Community Differences In Urban Research

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While urban sociology is broad in its focus, one of the dominant issues discussed in much of the associated literature is that of defining the central characteristics of urban life. For instance, Simmel (1903/1950) famously wrote of a form of calculative rationality unique to urbanization, while Wirth (1938) would later describe social relationships in the city as increasingly formalized and superficial, with greater individual anonymity. Years later, urban sociologists have continued this debate on the central aspects of life in the city, with approaches that may be roughly divided into those focusing on the significance of community, as is the case with the community studies tradition, and those emphasizing conflict, such as those based on critical urban theory. While these categories do not represent the full range of views in urban sociology, it does represent a substantial theoretical divide, which will be the focus of this discussion. …show more content…
Rather, its most significant aspect is diversity, not a single concept such as community or conflict in themselves. The notion of diversity used here will refer specifically to a sense of variation both in the types of social relationships existing in urban settings and individual experiences of the city. As there are diverse experiences of both community and conflict depending on factors such as the nature of a space or a relationships, both exist concurrently within the city. This will first be discussed in terms of how community and conflict cannot individually define urban social life. The significance of diversity and its implications in theoretical orientations to urban sociology and research will then be considered with reference to previous

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