338. Google Scholar
3. Domaradzka, A. (2016). Leveling the playfield: Urban movement in the strategic action field
of urban policy in Poland. In J. Hou & S. Knierbein (Eds.), City unsilenced: Urban
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resistance and public space in the age of shrinking democracy. London: Routledge.
Google Scholar
4. Fainstein, S. S., & Hirst, C. (1995). Urban social movements. In D. Judge, G. Stoker, & H.
Wolman (Eds.), Theories of urban politics (pp. 181–204). London: Sage. Google Scholar
5. Fincher, R. (1987). Progress Report: Defining and explaining urban social movements.
Urban Geography, 8(2), 152–160. Google Scholar
73

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ASC 320 (1) Urban Sociology

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COURTESY OF SIR GOODLUCK OMONDI

ASC 320: URBAN SOCIOLOGY

1. DR. JUSTUS W. OTIATO

DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS IN URBAN SOCIOLOGY

1.2 Lesson Learning Outcomes

1.2.1 Urban sociology

Numbering, pacing and 1.2.1

Individual task 1. What is urban sociology?

3 Provide feedback on the learning progress.

Schedule and time This task should take one hour

Numbering, pacing and 1.2.2

Individual task 1. What were some differences between the rural

Do this on the discussion forum 1.2.2

1.2.3 Distinguish between cities and Metropolitan region.

Purpose Enable you distinguish city from a metropolitan region

Next Motivation towards entrepreneurship

1.2.4 The sociospatial approach

reaction to the nature of a particular given space.

E-tivity 1.2.4 The sociospatial approach

Numbering, pacing and 1.2.4

Individual task In a paragraph of 300 words, analyze the strengths of sociospatial

Next Motivation towards entrepreneurship

1.3 Assessment Questions

1. Urbanism is described here as

2. Which of the following is not one of the features of urban community

3. Who introduced the concept of Gesellschalt ?

5. Unlike village community, urban society lacks in

2.2 Lesson Learning outcomes

2.2.1 Urban civilizations

Individual task 1. What were some necessary elements of

Interaction begins After posting your answers on the discussion forum

Schedule and time This task should take 40 minutes

2.2.2 Rise of the industrial city

E-tivity 2.2.2: Rise of the industrial city

Title Rise of the industrial city

Interaction begins After posting your answers on the discussion forum

Schedule and time This task should take 40 minutes

2.2.3 Origins of urban sociology

Title Origins of urban sociology

Individual task 1. Name two early urban sociologists and describe

Interaction begins After posting your answers on the discussion forum

Schedule and time This task should take 40 minutes

2.2.4 Theories of urban sociology

E-tivity 2.2.5: Theories of urban sociology

Individual task 1. What were some of the ideas promoted by Park,

Interaction begins After posting your answers on the discussion forum

Schedule and time This task should take 40 minutes

2.3 Assessment Questions

4. Which of the following describes a city's CBD?

5. Who developed the concept of urbanism as a way of life?

a. Louis Wirth b. Fisher

3.2 Lesson Learning Outcomes

3.2.1 Political economy and the development of cities

Numbering, pacing and sequencing 3.2.1

Individual task What is urban political economy? Discuss

Interaction begins After posting your answers on the discussion forum

Schedule and time This task should take 40 minutes

3.2.2 Urban political economy

Numbering, pacing and sequencing 3.2.2

Title Urban political economy

Individual task 1. How do Engels‘s observations of Manchester‘s

Interaction begins After posting your answers on the discussion forum

Schedule and time This task should take 40 minutes

3.2.3 The sociospatial approach