Chapter one

1.1 Definition of Urban Sociology

Is the sociological study of life and human interaction in metropolitan areas. It is a
normative discipline of sociology seeking to study the structures, processes, changes
and problems of an urban area and by doing so provide inputs for planning and policy
making. In other words, it is the sociological study of cities and their role in the
development of society.
Like most areas of sociology, urban sociologists use statistical analysis, observation,
social theory, social research methods to study a range of topics, including migration
and demographic trends, economics, poverty, race relations and economic trends.
Urban sociology is a branch of sociology, which focuses of urban living of people in
groups and social relationships in urban social circumstance. urban sociology
concerns itself with the social and cultural forms assumed by the urban phenomenon
in the past and in the present as well as the worldviews of the various cultures that
have produced cities, and the coherence or incoherence with which these worldviews
have been given concrete form.
Urban sociolgy emerged as a branch of sociology in the early 20th c following the
social upheaval caused by the industrial revolution.The discipline was inspired by the
works of University of Chikago scholars namely Park, Burgess, and McKenzi. These
scholars sought to understand how increase in urbanizm during Industrial Revolution
contributed to the social problems afflicting urban communities.
1.2 The subject matter of urban sociology
Urban sociology is a branch of sociology that deals with the impact of city life on
social action, social relations, social institutions, and the types of civilization derived
from and based on urban mode of life. Urban sociology examines a great deal of
issues including:
1. Understanding and explaining the socio-cultural and behavioral peculiarities of
urban residents and the urban community. The value, sentiments, desires etc. Of
urban communities in contrast to that of the rural characteristics.
2. Ecological organization and socio geographic differentiation of cities, spatial
distribution and structure of cities, interrelationships and interactions among the
different socio geographic regions (suburbs, slums).
3. Social changes in the organizational structure and functioning of the different sub
areas of the city. Causes and consequences of social change. Reactions to the
 process of social change including maladjustment, conflict, harmony, etc among
the different urban groups.
4. Explanation of urban demographic characteristics including population size
distribution etc.
5. The nature of and solutions to urban social vices such as crime, delinquency, drug
abuse, pollution, congestion, housing, unemployment etc.
Urban sociology draws upon information from different sources and disciplines such
as education, health, courts, police, etc. economics, public administration, social
psychology, history, etc.
Sociologists are interested in urbanization because the urban mode of life is becoming
more and more dominant.
Percentage of world population living in places of 5000 and more population
Year % of urban population
1800 3%
1900 14%
1950 28%
1980 45%
2000 55%
2025 64%
The above table indicates that the settlement pattern of the human population which
was dominantly rural has been in a process of reversal and the rural population is
diminishing through time while the urban share is growing. Before the industrial
revolution, the proportion of the rural population was very large while after the
industrial revolution the urban population has been in a radical increase. It is
estimated that by the year 2025 about 64% of the world population would be urbanite.
According to kingsely Davis, the reasons why sociologists are interested in urban
phenomenon include:
1. Urban mode of life is recent phenomenon in the history of mankind.
2. Urbanization has brought revolutionary changes in the whole pattern of social
life. It tends to affect every aspect of human life, social institutions, production
systems, transportation etc.
3. Urban centers tend to be centers of power and influence throughout the whole
society. The most important economic activities (trade, communication.
 administration etc) are concentrated in urban areas. Cities are centers of
political power and residence of emperors and presidents(governors)
4. The process of urbanization is still occurring and its direction is uncertain.
There are many problems associated with urbanization
1.3. Definition and measurement of concepts
a) Urban settlement: defining the concept urban settlement is not an easy task.
There is no single definition to which every body agrees. Thus, different
approaches have been developed to define the concept “urban settlement”
- Economic
- Demographic
- Political/administrative/legal
- Cultural/social relations
- Multiple factors definition
Demographic definition: focuses on statistical considerations. According to this
approach, urban settlements are those settlements that have certain number of
population. This certain number varies from country to country.
For example in:
Botswana ≥5000
Ethiopia ≥2000
USA ≥2500
Peru ≥100
Canada ≥1000
Japan ≥50,000
Denmark ≥250
Administrative definition (legal):
A place is said to be an urban settlement through declaration (charter granting) by
authorities.
Economic definition: focuses on occupation. Accordingly, an urban settlement is
where the majority of the inhabitants area engaged in other than agriculture like trade,
industry. It does not mean that the total absence of agricultural activities. It has to
mean that agriculture is not dominant.
Social relation definition: defines urban, as a locality, which has become large, and
the inhabitants do not know another. There is greater face to face contact but the
chance of people to know each other is low.
Multiple factors definition: since no single definition gives us sufficient meanings
for urban settlement, several factors have to be considered. In this regard, Alvin
Boskoff defines an urban locality as” a community or complex of communities
characterized by dominance of commercial ,industrial and service occupations, and
extensive division of labor and corresponding social complexity; an accompanying
high density of population and the development of coordination and social control on
non-kinship basis.
This definition is probably the most comprehensive one.
In order to avoid confusion, the UN has tried to develop its own definition particularly
for the purpose of international comparison. This definition is based on demographic
factors.
The UN has identified 3 categories of urban settlements:
1. big city=has at least 0.5 million population
2. city=has at least 100,000 population
3. urban locality=has at least 20,000 population
UN uses this classification when publishing statistical data. But the problem with
this classification is that it is not adopted by many countries since different
countries make their own local definition, there is a problem of standard meaning
for an urban settlement.
We can think of an urban settlement as being composed of three functionally
interrelated and distinct parts.
1. cities
2. suburbs
3. exurbs
Suburbs are settlements which develop around the city. These are adjacent to the city
and are established for different purposes; commercial;, industrial, residential, etc.
such suburbs together with the city are referred to as metropolitan center.
Exurbs are recent phenomena which came after suburbanization. Exurbs refer to
those settlements beyond the suburbs. Such communities are found with in 50 to 80
kms away from the city center. Exurbs are part of the urban pattern since their
inhabitants have the same lifestyle to the residents of the city. They work in the city or
in adjacent suburbs. Exurbs are particularly common experience of developed
countries. The spread of exurbs is very much connected with private vehicles and
advanced road facilities.
1.4. Urbanization
Urbanization is the process of population concentration in urban areas. It involves the
movement of people particularly from rural areas to urban areas. There are two simple
measures of urbanization:
1. Level of urbanization growth
2. Rate of urbanization
Level of urbanization = urban population =ratio
Rural population
or
Level of urbanization = urban population x 100 =%
rural population

Rate of urbanization = current year urban population – previous year population

previous year population

RU = cyup- pyup x 100

Pyup
Sociologists see urbanization as resulting from three interrelated factors
1. Significant increase in the population of a given geographic area.
2. The corresponding increase in social density resulting from the population
increase.
3. The increasing heterogeneity of people as more and more diverse people are
drawn to the grown urban settlement. From these three factors arise a number
of organizational consequences the most important of which is the social
division of labor in economic activities.
Urbanism
It refers to the cultural component associated with urbanization. It includes a range of
beliefs, values and rules of behavior which are assumed to be associated with
urbanization.
NB: While urbanization is the state of population concentration in urban areas,
Urbanism is the way of life of people living in urban areas.
Louis Wirth has given four characteristics of urbanism.
 • Transiency: An urban inhabitant's relation with others last only for a short
time; he tends to forget his old acquaintances and develop relations with new
people. Since he is not much attached to his neighbors’ members of the social
groups, he does not mind leaving them.
• Superficiality: An urban person has the limited number of persons with whom
he interacts and his relations with them are impersonal and formal. People
meet each other in highly segmental roles. They are dependent on more people
for the satisfaction of their life needs.
• Anonymity: Urbanities do not know each other intimately. Personal mutual
acquaintance between the inhabitants which ordinarily is found in a
neighborhood is lacking.
• Individualism: People give more importance to their own vested interests.
 Urbanization and urbanism used as synonymous but, they are different terms.
Urbanization is a process development of urban areas while urbanism is the way
of living of inhabitants urban area. That influenced by not only by sociological
and psychological dimensions but also from educational, technological,
industrial, historic, philosophical, military, legal, political, scientific, and other
dimensions.
1.5 Urban Sociology: Origin and Development as a Branch of Sociology

Urban sociology is a branch of sociology. As sociology itself is of recent origin urban

sociology is much younger than sociology. Urban sociology as a systematic study saw
its development in the 20th century in America. Most of the work on urban sociology
has been carried out in the USA, because by 1920 more Americans lived in cities than
in rural areas.
The rapid process of urbanization that took place from the late 19th century through
the first part of the 20th century has tremendous importance (both symbolic and real)
since it marks the emergence of the USA as an urban nation. ‘Urban sociology’
emerged as an attempt to understand this process, and the consequences that it had for
social life. And at the core of this field was the increasingly prominent and rapidly
growing American city. ” The dominance of the city, especially of the great city’,
wrote Louis Wirth in 1938, ‘may be regarded as a consequence of the concentration in
cities of industrial, commercial, financial, and administrative facilities and activities,
theaters, libraries, museums, concert halls, operas, hospitals, colleges, research and
publishing centers, professional organizations, and religious and welfare institutions.’

For years to come, the city would remain the hub of modern, social, political,
economic and cultural activity; a place regarded by many as the centerpiece of
‘modern civilization.’ Moreover, while another process, sub-urbanization, was well
on its way as early as the 1930s throughout the first-half of this century, the city
remained as the heart and soul of urban life and, as such, it remained the single most
important subject of urban sociology.

In the post-War era, in America, however, the structure of urban life changed.
Political decisions, economic conditions and technological developments—the very
same forces that had combined in an earlier era to produce massive utilization and city
growth—brought about a reversal of fortunes to the ‘great city.’ By the 1970s, major
cities across America were in crisis.
Their once proud and bustling central areas had become economically depressed and
had fallen into disrepair. Unemployment, homelessness, crime, pollution, substandard
housing, inadequate public transportation and infrastructure had become the
trademarks of inner cities and downtown districts throughout the USA. Many of the
activities and functions once associated with the city, had become decentralized. The
suburbs, which up until then had merely been single-function, ‘dormitory’ zones, took
over as economic and cultural destinations. In fact, these suburbs became for all
practical purposes, self-sufficient, multi-purpose cities of their own. The city had
become unessential.
At the same time, the massive growth of the suburbs transformed urban areas into
huge metropolises and beyond—into megalopolises. Changes in lifestyle, the use of
space and politics accompanied this transformation and urban sociology changed with
its subject. Increased attention is now being paid to the new sprawling suburban
communities—rapidly expanding outwardly from the edges of the old city.
Although beaten and bruised, however, cities did not die out. In fact, the saga of the
American city has become one of the most interesting and poignant chapters in the
sociological chronicle of urban America. Its transition from bustling centre of
modernity to a decaying symbol of industrial and economic transformation is only a
part of the story. Eventually, cities would stage a comeback.
But the late 20th century city was a different one, from the one described by Wirth 50
years earlier. The new city, the ‘post-modern city’ as it has been called, was reborn
(and frequently, ‘ re, ‘re-created’) under very different conditions both locally and
globally And it’s new look, as a gentrified, thematized and ‘restored’ enclave of
cultural and social life, is both illustrative of these new conditions and consequential
for the lives of people living inside and outside of it.
Economic, social and cultural changes have taken place in the last few decades. Many
social scientists refer to these changes in the urban landscape as the post-modern or
post-suburb. The proliferation of terms like suburbs and exurbs, metropolis and
megalopolis, technocrat and cyberbia reflects the variety and complexity of urban
environments that now constitutes this field of study.

Many books were written on classification of towns, development of cities, urban

environment, social disorganization in cities demographical trends, community life
and its impact on personality, family, marriage, divorce and so on. Apart from these,
work has also been done on the reforms and development of urban life such as social
welfare, religious, cultural and educational institutions in cities, town planning and
rehabilitation.

All these works were carried out first in the USA. Later studies on urban centres were
carried out in different parts of the world giving wider scope of study to the subject.
Studies were conducted by Lyndssays, Sorokin and Zimmerman and thereby by 1930
urban sociology developed as a specialized field of enquiry within the formal
discipline of sociology.

Urban Sociology as a distinct branch of the sociology discipline emerged around early 20th
century. Even though cities existed even in earlier times too the social changes caused by the

Industrial Revolution and consequent massing of people in the cities attracted social
scientists to make the city the subject matter of study. The focus of urban sociology study in
the beginning was to analyse the impact of urbanisation on the integrity of of the
preexisting forms of social organization. Later On there was significant expansion of the
scope of the discipline.

The origin of Urban Sociology as a distinct branch of the sociology discipline can be
associated with the Chicago School. The 1920s were the greatest years of urban
sociological studies, which were actively centered at Chicago University. In American
sociology, a theoretical base for urban sociology evolved from a series of studies
conducted at the University of Chicago during the 1920s and 1930s. The development
of Urban Sociology owes much to Robert E Park, Louis Wirth, Ernest W Burgess and
R D McKenzie, otherwise known as Chicago School, who were the pioneers of this
subject at Chicago University, Although studies on urban centers or cities developed
as the subject matter of study in Social Science disciplines through the writings of the
Chicago School, the theoretical formulations of social thinkers such as Karl Marx,
Max Weber and Durkheim had focused on cities or

urban centers.
The first department of urban sociology in the U.S.A. was started at University of
Chicago in the year 1892. The department was headed by Albion. W. Small and
scholars such as Charles R. Henderson, W.I. Thomas and George E. Vincent were
part of the department. Early in the 1920s sociologists at Chicago began the
painstaking task of gathering the facts of urban life, guided by theoretical notions
concerning the growth and structure of cities and the nature of human beings and its
institutions.

The birth of urban sociology has a close association with the expansion of Chicago
city. Rapid commercialism and industrialization of the city occurred in later 19th
century. There was the influx of migrants from places like, Europe, France, Sweden,
Germany, Czechoslovakia etc. and the city became more and more complex as it
became multi cultural, multilingual and with unequal distribution of wealth (Fredrick
Cressey 1971 ).
The population of Chicago doubled from 1898 to 1930. This rapid growth was
accompanied by marked changes in the distribution of the city's population. Not
simply did the population expand over a large area but certain sections of the city
grew more rapidly than others. This rapid growth and expansion of the city witnessed
in Chicago and also in other parts of the world became the focus of study of the
Chicago Sociologists. The metropolis, the great urban complex which plays a
dominant role in the social life of its inhabitants and the cultural, political and
economic life of the nations of the world over became the integrating theme of the
Chicago School.
By 1920s the Chicago School found that the natural areas could be significantly
studied in two aspects:
a) The spatial Patterns: This includes the topography of the local community and
the physical arrangement which not only include land space but also the structures
that the people constructed, that sheltered the inhabitants and provided the places of
work and play.
b) The cultural life: The modes of living and customs and standards. The spatial
aspect gave rise to ecological studies, all that could be mapped; the distribution,
physical structures, institutions, groups and
individuals over an area.

The University of Chicago studies emerged from a concern about the social problems
of the city. One of the obvious by-products of mapping the social problems of urban
neighborhoods was the capability of resource management, of being able to direct and
concentrate services where the problems are most intense. Social pathologies, like,
crime and suicide, are invariably concentrated in certain ecological areas.

The Chicago School is a major influence on the study of urban sociology. Despite
having studied cities in the early 20th century, the Chicago School is still recognized
as important. Many of its findings have been refined or rejected, but its lasting impact
can still be found in today’s teachings of urban sociology.

Chapter two
2.1. The urban dimension and world urbanization: Historical review
The births of cities have been traced back from the beginning old stone age. During
this age, human beings led nomadic life. People were primarily food gatherers and
hunters. The limited supply of wild food permitted only very small number of regions
to exist in a given area. With the Neolithic period man discovered, among other
things, how to domesticate plants and animals. This was a remarkable change in
human mode of life. Once he adopted agriculture he had to live near the farm. It is at
this time that settlement began. These villages were initially small due to the low
productivity of agriculture.
The first cities seem to have appeared during the metal age. There is no agreement on
the exact time when early urban settlements emerged. Sociologists are interested more
on the factors which are responsible for the emergence of early urban settlements
rather than in determining the exact time of urban emergence. Different explanations
have been given for the emergence of early urban settlements. For our purpose, we
will consider three approaches
1. Philip M. Hauser
2. Gidion sjoberg
3. Margaret Murray
1. Philip M. Hauser
Philip M. Hauser identified four preconditions for the emergence of urban
settlements
1. the size of the total population
2. the control of natural environment
3. technological development
4. developments in social organization
- There must be a certain minimum number of populations to allow urban life.
- The environment must be amenable in the sense that it meets at least minimal
requirements for aggregative living. The earliest cities were located in river
valleys and alluvial plains.
- Technological development: he argues that a technological invention of the
Neolithic revolution, particularly the domestication of plants and animals was
an important factor for the emergence of permanent settlement. For the
emergence of urban settlements, development of agricultural technology had a
great importance. With the development of agricultural technology, surplus
food productions become possible. The production of agricultural surplus
made it possible for some persons to engage in activities other than
agriculture.
- Development in social organization: a relatively large aggregate of population
required more complex social organization to facilitate exchange among the
emerging specialists(agriculturalists and non-agriculturalists).
Integration and coordination activities required the emergence of kinship systems,
clergy and empires.
With the agricultural revolution, peasantry life become habitual and the reliability of
food supply was ensured. This in turn led to population pressure and the growth of
villages in to urban centers. Social division of labor began to develop. These
developments required complex social organization to facilitate exchange and
relationships among the different specialists.
2. Gideon Sjoberg(urban sociologist) identified three preconditions for the
emergence of cities, which are similar with the conditions proposed by Philip
M.Hauser.
1. favorable ecological base
2. an advanced technology
3. complex social organization
Both scholars mentioned technological development as the criteria for the emergence
and growth of towns. Hence in many cases, level of urbanization is considered as a
proxy for development. But there are many countries that are highly urbanized and yet
not developed. For example Saudi Arabia and Latin American countries that are
highly urbanized even more than USA but they are by far less developed than USA.
Further more, since there is no a uniform definition of urban settlement, level of
urbanization is not the same across different countries for example,30% level of
urbanization in Ethiopia may not be the same with 30% level of urbanization in
Egypt.
3. Margaret Murray: argues that the first city occurred during the metal age. The
introduction of metallurgy had significant consequences. She points that the users
of metal arms had military superiority over the users of crude stone weapons.
Neolithic peasants who do not know how to make weapons from metals were
victims to invaders armed with metal arms. The conquerors become lords and the
victims become serfs. The lords selected islands and hilltops as their settlement
places in order to dominate the hinterland and facilitate both attack and defense.
The warrior groups provided protection to the peasants and in return, they took
part of the crop produced by the peasants. The portion of crops to be given was
fixed by the warrior groups since the peasants were helpless in such matters. It is
postulated that the first cities were permanent army camps (garrisons)
2.2. Distinct Phases of Urbanization
We can identify four phases of urbanization
1. ancient urban settlements
 2. the Greco-roman cities
3. pre industrial cities
4. industrial and modern cities
1. Ancient cities: ancient cities were small by modern standard. They were small
walled areas surrounded by agricultural hinterland. Nenewe, Babylon, erech were
significant cities at their time. But they could not support much population asa the
cities of today. The issue of transport and sanitation these not allow huge
population.earlier cities have to be walled for the purpose of defense.
In his article “the origin and growth of urbanization” Kingsley Davis provides the
following explanation as to why ancient cities were small.
1. The backward, static and labor intensive nature of agriculture and
transportation. Agriculture was so cumbersome that it took many cultivators to
support a man in the city. The technology of transport was also a limiting
factor. The boat, pack animals and the human bearer were all insufficient.
2. Political limitations: the difficulty of communication and transport and the
existence of multi-furious local tribal cultures made the formation of large
national units virtually impossible.
3. Lack of scientific medicine which make urban living deadly.
4. The fixity of the peasants on the land which minimizes rural-urban migration.
5. The absence of large scale manufacturing.
6. The bureaucratic control of the peasantry which stifled free trade in hinterland.
7. The traditionalism and religiosity of all classes which hampered technological
and economic advance.
- Babylon embraced an area of 3.2 square miles
- Ur with its canals, harbors and temples occupied some 220 acrea (≤ 500
persons)
- The walls of erech encompass an area of only two square miles(≤ 25,000
persons)
Agglomeration of people in ancient urban centers made it possible the
development of urban culture focusing on manufacturing and services and resulted
in a more elaborated social division of labor. Permanent markets were created,
kinship and dynamic political systems appeared. Originally,warior groups were
 selected to serve during times of external conflict. Later,the warriors were retained
even during times of peace.
1. the Greco-Roman cities
The second phase in the history of urban centers was observed in Europe. This
took place approximately between 600BC and 400AD. Roughly it covered about
1000 years. For instance Athens had a population of about 120 to 180 thousand
inhabitants during the 5th century BC.
The economy of greeco-roman cities was agricultural. Yet, major stimulating
factors for the development of urban center were:
1. improvements in iron tools and weapons
2. improvements in sail boats, better and bigger ships were produced
3. Production of cheap coins to facilitate exchange of goods and services. heavy
and perishable exchange materials were replaced by coins.
4. The development of alphabetic writing: pictorial writing systems were
replaced by alphabetic writing and this had facilitated communication.
5. Emergence of more democratic institutions.
All of the above factors helped to increase production, stimulate trade, expand
effective political unit and political control. In spite of the fact that greeco-roman
cities had several; thousands of population, they were conquered by the less urbanized
outsiders (barbarians or Germans). The collapse of greeco-roman cities brought about
the period commonly known as “the dark age” witch extended from 5 th to 10th century.
The disintegration of Roman Empire led to the birth of feudalism in Western Europe
and the Byzantine empire in the eastern half of Europe. During the Dark Age local
communities become isolated, national states died, and trade and commerce
collapsed.
2. pre industrial cities
With the end of the dark ages, cities began to develop once again. Preindustrial
cities refer to medieval European cities; they were simply cities of feudal Europe.
Many of these cities are now quite large and become metropolitan centers. For
instance
Florence had 90,000 populations in 1339
Venuce had 119,000 populations in 1322
London had 30,000 populations in 1377
Frankfurt had 20,000 populations in 1440
Gideon sjoberg, in his article “the preindustrial city” analyzed medieval cities in terms
of their
1. ecological organization
2. economic organization
3. social organization
1. Ecological organization: preindustrial cities were centers of marketing,
Manufacturing activities. In addition they perform religious, political and
educational functions. The proportion of urbanites relatives to peasants was small
most not more than 10%. This is due to the non industrial nature of the total social
order. The amount of surplus food has been limited by the unmechanized
agriculture, transportation facilities utilizing primarily human or animal power and
inefficient methods of food preservation and storage. The internal arrangements of
cities was that they were divided into quarters or wards encircled by walls
reflecting sharp social divisions.
Distinct ethnic and occupational groups like gold smiths, live in special sections.
This social segregation and the limited transportation facility have encouraged the
development of well defined neighborhoods which are almost primary groups.
Out casted groups live on the periphery.
Most streets of the cities were narrow there was no need to have wised streets.
Carts were used as a means of transport. Buildings were short and crowded
together, high rising buildings were not known. There was no such urban planning
practice.
There is no functional specialization of land use. Dwellings serve as workshops.
Mosques and cathedrals were schools, market places and focal points of
community life.
2. economic organization
Sjoberg identifies some of the major economic structures of the preindustrial cities:
a. dependence on animate source of energy for the production of goods and
services(hammers, pulleys, wheel)
b. Little specialization of work: the handicrafts man participates in nearby every
phase of the manufacture of an article, often carrying out the work in his own
home or in a nearby small shop. He works with in the limits of certain guild or
community regulations maintaining direct control over conditions of work and
methods of production.
 There are no specialized managerial groups and control others.
c. Non standardization of products: there is no standard method of production,
standardized measure of quality and quantity of goods and standard price.
d. Work is performed at home or in the near by shop. Work place and residential
places are not separated.
e. Occupational groups such as smiths are organized in guilds. Guilds have been
established for all types of economic activities like merchants, handicraft
workers, servants, entertainers, etc.
3. Social organization: the literate elite class is composed of individuals holding
positions in the governmental, religious and/or educational institutions. They
belong to the “correct” families and enjoy power, property and certain highly
valued personal attributes. Their position is legitimized by sacred writings. The
masses are composed of such groups as handicraft workers.
Social mobility is minimal and outcaste groups such as slaves and beggars are not
an integral part of the dominant social system. They rank lower than the urban
lower classes performing tasks considered degrading.
The formal government was closely related with educational and religious
institutions. The principal functions of the government were a) extracting tribute
to support the activities of the elite group b) maintaining law and order. Formal
education was restricted to the male elite, its purpose being to train individuals for
positions in the governmental, educational or religious hierarchies.
The kinship and familial organization displays some rigid patterns of sex and age
differentiation marriage is a prerequisite to adult status and arranged between families
rather than somatically by individuals. A formalized system of age grading is an
effective mechanism of social control among siblings the eldest son is o privileged.
Children and youth are subordination to parents and other adducts. This combined
with early marriage inhibits the development of a youth culture. Older persons hold
considerable power and prestige, which contributed to the slow pace of change.
4. Modern cities
Industrial city and Metropolitan Area with the coming of industrialization new means
of transportation were introduced. The horse is replaced by the vehicle the walls
around cities were no more important. New arms and defense instrument were
fabricated. The industrial revolution was the outcome of new technology facilitated by
extensive use of inanimate power (coal, steam, etc).
The advancing production technology and the development of the factors system
created rising demands for waged labors. This led to massive immigration of people
to the growing urban centers. Improvement in agricultural technology also forced
people to migrate from the rissole areas to urban center looking for employment.
The process of urbanization took further leap during the 20th century particularly
following the Second World War. The period experienced increasing size of urban
centers (metropolitan Zion) and emergence of new urban centers.
Metropolises are a situation where a major city center becomes surrounded by a
complex of suburban communities densely populated and economically integrated.
Conurbation: implies the fusion of several pre-existing cities
Megalopolis: Urbanized region that contains several metropolitan areas.
2.3. Functional classification cities
Cities are settlements where a number of activities are done. In this sense all cities are
multifunctional whatever they are small. It is possible to categorize urban centers
based on the major activities they carry out.
Economic centers
Political centers
Cultural centers
Residential centers
Recreation centers
Symbolic center
Diversified centers
1. Economic Centers
a) Centers of primary production mining, oiling, fishing towns like ziway., Arba
Minch
b) Manufacturing centers kality, Wonji, Akaki,
c) Trade centers national or interactional trade centers like
d) Transport centers ports and train centers
e) Service centers financial service like banking insurance
2. Political centers: political iterative centers a
t international nations and regional levels e.g. Washington DC, London, Paris<
Geneva , Addis Ababa , Bahirdar, Awassa etc.
Most of Ethiopian centers are of political nature. Their major function performed is
administration at woreda, zone, region and federal levels. Under political centers we
have military centers including fortress bases and training centers. Eg. Debrezeit,
Jigjiga
3. Cultural centers: are towns where the majority of their activities are basically
cultural. Religious cultural centers include cities like Jerusalem, Meka, Lalibela and
Axum. Secular cultural centers are centers of teaching and educational centers. like
Alemaya. Muzium centers where visitors are attracted, and cities where films and
videos are produced are also cultural centers. Eg. Holly wood
4. Recreational enters: towns where recreation facilities attract people. It is difficult
to identify such a center in Ethiopia. It is difficult to identify such a center in Ethiopia.
In more developed countries there are many of them because people spend part of
their time in recreation centers. Transportation facility and income level of the
population determine the existence of such centers.
5. Residential centers: dormitory suburbs, retirement centers where resisdents work
somewhere else.
6. Symbolic centers: towns that are unique symbols of a country. Rome is a symbolic
city of Italy and Bethlehem in Israel is symbolic for christians of the world.
7. Diversified centers: at times it becomes difficult to classify urban centers in to a
specific category due to the absence of one dominant activity. Then we group such
urban centers as diversified centers.