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At the heart of urban sociology is the question: what are the consequences of urban life? Compositional theory represents one of the first serious statements that countered the popular turn-of-the-century premise that cities were alienating. Compositional theories of urbanism assert that urban—rural differences in social problems are due mainly to social characteristics (i.e., class, race/ethnicity, age) of city dwellers, not the urban environment.
Even in large, dense, heterogeneous areas, people find their own social worlds. City dwellers create and sustain personal networks that lend emotional and social support and provide stakes in conformity. These intimate social circles may be based on kinship, ethnicity, neighborhood, occupation, or lifestyle, but basic group dynamics and the quality and extent of social relationships are unaffected by the urban environment. Early qualitative evidence, such as Gans’s (1962) The Urban Villagers, demonstrated the endurance and vitality of social ties in urban settings. Keller (1968) in The Urban Neighborhood specifies how the strength of neighborhood ties varies by neighborhood composition, for example by social class or family structure.
Compositional theorists attribute aggregate-level behavioral differences primarily to the different kinds of people in urban compared to suburban and rural areas rather than to effects of urbanism itself. People’s characteristics — social class, age/ lifecycle, family status, race/ethnicity — shape their behaviors and define their ways of life. What accounts for the greater unconventionality in cities is the concentration of individuals with certain traits, such as being younger, less often married, and more heterogeneous in terms of race/ethnicity, religion, and social class. Much of the relationship between urbanity (e.g., population density) and pathology (e.g., delinquency, welfare, mental illness) disappears once demographic factors are taken into account. Attention should be directed toward the social, economic, and political forces that shape expectations, opportunities, and roles available to various demographic groups.
Bibliography:
- Gans, H. J. (1962) The Urban Villagers. Free Press, New York.
- Keller, S. (1968) The Urban Neighborhood. Random House, New York.
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