Urban_theory_I
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Cities most complex social systems • bringing vast numbers of people together, • creating social structures and institutions that link vast numbers of people to one another in some vaguely orderly way, • creating elaborate physical infrastructure, both largescale and small-scale • extensive modifications of the physical environment, • in doing each of these things, cities create clear cultural consciousness of specific place and identity (and historical past) • AND, in bringing all this together, cities do so in an enduring fashion, lasting centuries sometimes millenia
How to think about cities? • As specific places • As general social phenomena
• As general social phenomena
• • • •
origins typologies developmental trajectories roles/linkages vis-à-vis society, other places • character of urbanism as way of life
The Urban Revolution British archaeologist, V. Gordon Childe Attempting to explain the emergence of cities in the ancient Middle East And the social/cultural trends that cities therefore embodied
The Urban Revolution Cities • State organization • Social hierarchy • Extraction of surplus • Full-time specialization of labor • Writing and mathematics • Monumental architecture
Tombs (kofun) Types of tombs from c. 3rd – 5th Centuries
Tombs (kofun)
5th century tomb of Emperor Nintoku, in Sakai (near Osaka)
Diffusion of urban idea T’ang dynasty of China (618-907 A.D.) provided model for Japanese imperial capitals (and model for notions of how a complex state should be organized)
diffusion or adaptation of Chinese social, cultural, political, technological patterns
Diffusion of urban idea Diffusion of pattern, rather than underlying similarities of development or process Not an “urban revolution” in Childe’s sense, but elements of what makes a city possible are still apropos
Diffusion of urban idea Took a few attempts in Japan to get it right. Series of Chinese style capitals • Asuka • Fujiwarakyo • Nara • Heiankyo (present-day Kyoto)
Chang-an, capital of the T’ang dynasty T’ang dynasty 618-907 A.D.
Chang-an Imperial capital Cosmological significance of urban plan Social/political structuring of capital around institutions of state, as well as cosmological significance of Imperial court
Early Japanese cities
Plan of Fujiwarakyo (near present day Kyoto)
Early Japanese cities
Plan of Heiankyo (the present day Kyoto)
Early Japanese cities
Tourist map of present day Kyoto)
Compare Heiankyo
. . . with Edo
1747 French map of Edo,
by the mapmaker Bellin
Chinese Imperial cities vs. Japanese castle towns Gap of several hundred years – virtually no cities to speak of
Diffused ideas of Chinese cities perhaps more elaborate than the social/political institutions of Japan at the time Castletowns, like Edo, emerged from domestic trends, not imported ideas of urbanism
Chinese Imperial cities vs. Japanese castle towns Major differences in layout, functions, social structures of the kinds of cities Yet, a few continuities as well . . .
The Pre-industrial City Gideon Sjoberg (American historical sociologist, comparative urban studies) Theorizing common characteristics of preindustrial cities throughout the world
The Pre-industrial City Most obvious factor is that they are not industrial . . . Lack of energy or mechanical infrastructure other than natural power (human, animal, wind, and water)
The Pre-industrial City Social/political/cultural factors: Rigid social stratification Geographic segregation by class and occupation Ritual (religious/political) significance of city Economic activity subordinated to political structure Importance of kinship and other traditional ascribed statuses for governing social participation
The Pre-industrial City In many respects, Sjoberg’s criteria for defining a preindustrial city parallel the kinds of criteria that Childe outlines for understanding the Urban Revolution Childe concerned with origins of cities Sjoberg concerned with modernization and its relationship to urban life
Central Place Theory or Regional Analysis G. William Skinner – studies of cities (and central places) in Chinese civilization • • •
economic logic to the placement of settlements and the creation of nested hierarchies of “central places” density of demand for particular products and the “friction of distance” create spatial hierarchies on top of which a variety of demographic, political, social, religious, and other institutions are created
Central Place Theory or Regional Analysis
Abstract rendering
Central Place Theory or Regional Analysis
Skinner’s mapping of central places in Szechuan
Central Place Theory or Regional Analysis
Abstract rendering
Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft Ferdinand Tönnies – German sociologist – among the first to theorize the difference in the character of social life of urban places vs. non-urban places, in context of massive social change in 19th century Europe • Gemeinschaft -- “Community of Fate” • • Gesellschaft -- “Association” •
Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft Gemeinschaft -- “Community of Fate” • • • • • • • •
Ascribed status Traditional authority structures Religious/ideological basis for authority and status quo Multiple stranded social relations Diffuse, affective social ties High personalistic social relationships Social solidarity based on affiliation with primary groups Individuals subordinated to social organizations
Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft Gesellschaft -- “Association” • • • • • •
Social relationships are single-stranded Achieved statuses supersede ascribed statuses Relationships are specific, utilitarian, instrumental Contractual social order Market relations determine social order to greater extent Diminished importance of religious/moral order as determinant of social order • Multiple secondary associations/groups more important than primary groups
Organic vs. Mechanical Solidarity Emile Durkheim (French sociologist) In similar vein, theorizing distinctions between the ways in which society is held together Mechanical solidarity – solidarity through shared roles Organic solidarity – through complementary roles and the social structures that coordinate them
Urban Mentalities Georg Simmel – German philosopher Theorized the urban condition as nervous stimulation, created by the accelerating effects of capital on time and relationship
Urban life is marked by transactions not relationships – quick, fleeting, possibly cynical
Urbanism as a Way of Life Louis Wirth (American sociologist) – classic 1938 article (on JSTOR as reading assignment) Synthesized views of Tonnies, Durkheim, Simmel, and his own research in Chicago To create the classic sociological statement of urban anonymity (perhaps alienation) as inherent aspects of urbanism
Urbanism as a Way of Life Sociologists approached this problem from the perspective of 19th century transition from agrarian to industrial societies Industrial revolution Migration How did new urban environments affect social ties
Urbanism as a Way of Life Anthropologists approached this question from the starting point of small-scale isolated societies How did cities reflect (or not reflect) similar cultural and social patterns How could one understand cities, villages, etc. as being part of a single culture, if they are so different?
Folk Urban Continuum Wirth and Robert Redfield (American anthropologist) collaborated on creating a theoretical model, basically paralleling Tonnies on the differences between cities and non-cities as cultural spaces in a given society
Great Tradition vs. Little Tradition Redfield proposed that civilizations operate simultaneously on multiple levels, that both interact and maintain separate trends Great Tradition – elite culture – urban, urbane, sophisticated, systematic, selfconscious of itself as enduring body of knowledge, perspective, etc.
Great Tradition vs. Little Tradition Little Tradition – informal, folk, word-ofmouth, does not attempt to create overarching synthesis of integrated knowledge, relatively unself-conscious of itself as enduring phenomenon
The Cultural Role of Cities Redfield and Singer article (in sourcebook) Theorizing the culture of cities vis-à-vis their positions in world systems as well as their positions vis-à-vis their own civilizations
Heterogenetic cities Orthogenetic cities
The Cultural Role of Cities Heterogenetic cities – cities that link to the wider world, bring in new ideas, generate new kinds of activities, perspectives, technologies, heterogeneous populations Orthogenetic cities – cities that crystallize a civilization, serve as a defender and formulator of traditional knowledge, conservative, focused more on itself than on outer world.
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