chapter 15 population and urbanization: living on spaceship earth © pine forge press, an imprint of...

Chapter 15Chapter 15Population and Population and Urbanization:Urbanization:

Living on Spaceship Living on Spaceship EarthEarth

© Pine Forge Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc., 2011.


Demography: the study of human populations, including their size, geographic location, movement, concentration, and changing characteristics

Population: can refer to any society, group, or category of people

Below replacement levels: population decrease since there are fewer births than deaths

Population momentum: population increase due to large numbers of births

Urbanization: movement of people to cities

Introductory Terms


Macro-level growth has resulted from:

Human thinking ability, which allowed successful competition for survival of the species

The agricultural revolution led to food surplus and longer life-spans

The industrial revolution led to improved health and sanitation measures, bringing the death rate down

World Population Growth


Predictors of population growth:Dependency ratios: indicate how many people contribute to the labor force and how many depend on others

Youth dependency ratioAged dependency ratio

Sex ratio: indicates the number of women eligible to give birth and the number of potential spousesPopulation pyramids: a visual depiction of sex and dependency ratios



Malthus’s theory of populationHumans are driven to reproduce; if no checks are imposed, the population will increase exponentially, resulting in food shortagePossible checks on population growth: war, disease, food shortage or famineMalthus also suggested delaying marriage and practicing abstinence until one could afford a family (contraception was not yet viable)

Explaining Population Patterns: Theories


Malthus’s theory of populationCritiques of Malthus

Did not anticipate role of capitalism in population dynamics, e.g. encouraging excessive consumption Did not anticipate increased productivity of modern agricultural techniquesSaw abstinence as main way to prevent births; did not recognize the potential for contraception Poverty does not result inevitably from population growth



Malthus’s theory of populationNeo-Malthusians:

Accept much of the theory, but with some modificationsRecognize that individuals’ personal goals are not always consistent with the social goal of managing population growthFavor contraception over “moral restraint”Recognize that much environmental damage is caused by corporate pollution and excessive consumption, not population growth per se



Demographic transition theoryAttempts to explain why economic and social changes alter the population sizeIdentifies three stages of development:

Stage 1: High birth and death rates balance out over time; the pattern for much of human historyStage 2: High birth rates remain but deaths decline due to advances in health, sanitation, food supplyStage 3: Low birth and death rates, low population growth; the pattern in most industrial and post-industrial societies




Demographic transition theory


Demographic transition theoryCritiques:

Fails to consider several factors•Age at marriage•Contraceptive availability•A country’s land and resources •Economic structure, religious beliefs, political

philosophy•Economic expansion

Assumes modernization results in rational choice about family size; instead, small families are due to economic development and urbanization



Demographic transition theoryWealth flow theory: decisions about family size result from two strategies: wealth flow from parents to children and vice versa

When wealth flows from parents to children, family sizes are smallerWhen children are working for their parents, family sizes are larger



Conflict theorySocial and structural factors built into the economic system, not automatic population growth, are the cause of poverty

Capitalist structures result in wealth for capitalists and create overpopulation and poverty for workersSocialist societies can absorb population growth; all can find jobs as the system expands to include them



Policy decisions often rest on whether leaders believe that population growth slows economic development, since economic prosperity is a political goal

Measures to slow population growth: improved sex education, access to contraceptives, and providing education and job opportunities, especially for women

Policy: Population & Economic Development


Meso-level analysis

Key aspects of population changeSize: overall number of peopleComposition: characteristics such as sex ratio, age distribution, religious/ethnic representationDistribution: geographic density or concentration

Demographic processes that affect populationFertility: birth rateMortality: death rateMigration: geographic movement of people

Population Change: Institutional Influences


Factors affecting fertility rates:

Economic factors: the relationship between fertility and poverty or prosperity is complex

GovernmentalPronatalist policies: encourage fertility Antinatalist policies: discourage fertility

Religious and cultural norms

Education (especially for women)

Availability of contraception



Factors affecting fertility rates: women’s education



Factors affecting mortality rates

Life expectancy: the average number of years people live in a particular society

Indicates overall health conditions in a country

National differences in mortality are caused by disease, poor health care, poverty, war and civil strife, draught and famine, malnutrition



Factors affecting migration and mobility

Push-pull model: some people are pushed from their original locations by wars, plagues, famine, political or religious conflicts, economic crises, or other factors, and pulled to new locations by economic opportunities or political and religious tolerance



Types of migration and mobilityInternal migration: movement within a country

Urbanization, or rural to urban migration, is common

Influenced by job and housing opportunities

Internally displaced persons: forcibly relocated within their own countries



Types of migration and mobilityInternational migration: movement from one country to another

Influenced by political unrest, war, famine, natural disasters, economic conditions and opportunitiesHas been tightly controlled in western countries, but immigration is still commonCurbed by restrictive immigration laws in receiving countries, and by economic recessionsRefugees: those who flee in search of refuge from war, political oppression, or religious persecution



Baby boom and baby bust

Changes in the population influence: job prospects

retirement security

career decisions

deviance rates

Micro-Level Population Patterns


The Urbanization ProcessPeople move from rural to urban locations, where they hold mostly non-rural occupations

They undergo a change in lifestyle in the city

Urbanization accompanies:Modernization: transformation from traditional societies to bureaucratized states

Industrialization: transformation from agricultural and hand-made goods to manufacturing industries

Urbanization


Communities are locations that provide residents with:

a place to livea sense of identity and belongingneighbors and friendsactivities and social involvementsaccess to basic necessities like food, jobs, schools, and health care

Urbanization


Tonnies’ two community extremes:

Gemeinschaft: small, traditional communities characterized by families and personal relationships and values

Gesellschaft: large, impersonal urban areas characterized by formal relationships, contracts and a money economy, and isolation

Cities as Micro-Level Living Environments


Durkheim’s two types of social bondsMechanical solidarity: society held together by shared beliefs, values, and traditions, homogeneity of thought; typical of rural areas and simple societies

Legal system emphasizes moral order

Organic solidarity: society held together by an interdependence among people with a specialized division of labor; common in complex societies

Legal system emphasizes making amends for wrongdoing



Rural lifeDominant for much of human history

Rural areas: fewer than 1,000 people per square mile

21% of the U.S. population lived in a rural area in the year 2000

Rural sociology: the study of social life in non-metropolitan areas



Life in the city

Urban residential patternsNeighborhoods: identifiable areas within the larger metropolitan area

• Meet most needs of residents: food, schools, religions

• Residents are homogenous with respect to income, interests, ethnicity or race, etc.

• High degree of social interaction among residents• Symbolic commitment, feeling of belonging

Suburbs: areas immediately adjacent to the city, extending beyond the city limits



Human relationships in citiesSimmel: the stimulation and economic relations of urban life cause city dwellers to be insensitive and avoid intense relations, to protect their privacy

Goffman’s civil inattention: elaborate ways of pretending not to make contact

Wirth: people in high-density, heterogeneous areas develop coping mechanisms, including sophistication and depersonalization

Fischer: urban life strengthens social groups, diversifies subcultures, and encourages intimate social circles among those who share similar activities or traits



Meso-level organizational structuresTheories of urban development:

The Chicago School theory: cities grow in a series of circles, moving out from the center; each circle is dominated by a particular type of activity and residential pattern

• Processes that constantly occur in cities: residential segregation; invasion by a new ethnic, religious, or socioeconomic group; succession by that group

Conflict theories: urban space is socially defined and scarce, causing conflict over its allocation; cities are dominated by elites who create poverty and exploitation of the poor; urbanization and modernization are a cause of poverty

How Did Cities Evolve?


Types of citiesIndustrial cities: primarily commercial centers motivated by competition; developed around factories, transport and communication systems

Postindustrial cities: center on service sector, not manufacturing; closely tied to global capitalism and instant information exchange

Urbanized nations: countries in which more than half of the population live in urban areas



Types of cities“New towns”: cities built from scratch by urban planners as economically self‑sufficient entities with all necessary amenities

Gentrification: low income areas that see increases in income and housing prices, often due to middle and upper class people buying and renovating rundown properties

Conflict theorists point out that the poor are displaced and excluded

Megacities: cities with over 10 million people

Megalopoplis: area where two cities merge along a major transportation corridor



Global urban variations:Indigenous cities: traditional cities that usually predate European ones; centers include a bazaar and religious and government buildings

Dual cities: modern, westernized "colonial" central cities located next to a traditional, indigenous cities



Macro-level perspectivesRural migrants and overcrowding (shantytowns)Environment, infrastructure, and urban ecosystemsPoverty in the world’s cities

Permanent underclass: the global poor who lack education and skills to join local and world economyFeminization of poverty: increase of women and their children in the ranks of the impoverished

Crime and delinquency in the city

Urban Problems, Environment, and Policy


Urban planners & social policy: global trendsUrbanization will continue

Information & transport technology will increase contact and reduce commitment to specific areas

International boundaries will diminish in importance

Economies will rely on brain, not brawn, which will continue to increase inequality

Conflicts between cultural and political groups will continue to affect urban life

McDonaldization, or creation of consumer worlds dominated by Western food, music, fashion, and entertainment, will continue

Urban Problems, Environment, and Policy

chapter 15 population and urbanization: living on spaceship earth © pine forge press, an imprint of...

Documents

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theories pine forge

population dynamics

characteristics population

macrolevel growth

movement of people

food surplus

food shortagepossible