Thursday, July 8, 2010

TYPES AND FORMATS OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP

DEPARTMNENT OF URBAN AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING

AR–203: URBAN SOCIOLOGY

By



RAVINDAR KUMAR
Assistant Professor
Department of Architecture and Planning
NED University of Engineering and Technology
Karachi
2010

LECTURE # 04:
TOPIC: TYPES AND FORMATS OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP


INTRODUCTION:
In social science, a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two, three or more individuals (e.g. a social group). Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the social structure. To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for social scientists. Fundamental enquiries into the nature of social relations are to be found in the work of the classical sociologists, for instance, in Max Weber's theory of social action. Further categories must be established in the abstract in order to form observations and conduct social research, such as Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft i.e. Community and Society") or "collective consciousness". Disputes over the conduct of investigating social interaction relate to the core debates in sociology and the other social sciences: positivism (quantitative research) against antipositivism (qualitative research), structure against agency, structural functionalism against conflict theory, as well as the philosophy of social science itself.

FORMS OF SOCIAL RELATIONS AND INTERACTION:
Forms of relation and interaction in sociology and anthropology may be described as follows: first and most basic are animal-like behaviors, i.e. various physical movements of the body. Then there are actions - movements with a meaning and purpose. Then there are social behaviors, or social actions, which address (directly or indirectly) other people, which solicit a response from another agent. Next are social contacts, a pair of social actions, which form the beginning of social interactions. Social interactions in turn form the basis of social relations.These divisions are illustrated in the table below:


INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS:
An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love and liking, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships take place in a great variety of contexts, such as family, friends, marriage, associates, work, clubs, neighborhoods, and churches. They may be regulated by law, custom, or mutual agreement, and are the basis of social groups and society as a whole.

Although humans are fundamentally social creatures, interpersonal relationships are not always healthy. Examples of unhealthy relationships include abusive relationships and codependence. A relationship is normally viewed as a connection between two individuals, such as a romantic or intimate relationship, or a parent-child relationship. Individuals can also have relationships with groups of people, such as the relation between a pastor and his congregation, an uncle and a family, or a mayor and a town.

Finally, groups or even nations may have relations with each other, though this is a much broader domain than that covered under the topic of interpersonal relationships. See such articles as international relations for more information on associations between groups. Most scholarly work on relationships focuses on romantic partners in pairs or dyads. These intimate relationships are, however, only a small subset of interpersonal relationships.

Interpersonal relationships also can include friendships, such as relationships involving individuals providing relational care to marginalized persons. These relationships usually involve some level of interdependence. People in a relationship tend to influence each other, share their thoughts and feelings, and engage in activities together. Because of this interdependence, most things that change or impact one member of the relationship will have some level of impact on the other member. The study of interpersonal relationships involves several branches of the social sciences, including such disciplines as sociology, psychology, anthropology, and social work.

DEVELOPMENT OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS:
Interpersonal relationships are dynamic systems that change continuously during their existence. Like living organisms, relationships have a beginning, a lifespan, and an end. They tend to grow and improve gradually, as people get to know each other and become closer emotionally, or they gradually deteriorate as people drift apart, move on with their lives and form new relationships with others. There exists a model of relationship development that is applied to every kind of interpersonal relations. According to the model, the natural development of a relationship follows five stages:


Acquaintance – Becoming acquainted depends on previous relationships, physical proximity, first impressions, and a variety of other factors. If two people begin to like each other, continued interactions may lead to the next stage, but acquaintance can continue indefinitely.


Buildup – During this stage, people begin to trust and care about each other. The need for compatibility and such agents as common background and goals will influence whether or not interaction continues.


Continuation – This stage follows a mutual commitment to a long term friendship, romantic relationship, or marriage. It is generally a long, relative stable period. Nevertheless, continued growth and development will occur during this time. Mutual trust is important for sustaining the relationship.


Deterioration – Not all relationships deteriorate, but those that do, tend to show signs of trouble. Boredom, resentment, and dissatisfaction may occur, and individuals may communicate less and avoid self-disclosure. Loss of trust and betrayals may take place as the downward spiral continues.


Termination – The final stage marks the end of the relationship, either by death in the case of a healthy relationship, or by separation.


REFERENCES:
1.The Official Website of Wikipedia From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_relation (Retrieved July 8, 2010).
2. The Official Website of Wikipedia From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_relationship (Retrieved July 8, 2010).

Friday, April 30, 2010

FAMILY, HOUSEHOLD, AND CLAN

DEPARTMNENT OF URBAN AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING



AR–203: URBAN SOCIOLOGY
By
RAVINDAR KUMAR
Assistant Professor
Department of Architecture and Planning
NED University of Engineering and Technology
Karachi
2010

LECTURE # 03
TOPIC: FAMILY, HOUSEHOLD, AND CLAN

INTRODUCTION:
Family denotes "a group of people or animals affiliated by consanguinity, affinity or co-residence". The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out". The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models. The term refers to "all individuals who live in the same dwelling". In economics, a household is a person or a group of people living in the same residence. A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. In the following these concepts shall be further elaborated.

DESCRIPTION OF FAMILY, HOUSEHOLD AND CLAN:
One of the primary functions of the family is to produce and reproduce persons—biologically and socially.Thus, one's experience of one's family shifts over time. From the perspective of children, the family is a family of orientation. From the point of view of the parents, the family is a family of procreation, the goal of which is to produce and enculturate and socialize children. However, producing children is not the only function of the family; in societies with a division of labor the resulting relationship between two people, is necessary for the formation of an economically productive household.

A conjugal family includes only the husband, the wife, and unmarried children who are not of age. The most common form of this family is regularly referred to in sociology as a nuclear family.

A consanguineal family consists of a parent and his or her children, and other people.

A matrilocal family consists of a mother and her children. Generally, these children are her biological offspring, although adoption of children is a practice in nearly every society. This kind of family is common where women have the resources to rear their children by themselves, or where men are more mobile than women.

KINSHIP TERMS:
Members of the nuclear family use descriptive kinship terms such as:
Mother: a female parent
Father: a male parent
Son: a male child of the parent(s)
Daughter: a female child of the parent(s)
Brother: a male child of the same parent(s)
Sister: a female child of the same parent(s)
Grandfather: father of a father or mother
Grandmother: mother of a mother or father
Cousin: two people that share the same Grandparent(s)
Granddaughter: a child's daughter
Grandson: a child's son
Uncle: father's brother, mother's brother, father's/mother's sister's husband
Aunt: father's sister, mother's sister, father's/mother's brother's wife
Nephew: sister's son, brother's son, wife's brother's son, wife's sister's son, husband's brother's son, husband's sister's son
Niece: sister's daughter, brother's daughter, wife's brother's daughter, wife's sister's daughter, husband's brother's daughter, husband's sister's daughter

ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS OF FAMILY:
Anthropologists have often supposed that the family in a traditional society forms the primary economic unit. This economic role has gradually diminished in modern times, and in societies like the United States it has become much smaller — except in certain sectors such as agriculture and in a few upper class families. In China the family as an economic unit still plays a strong role in the countryside. However, the relations between the economic role of the family, its socio-economic mode of production and cultural values remain highly complex.

POLITICAL FUNCTIONS OF FAMILY:
The family structures or its internal relationships may affect both state and religious institutions. For instance in societies where royal families or dynasties rule the country or state the political powers always remained within the royal family members. Other than royal family the rulers are not accepted wholeheartedly by the common people. The royal family's influence always remains untill a society has a revolution that destroys the power of royal families and dynasties. Often marriages takes place for economic or political gain within societies.

SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF FAMILY:
Contemporary society generally views family as a haven from the world, supplying absolute fulfillment. The family is considered to encourage "intimacy, love and trust where individuals may escape the competition of dehumanizing forces in modern society from the rough and tumble industrialized world, and as a place where warmth, tenderness and understanding can be expected from a loving mother, and protection from the world can be expected from the father. To many, the ideal of personal or family fulfillment has replaced protection as the major role of the family. The family now supplies what is “vitally needed but missing from other social arrangements”.

Social conservatives often express concern over a purported decay of the family and see this as a sign of the crumbling of contemporary society. They feel that the family structures of the past were superior to those today and believe that families were more stable and happier at a time when they did not have to contend with problems such as illegitimate children and divorce. Others dispute this theory, claiming “there is no golden age of the family gleaming at us in the far back historical past”. Still others argue that whether or not we view the family as "declining" depends on our definition of "family." The high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births indicate a decline in the institution of the family. No longer are marriages arranged for political or economic gain, and children are not expected to contribute to family income. Instead, people choose mates based on love. This increased role of love indicates a societal shift toward favoring emotional fulfillment and relationships within a family, and this shift necessarily weakens the institution of the family.

FAMILY AND FASCISM:
A very common family model in the western societies, is of the family triangle i.e. husband-wife-children isolated from the outside. Many philosophers and psychiatrists analyzed such a model. In the family, they argue, the young develop in a perverse relationship, wherein they learn to love the same person that beats and oppresses them. The family therefore constitutes the first cell of the fascist society, as they will carry this attitude of love for oppressive figures in their adult life. Kindship and family forms have often been considered as impacting the social relations in the society as a whole, and therefore been described as the first cell or the building social unit of the structure of a society. Some argue the family institution conflicts with human nature and human primitive desires, and that one of its core functions is performing a suppression of instincts, a repression of desire commencing with the earliest age of the child. As the young undergoes physical and psychic repression from someone they develop love for, they develop a loving attitude towards authority figures. They will bring such attitude in their adult life, when they will desire social repression and will form docile subjects for society.


CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND FAMILY:
The Family Equality Council envisions a future where all families, regardless of creation or composition, will be able to live in communities that recognize, respect, protect, and celebrate them. The organization envisions a world that celebrates a diversity of family constellations and respects individuals for supporting one another and sustaining loving families.

FAMILY SIZE:
Natalism is the belief that human reproduction is the basis for individual existence, and therefore promotes having large families. Many religions, e.g., Judaism, encourage their followers to procreate and have many children. In recent times, however, there has been an increasing amount of family planning and a following decrease in total fertility rate in many parts of the world, in part due to concerns of overpopulation. Many countries with population decline offer incentives for people to have large families as a means of national efforts to reverse declining populations. Whereas; in such societies like Chinese has the policy of one child in a family can be viewed as a benifit to whole humanity because the resources of the world are limited and population control is necessary for sustainability.

'HOUSEHOLD' DEFINITIONS AND DESCRIPTION:
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family". The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models. The term refers to all individuals who live in the same dwelling. In economics, a household is a person or a group of people living in the same residence. Most economic models do not address whether the members of a household are a family in the traditional sense. Government and policy discussions often treat the terms household and family as synonymous, especially in western societies where the nuclear family has become the most common family structure. In reality, there is not always a one-to-one relationship between households and families.


For statistical purposes in the United Kingdom, a household is defined as "one person or a group of people who have the accommodation as their only or main residence and for a group, either share at least one meal a day or share the living accommodation, that is, a living room or sitting room". The United States Census definition similarly turns on "separate living quarters", i.e. "those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building". A householder in the U.S. census is the "person (or one of the people) in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented (maintained);" if no person qualifies, any adult resident of a housing unit is a householder.


"A household includes all the persons who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room that is occupied (or if vacant, is intended for occupancy) as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building and which have direct access from the outside of the building or through a common hall. The occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living together, or any other group of related or unrelated persons who share living arrangements. (People not living in households are classified as living in group quarters.)"

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE OF HOUSEHOLD:

Most economic theories assume there is only one income stream to a household; this a useful simplification for modeling, but does not necessarily reflect reality. Many households now include multiple income-earning members.


SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE OF HOUSEHOLD:
In Social Work the household is a residential grouping defined similarly to the above in which housework is divided and performed by householders. Care may be delivered by one householder to another, depending upon their respective needs, abilities, and perhaps disabilities. Different household compositions may lead to differential life & health expectations & outcomes for household members. Eligibility for certain community services and welfare benefits may depend upon household composition.

In Sociology 'household work strategy', a term coined by Ray Pahl, is the division of labour between members of a household, whether implicit or the result of explicit decision–making, with the alternatives weighed up in a simplified type of cost-benefit analysis. It is a plan for the relative deployment of household members' time between the three domains of employment:


i) In the market economy, including home-based self-employment second jobs, in order to obtain money to buy goods and services in the market;


ii) Domestic production work, such as cultivating a vegetable patch or raising chickens, purely to supply food to the household; and


iii) Domestic consumption work to provide goods and services directly within the household, such as cooking meals, child–care, household repairs, or the manufacture of clothes and gifts.


Household work strategies may vary over the life-cycle, as household members age, or with the economic environment; they may be imposed by one person or be decided collectively.

HOUSEHOLD MODELS:
It include the family and varieties of blended families, share housing, and group homes for people with support needs. Other models of living situations which may meet definitions of a household include boarding houses, a house in multiple occupation (UK), and a single room occupancy (US). In feudal or aristocratic societies, a household may include servants or retainers, whether or not they are explicitly so named. Their roles may blur the line between a family member and an employee. In such cases, they ultimately derive their income from the household's principal income.

'CLAN' DEFINITION AND DETAIL:
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if actual lineage patterns are unknown, clan members may nonetheless recognize a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be merely symbolical in nature, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a symbol of the clan's unity. When this ancestor is not human, it is referred to as an animalian totem. Clans can be most easily described as tribes or sub-groups of tribes. The word clan is derived from 'clann' meaning 'children' in the Irish and Scottish Gaelic languages. The word was taken into English about 1425 as a label for the tribal nature of Irish and Scottish Gaelic society. Clans are located in every country; members may identify with a coat of arms to show they are an independent clan.

ORGANISATION OF CLANS:
Some clans are patrilineal, meaning its members are related through the male line; for example, the clans of Armenia. Others are matrilineal; its members are related through the female line, such as in some Native American clans. Still other clans are bilateral, consisting of all the descendants of the apical ancestor through both the male and female lines; the Irish and Scottish clans are examples. Whether a clan is patrilineal, matrilineal, or bilateral depends on the kinship rules and norms of their society.



In different cultures and situations, a clan may mean the same thing as other kin-based groups, such as tribes and bands. Often, the distinguishing factor is that a clan is a smaller part of a larger society such as a tribe, a chiefdom, or a state. Examples include Scottish, Irish, Chinese, Japanese clans and Rajput clans in India and Pakistan, which exist as kin groups within their respective nations. Apart from these different traditions of kinship, further conceptual confusion arises from colloquial usages of the term.
 
In post-Soviet countries, for example, it is quite common to speak of clans in reference to informal networks within the economic and political sphere. This usage reflects the assumption that their members act towards each other in a particularly close and mutually supportive way approximating the solidarity among kinsmen. Polish clans differ from most others as they are a collection of families who bear the same coat of arms, as opposed to claiming a common descent. Clans in indigenous societies are likely to be exogamous, meaning that their members cannot marry one another. In some societies, clans may have an official leader such as a chieftain or patriarch; in others, leadership positions may have to be achieved, or people may say that 'elders' make decisions.


COUNTRY WISE CLANS INCLUDE:
Arab Tribes, Armenian clans, Chechen clans, Chinese clan with family name and consort clans, Chinese (Hong Kong) five Great Han Chinese Punti clans: Tang, Hau, Pang, Man, Liu, Germanic clans, Indian subcontinent: Gakhar clans, Gujjar clans, Jat clans, List of Khatri clans: Khatri clans, Maratha clans, Mukkulathor clan, Vellalar clan, Rajput clans, Tarkhan clans, Yadav clan, Iranian clans, Irish clans and septs, Israelites, Japanese clans, Korean clans and names, Manchu clans and names, Norse clans, Polish clans, Scottish clans, Armigerous clan, Scottish clan chief, Serb clans, Somali clans, Turkish clans.
 
REFERENCES:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family (retrieved 11/01/2010)
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household (retrieved 11/01/2010)
3. Haviland, W.A. (2003) Anthropology Wadsworth: Belmont, CA
4. Sullivan, arthur; Steven M. Sheffrin (2003). Economics: Principles in action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 29 ISBN 0-13-063085-3
5.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan (retrieved 11/01/2010)

URBAN AND RURAL

DEPARTMNENT OF URBAN AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING

AR–203: URBAN SOCIOLOGY

By

RAVINDAR KUMAR
Assistant Professor
Department of Architecture and Planning
NED University of Engineering and Technology
Karachi
2010


LECTURE # 02
TOPIC: URBAN AND RURAL

INTRODUCTION:
Urban means "related to cities". AN URBAN AREA is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets. Rural areas referred to as "the country sides" are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low population density. Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization. Measuring the extent of an urban area helps in analyzing population density and urban sprawl, and in determining urban and rural populations. Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but also satellite cities plus intervening rural land that is socio-economically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting, with the urban core city being the primary labor market. In fact, urbanized areas agglomerate and grow as the core population/economic activity center within a larger metropolitan area or envelope. Metropolitan areas tend to be defined using counties or county sized political units as building blocks. Counties tend to be stable political boundaries; economists prefer to work with economic and social statistics based on metropolitan areas. Urbanized areas are a more relevant statistic for determining per capita land usage and densities.

DEFINITIONS OF URBAN AREAS:
The definitions of urban areas vary somewhat amongst different nations. European countries define urbanized areas on the basis of urban-type land use, not allowing any gaps of typically more than 200 meters, and use satellite photos instead of census blocks to determine the boundaries of the urban area. In less developed countries, in addition to land use and density requirements, a requirement that a large majority of the population, typically 75%, is not engaged in agriculture and/or fishing is sometimes used. Similarly; population number and characteristics are also used to define an urban area.

Australia:
In Australia, urban areas are referred to as "urban centres" and are defined as population clusters of 1000 or more people, with a density of 200 or more persons per square kilometre.

Canada:
In Canada, an urban area is an area that has more than 400 people per square kilometre and has more than 1,000 people. If two or more urban areas are within two kilometres of each other, they are merged into a single urban area. The boundaries of an urban area are not influenced by municipal or even provincial boundaries.


China:
In China, an urban area is an urban district, city and town with a population density higher than 1,500 persons per square kilometre. As for urban districts with a population density lower than 1,500 persons per square kilometre, only the population that lives in streets, town sites, and adjacent villages is counted as urban population.

France:
In France, an urban area is a zone encompassing an area of built-up growth (called an "urban unit" and its commuter belt. 

Japan:
In Japan urbanized areas are defined as contiguous areas of densely inhabited districts (DIDs) using census enumeration districts as units with a density requirement of 4,000 inhabitants per square kilometre (10,000 /sq mi).

New Zealand:
Statistics New Zealand defines New Zealand urban areas for statistical purposes as a settlement with a population of a thousand people or more.

Norway:
Statistics Norway defines urban areas similarly to the other Nordic countries. Unlike in Denmark and Sweden, the distance between each building has to be of less than 50 meters, although exceptions are made due to parks, industrial areas, rivers, and similar. Groups of houses less than 400 metres from the main body of an urban area are included in the urban area.

Poland:
In Poland, official "urban" population figures simply refer to those localities which have the status of towns. The "rural" population is that of all areas outside the boundaries of these towns. This distinction may give a misleading impression in some cases, since some localities with only village status may have acquired larger and denser populations than many smaller towns.

Sweden:
Urban areas in Sweden are statistically defined localities, totally independent of the administrative subdivision of the country. There are 1,940 such localities in Sweden, with a population ranging from 200 to 1,252,000 inhabitants.

England and Wales:
The United Kingdom's Office of National Statistics produced census results from urban areas since 1951, since 1981 based upon the extent of irreversible urban development indicated on Ordnance Survey maps. The definition is an extent of at least 20 hectares and at least 1,500 census residents. Separate areas are linked if less than 200 metres apart. Included are transportation features.

United States:
In the United States there are two categories of urban area. The term urbanized area denotes an urban area of 50,000 or more people. Urban areas under 50,000 people are called urban clusters. Urbanized areas were first delineated in the United States in the 1950 census, while urban clusters were added in the 2000 census. There are 1,371 urban areas and urban clusters with more than 10,000 people. The U.S. Census Bureau defines an urban area as: "Core census block groups or blocks that have a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile (386 per square kilometer) and surrounding census blocks that have an overall density of at least 500 people per square mile (193 per square kilometer)." The largest urban area in the United States is that of New York City, with its city proper population exceeding 8 million and its metropolitan area population almost 19 million. The next four largest urban areas in the U.S. are those of Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and Philadelphia. About 70 percent of the population of the United States lives within the boundaries of urbanized area (210 out of 300 million). Combined, these areas occupy about 2 percent of the United States. The majority of urbanized area residents are suburbanites; core central city residents make up about 30 percent of the urbanized area population (about 60 out of 210 million).


DEFINITIONS OF RURAL AREAS:
Rural areas are large and isolated areas of an open country (in reference to open fields and not forests, etc.), often with low population density. The terms "countryside" and "rural areas" are not synonyms: a "countryside" refers to rural areas that are open. A forest, wetlands, etc. with a low population density is not a countryside. About 91 percent of the rural population now earn salaried incomes, often in urban areas. The 10 percent who still produce resources generate 20 percent of the world’s coal, copper, and oil; 10 percent of its wheat, 20 percent of its meat, and 50 percent of its corn. The efficiency of these farms is due in large part to the commercialization of the farming industry, and not single family operations. Today, 75 percent of the United States' inhabitants live in suburban and urban areas, but cities occupy only 2 percent of the country. Rural areas occupy the remaining 98 percent. United States Census Bureau definitions, which are based on population density, defines rural areas as all territory outside of urbanized areas and urban clusters. Thus, rural areas comprise open country and settlements with fewer than 2,500 residents; areas designated as rural can have population densities as high as 999 per square mile or as low as 1 person per square mile.

URBAN RURAL DIFFERENCES:
In generic terms there are six major differences betwen an urban area and a rural area i.e. Physical Size, Population Density, Social Characterisitcs, Economic Characteristics and Environmental Characteristics.

i.   Physical Size:
The long distances in urban areas are more common as compare to rural areas. In rural areas virtually all activities takes place in close proximity and at walking distance. Whereas; in urban areas vehicular movement is quite evident by people. 

ii.  Population Density:
The density of population in rual areas is mostly very less than urban areas where large concentrations of population are very much visible.

iv. Social Characteristics:
In rural areas mostly homogenous community is eveident as compare to hetrogeneous communities of urban context. Mostly people know each other very well in villages whereas; in urban areas even one's neighbours are strangers to each other. In rural areas there are usually community feling is very strong and a collective moral behaviour is quite evident. However; in urban areas every one is free in his thoughts, actions and moral behaviour.

v.  Economic Characteristics:
Rural people have mostly agricultural based occupations; while people in urban areas are mostly dependent on trade, commerce and industry.

vi. Environmental Characteristics:
In rural areas the natural environment is dominating as copmare to urban areas where man made environment or built environment is quite evident.

CONCLUSION:
The afforementioned description clearly indicates that; what is mant by an urban area and a rural area.


REFERENCES:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban (retrieved 11/01/2010)

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural (retrieved 11/01/2010)
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area (retrieved 11/01/2010)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY OF URBAN SOCIOLOGY

DEPARTMNENT OF URBAN AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING

AR–203: URBAN SOCIOLOGY

By

RAVINDAR KUMAR
Assistant Professor
Department of Architecture and Planning
NED University of Engineering and Technology
Karachi
2010

LECTURE # 01
TOPIC: URBAN SOICOLOGY CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY


INTRODUCTION:
The course of urban sociology developed for the students of urban engineering consists following ingredients.


Concepts and Terminology:
Urban and rural; family, household and clan; types and formats of social relationship; urban communities; space and its types (physical, social and economic); social infrastructure; sociology and development; social and psychological characteristics


Urban Communities:
Types and characteristics; communities in relation to built environment; issues related to urban communities; case studies


Issues in Urban sociology:
Population; urbanization; human values; culture, traditions and norms; distribution and utilization pattern of resources, gender and space; social justice


The course contents of urban sociology have three basic themes and twenty topics. The first theme is concepts and terminology. Before going into the details of these concepts and terminology at first let us discuss the subject itself or answer the question; “What is Urban Sociology?”

WHAT IS URBAN SOCIOLOGY?
Urban sociology is the sociological study of social 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 providing inputs for planning and policy making. Like most areas of sociology, urban sociologists use statistical analysis, observation, social theory, interviews, and other methods to study a range of topics, including migration and demographic trends, economics, poverty, race relations, economic trends, and etc.

After the industrial revolution, sociologists such as Max Weber, and particularly George Simmel in works such as The Metropolis and Mental life (1903), focused on the increasing process of urbanization and the effects it had on feelings of Social alienation and anonymity. The Chicago School is a major influence in the study of urban sociology. Many of their findings have been refined or rejected, but the lasting impact of the Chicago School can still be found in today's teachings.[1]

IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS IN URBAN SOCIOLOGY:
The subject of urban sociology at first developed in Europe and then in USA it flourished and many authors and schools contributed literature in this subject. Some of the important literature in this respect is given below:
  1. Jane Jacobs; “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” (1961) New York: Random House ISBN 0-679-60047-7
  2. Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, Roderick D. MacKenzie, Morris Janowitz, "The City": 1925.
  3. Foundational text in American sociology, Chicago school, Urban sociology and Human ecology
    Molotch, Harvey and John Logan, "Urban Fortunes: Political Economy of Place", University of California Press: 1988.
CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY:
The subject of urban sociology consists various terms and concepts which need to be understood by urban engineers. Some of these concepts and terminology is given hereunder.

URBAN means "related to cities".[2] AN URBAN AREA is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.
RURAL AREAS referred to as "the country sides" are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low population density.[3]
FAMILY denotes a group of people or animals (many species form the equivalent of a human family wherein the adults care for the young) affiliated by consanguinity, affinity or co-residence.[4]
HOUSEHOLD:[5]
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family".[6] The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models. The term refers to all individuals who live in the same dwelling. In economics, a household is a person or a group of people living in the same residence.[7]

CLAN[8]:
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if actual lineage patterns are unknown, clan members may nonetheless recognize a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be merely symbolical in nature, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a symbol of the clan's unity. Clans can be most easily described as tribes or sub-groups of tribes. The word clan is derived from 'clann' meaning 'children'.

SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS[9]:
In social science, a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two (i.e. a dyad), three (i.e. a triad) or more individuals (e.g. a social group). Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the social structure. To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for social scientists.

TYPES AND FORMATS OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS[10]:
Forms of relation and interaction in sociology and anthropology may be described as follows: first and most basic are animal-like behaviors, i.e. various physical movements of the body. Then there are actions - movements with a meaning and purpose. Then there are social behaviors, or social actions, which address (directly or indirectly) other people, which solicit a response from another agent. Next are social contacts, a pair of social actions, which form the beginning of social interactions. Social interactions in turn form the basis of social relations.

SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS:
The term “Social”
[11] refers to a characteristic of living organisms and the interaction of organisms with other organisms and to their collective co-existence, irrespective of whether they are aware of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary.

The term "Social" is also used for many different senses such as attitudes, orientations, or behaviours which take the interests, intentions, or needs of other people into account.
Sociology[12] is the study of human societies. Its traditional focuses have included social stratification (i.e. class relations), religion, secularization, modernity, culture and deviance. The phrase social characteristics may be interpreted in terms of social classes in a society.

Social Classes[13] are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups.
''Social Characteristics''[14] are the characteristics of the type of person you are in society. For example:


Upper Class - lots of money, big house, high paying job, well off, can have lots of luxury’s, act posh etc.

Middle Class - reasonably fine with finance, can provide for your family, average job etc.

Lower Class - very little money, living in poor housing such as flats, unskilled manual workers, not got a very good life that’s just an example with the class spectrum; social characteristics can fit in with all social aspects of life.

THE SOCIAL CHARACTER;[15] is the central basic concept that describes the formation of the shared character structure of the people of a society or a social class according to their way of life and the socially typical expectations and functional requirements regarding socially adaptive behaviours. Social character is essentially adaptive to the dominant mode of production in a society. While individual character describes the richness of the character structure of an individual, the social character describes the emotional attitudes common to people in a social class or society. The social character is acquired substantially in the family as an agent of the society but also developed in other institutions of society such as schools and workplaces. The function of the social character is to motivate people to accomplish the expected social tasks concerning work and interaction, education and consuming.

URBAN COMMUNITIES[16]; is referred to as a residential community. It is a community, usually a small town or city, which is composed mostly of residents, as opposed to commercial businesses and/or industrial facilities, all three of which are considered to be the three main types of occupants of the typical community. Residential communities are typically communities that help support more commercial or industrial communities with consumers and workers; this phenomenon is probably because some people prefer not to live in an urban or industrial area, but rather a suburban or rural setting. For this reason, they are also called dormitory towns, bedroom communities, or commuter towns. An example of a residential community would include a small town or city located a number of miles outside of a larger city, or a large town or city located near a smaller, yet more commercially- or industrially-centered, town or city.

SPACE[17]; is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. It is a term that has various meanings and interpretations in different contexts.

PHYSICAL SPACE[18]; is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of the boundless four-dimensional continuum known as space time. In mathematics one examines 'spaces' with different numbers of dimensions and with different underlying structures. The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding of the physical universe although disagreement continues between philosophers over whether it is itself an entity, a relationship between entities, or part of a conceptual framework.

PERSONAL SPACE[19]; is the region surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically theirs. Invasion of personal space often leads to discomfort, anger, or anxiety on the part of the victim.

EXTRAPERSONAL SPACE[20]: The space that occurs outside the reach of an individual.


PERIPERSONAL SPACE[21]: The space within reach of any limb of an individual. Thus to be 'within-arm's length' is to be within one's peripersonal space.

PERICUTANEOUS SPACE[22]: The space just outside our bodies but which might be near to touching it. Visual-tactile perceptive fields overlap in processing this space so that, for example, an individual might see a feather as not touching their skin but still feel the inklings of being tickled when it hovers just above their hand.

SOCIAL SPACE[23]; is the combined use and perception of space by distinct social groups, as opposed to personal space. Social space provides an environmental framework for the behaviours of the group; it is culturally complex, flexible, multiply configured, networked, and reflexive.

A PUBLIC SPACE[24]; refers to an area or place that is open and accessible to all citizens, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. The earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants discriminated based on background. Non-government-owned malls are examples of 'private space' with the appearance of being 'public space'.

'SEMI-PUBLIC' SPACES[25]: A broader meaning of public space or place includes also places where everybody can come if they pay, like a café, train, movie theater etc. A shop is an example of what is intermediate between the two meanings: everybody can enter and look around without obligation to buy, but activities unrelated to the purpose of the shop are not unlimitedly permitted. The halls and streets (including skyways) in a shopping center may be declared a public place and may be open when the shops are closed. Similarly for halls, railway platforms and waiting rooms of public transport; sometimes a travelling ticket is required. A public library is a public place. A rest stop or truck stop is a public space. For these semi-public spaces stricter rules may apply than outside, e.g. regarding dress code, trading, begging, advertising, propaganda, riding roller-skates, skateboards, a Segway, etc.

ECONOMIC SPACE; is generally perceived as a space for economic activities which may well be understood in the concept of public and semi public spaces. The economic space may be referred to as the space where transaction takes place whether these are real or shadow transactions. In this way the concept of market also coincides with economic space. “A market is any one of a variety of different systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby person’s trade, and goods and services are exchanged, forming part of the economy.”[26] In order to further understand the phrase economic space the concept of urban economics and socioeconomics may also be understood.

URBAN ECONOMICS[27]; is broadly the economic study of urban areas. As such, it involves using the tools of economics to analyze urban issues such as crime, education, public transit, housing, and local government finance. More narrowly, it is a branch of microeconomics that studies urban spatial structure and the location of households and firms.

SOCIOECONOMICS OR SOCIO-ECONOMICS[28]; is the study of the relationship between economic activity and social life. The field is often considered multidisciplinary, using theories and methods from sociology, economics, history, psychology, and many others. It has emerged as a separate field of study in the late twentieth century. In many cases, however, socioeconomics focus on the social impact of some sort of economic change. Such changes might include a closing factory, market manipulation, the signing of international trade treaties, new natural gas regulation, etc. Such social effects can be wide-ranging in size, anywhere from local effects on a small community to changes to an entire society.

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE[29]; is a system of social services, networks and facilities that support people and communities. It includes housing, educational, recreational and law and order facilities that support the community's need for social interaction.

COMMUNITY/SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE[30]; are those community agencies/services/facilities and other social support measures in a community that are deemed to be necessary for the adequate functioning of that community, which contribute to its overall sustainability and the ultimate well-being of its residents. Whilst there are many components of such infrastructure, some of the community agencies that have a key role in providing information about or referrals to various other services in their communities are community - neighbourhood centers.

SOCIOLOGY[31]; is the study of human societies. It is a social science (with which it is informally synonymous) that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge and theory about human social activity, often with the goal of applying such knowledge to the pursuit of social welfare. Subject matter ranges from the micro level of agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and social structures.

DEVELOPMENT[32]; means an act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining. Development, also mean evolution i.e. a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage especially a more advanced or mature stage. Development also denotes growth and exploitation i.e. the act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful.

PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS[33]:

Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. Psychologists study such phenomena as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, motivation, personality, behaviour and interpersonal relationships. Psychological knowledge is applied to various spheres of human activity including the family, education, employment etc.

Community psychology deals with the relationships of the individual to communities and the wider society. Community psychologists seek to understand the quality of life of individuals, communities, and society.

Social psychology is the study of social behavior and mental processes, with an emphasis on how humans think about each other and how they relate to each other. Social psychologists are especially interested in how people react to social situations. They study such topics as the influence of others on an individual's behavior and the formation of beliefs, attitudes, and stereotypes about other people. Social psychology try to understand how people process, remember, and distort social information.

TYPES OF COMMUNITIES:
A Community is a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment. In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness. Traditionally a "community" has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location. A group that is organized around common values and social cohesion within a shared geographical location the word can also refer to the national community or global community.
[34] Sense of community is a concept in Community psychology and social psychology, as well as in several other research disciplines, such as urban sociology, which focuses on the experience of community rather than its structure, formation, setting, or other features. Sociologists, social psychologists, and others have theorized about community, and ask questions about the individual's perception, understanding, attitudes, feelings, etc. about community and his or her relationship to it and to others' participation.[35] There are several types of communities exist both in the face-to-face world of neighborhoods, clubs and associations of human beings and the virtual world of Internet communities.[36]

BUILT ENVIRONMENT[37]:
The phrase built environment refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from personal shelter to neighborhoods to the large-scale civic surroundings. The term is widely used to describe the interdisciplinary field of study which addresses the design, construction, management and use of these man-made surroundings and their relationship to the human activities which take place within them over time. In architecture and environmental psychology, the phrase is very useful because majority of the urban environment already exists, and only small fraction of buildings constructed annually by architects, urban planners, traffic engineers, zoning authorities, interior designers, industrial designers, and urban engineers etc. In landscape architecture, the built environment is identified as man-made landscapes as opposed to the natural environment. In urban planning, the phrase connotes the idea that a large percentage of the human environment is manmade, and these artificial surroundings are so extensive and cohesive that they function as organisms in the consumption of resources, disposal of wastes, and facilitation of productive enterprise within its bounds.

POPULATION:
A population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species. In sociology, it is a collection of human beings. As of 16 January 2010, the world population is estimated by the United States Census Bureau to be 6.797 billion.
[38] Demography is the statistical study of all populations. It encompasses the study of the size, structure and distribution of populations, and spatial and/or temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, aging and death. Demographic analysis can be applied to whole societies or to groups defined by criteria such as education, nationality, religion and ethnicity. Population studies also analyze the relationships between economic, social, cultural and biological processes influencing a population. Demography is used extensively in marketing, which relates to economic units, such as retailers, to potential customers.[39]

URBANIZATION[40]:
Urbanization also spelled "urbanisation" is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. Urbanization is also defined by the United Nations as movement of people from rural to urban areas with population growth equating to urban migration. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008. Urbanization is closely linked to modernization, industrialization, and the sociological process of rationalization.

HUMAN VALUES[41]:
Human values are a set of emotional rules people follow to help make the right decisions in life. When values are used in a professional setting, they are called ethics. Values are used in every day decision making at work and at home. Good values instill a sense of integrity, honesty, and diligence in people. Without good values, people would become corrupt, dishonest, and undependable as people and employees. Companies want to hire employees with a sense of moral value so that they can help improve the company as a whole. Promoting values in every-day life and in the workplace can help promote career success. Values are an integral part of every culture. Along with beliefs and worldview assumptions, they generate behaviours. Being part of a culture that shares a common core set of values creates expectations and predictability without which a culture would disintegrate and its members would lose their personal identity and sense of worth. Values tell people what is good, beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable, appropriate...etc. They answer the question of why people do what they do. Values help people solve common human problems for survival. Over time, they become the roots of traditions that groups of people find important in their day to day lives. Values can be positive or negative; some are destructive. To understand people of other cultures, we must come to understand the values, beliefs and assumptions that motivate their behaviour.

CULTURE[42]:
Culture in Latin means "to cultivate". It is a term that has different meanings. However, the word "culture" is most commonly used in three basic senses: Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture. An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behaviour that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning and the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group. When the concept first emerged in eighteenth century Europe, it connoted a process of cultivation or improvement, as in agriculture or horticulture. In the nineteenth century, it came to refer first to the betterment or refinement of the individual, especially through education, and then to the fulfillment of national aspirations or ideals. In the mid-nineteenth century, some scientists used the term "culture" to refer to a universal human capacity. In the twentieth century, "culture" emerged as a concept central to anthropology, encompassing all human phenomena that are not purely results of human genetics. Specifically, the term "culture" in American anthropology had two meanings: (1) the evolved human capacity to classify and represent experiences with symbols, and to act imaginatively and creatively; and (2) the distinct ways that people living in different parts of the world classified and represented their experiences, and acted creatively. Following World War II, the term became important, albeit with different meanings, in other disciplines such as sociology, cultural studies, organizational psychology and management studies.

TRADITIONS[43]:
The word tradition comes from the Latin which means "handing over, passing on", and is used in a number of ways in the English language. For example; Beliefs or customs taught by one generation to the next, often orally. It may be a set of customs or practices. A broad religious movement made up of religious denominations that have a common history, customs, culture, and, to some extent, body of teachings. However, on a more basic theoretical level, tradition(s) can be seen as information or composed of information which is brought into the present from the past, in a particular societal context. This is even more fundamental than particular acts or practices even if repeated over a long sequence of time.

NORMS:
The term norm may refer to various meaning in different contexts. For instance in academics it is perceived as a designated standard of average performance of people of a given age, background, etc. In sociology the term social norms, is used which means expected patterns of behaviour as studied in sociology.
[44] Social norms are the behavioural expectations and cues within a society or group. These are "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours which may be explicit or implicit. Failure to follow the rules can result in severe punishments, including exclusion from the group." The social norms indicate the established and approved ways of doing things, of dress, of speech and of appearance. These vary and evolve not only through time but also vary from one age group to another and between social classes and social groups. What is deemed to be acceptable dress, speech or behaviour in one social group may not be accepted in another. Deference to the social norms maintains one's acceptance and popularity within a particular group; ignoring the social norms risks one becoming unacceptable, unpopular or even an outcast from a group. Social norms tend to be tacitly established and maintained through body language and non-verbal communication between people in their normal social discourse. We soon come to know when and where it is appropriate to say certain things, to use certain words, to discuss certain topics or wear certain clothes, and when not to. Such knowledge about cultural norms is important for impression management, which is an individual's regulation of their nonverbal behaviour. We also come to know through experience what types of people we can and cannot discuss certain topics with or wear certain types of dress around. Mostly this knowledge is derived experientially.[45]

RESOURCES[46]:
A resource is any physical or virtual entity of limited availability, or anything used to help one earn a living. As resources are very useful, we attach some information value to them. Resources help to produce goods so they have economic value. Natural resources like forests, mountains etc. are considered beautiful so they have aesthetic value. Gifts of nature such as water also have a legal value because it is our right to consume them. Resources have three main characteristics: utility, quantity (often in terms of availability), and use in producing other resources. However, this definition is not accepted by some, for example deep ecologists who believe that non-human elements are independent of human values. Resources are those things that can be physically combined to produce goods.

GENDER AND SPACE:
Gender is the wide set of characteristics that are seen to distinguish between male and female entities. In humans, it is understood as one's social role or gender identity. As a word, it has more than one valid definition. In linguistics, it refers to characteristics of words. In the social sciences, it refers specifically to social differences such as gender roles. The World Health Organization (WHO), for example, uses "gender" to refer to "the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women". While the idea of gender as a social construct is favoured in many social sciences, especially gender studies, in the hard sciences, research links biological and behavioural differences in males and females as determining factors for gender or "an individual's self-conception as being male or female". Gender identity is the gender a person self-identifies as. The concept of being a woman is considered to have more challenges, due to society not only viewing women as a social category but also as a felt sense of self, a culturally conditioned or constructed subjective identity. This usage has been viewed as controversial by feminists, in the definement of "woman".[47] The phrase gender and space is combined together due to space requirement of women in terms of physical, personal, social or psychological space.

SOCIAL JUSTICE[48]:
Social justice is the application of the concept of justice at a social scale. The term "social justice" was coined in the 1840s. Social justice is also a concept that some use to describe the movement towards a socially just world. In this context, social justice is based on the concepts of human rights and equality and involves a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution, policies aimed toward achieving that which developmental economists refer to as more equality of opportunity and equality of outcome than may currently exist in some societies or are available to some classes in a given society. The popular theory about social justice describes its six major attributes or liberties that are necessary:
Freedom of thought;

  1. Liberty of conscience as it affects social relationships on the grounds of religion, philosophy, and morality;

  2. Political liberties (e.g. representative democratic institutions, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom of assembly);

  3. Freedom of association;

  4. Freedoms necessary for the liberty and integrity of the person (viz: freedom from slavery, freedom of movement and a reasonable degree of freedom to choose one's occupation); and

  5. Rights and liberties covered by the rule of law.
REFERENCES:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_sociology (retrieved 11/01/2010)
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban (retrieved 11/01/2010)
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural (retrieved 11/01/2010)
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family (retrieved 11/01/2010)
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household (retrieved 11/01/2010)
[6] Haviland, W.A. (2003) Anthropology Wadsworth: Belmont, CA
[7] Sullivan, arthur; Steven M. Sheffrin (2003). Economics: Principles in action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 29 ISBN 0-13-063085-3
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan (retrieved 11/01/2010)
[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_relation (retrieved 11/01/2010)
[10] Ibid
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[14] http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080814233805AA0N8u4 (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_character (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[16] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residential_community (retrieved January 16, 2010)[17] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[18] http://www.answers.com/topic/space (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_space (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[20] http://www.answers.com/topic/personal-space (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[21] Ibid
[22] Ibid
[23] http://www.answers.com/topic/social-space (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[24] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_space (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[25] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_space#.27Semi-public.27_spaces (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[26] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[27] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_economics (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[28] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socioeconomics (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[29] http://www.nzaia.org.nz/Conference/1999/pdf/D2a05_ARGS_4LB1.pdf (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[30] http://www.rain.net.au/community_wellbeing/community_wellbeing001.htm (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[31] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[32] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[33] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[34] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[35] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_community (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[36] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Types_of_communities (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[37] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_environment (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[38] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[39] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[40] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[41] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_values (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[42] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[43] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditions (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[44] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norms (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[45] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_(sociology) (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[46] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resources (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[47] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender (retrieved January 16, 2010)
[48] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice (retrieved January 16, 2010)