A sociological analysis of urban community contains several salient features. They are as follows:
1. Size:
2. Density of population:
Density of population in urban areas is greater than in rural communities. Urbanity and density are positively correlated.
3. Family:
So far as urban community is concerned, greater importance is attached to the individual than to the family. Nuclear families are more popular in urban areas.
4. Marriage:
In case of urban community there is a preponderance of love marriages and inter-caste marriages. One also comes across a greater number of divorces. Sons and daughters enjoy considerable freedom in choosing their life partners.
5. Occupation:
In the urban areas, the major occupations are industrial, administrative and professional in nature. Divisions of labour and occupational specialization are very much common in towns/cities/metropolises.
6. Class extremes:
In the words of Bogardus, “Class extremes characterize the city.” A town and a city house the richest as well as the poorest of people. In a city, the slums of the poor exist alongside the palatial bungalows of the rich, amidst the apartments of the middle class members. The most civilized modes of behaviour as well as the worst racketeering are found in the cities.
7. Social heterogeneity:
If villages are the symbol of cultural homogeneity, the cities symbolize cultural heterogeneity. The cities are characterized by diverse peoples, races and cultures. There is great variety in regard to the food habits, dress habits, living conditions, religious beliefs, cultural outlook, customs and traditions of the urbanites.
8. Social distance:
Social distance is the result of anonymity and heterogeneity. Most of one’s routine social contacts in a town or city are impersonal and segmentary in character. In the urban community social responses are incomplete and halfhearted. There is utter lack of personal involvement in the affairs of others.
9. System of interaction:
Georg Simmel held that the social structure of urban communities is based on interest groups. The circles of social contact are wider in the city than in the country. There is a wider area of interaction system per man and per aggregate. This makes city life more complex and varied. The city life is characterized by the predominance of secondary contacts, impersonal, casual and short-lived relations. Man, at any rate, the man in the street, virtually loses his identity being treated as a “number” having a certain “address”.
10. Mobility:
The most important feature of urban community is its social mobility. In urban areas the social status of an individual is determined not by heredity or birth but by his merit, intelligence and perseverance. Urbanity and mobility are positively correlated.
11. Materialism:
In the urban community the social existence of man revolves round wealth and material possessions. The worth of an urbanite today is being judged not by what he is but by what he has. Status symbols in the form of financial assets, salaries, costly home appliances count a lot for the urbanites.
12. Individualism:
The urbanites attach supreme importance to their own welfare and happiness. They hesitate to think or act for the good of others.
13. Rationality:
In urban community there is emphasis on rationality. People are inclined to reason and argue. Their relationship with others is governed, for the most part, by the consideration of gain or loss. Relationship takes place on a contractual basis. Once the contract is over, human relationship automatically comes to a close.
14. Anonymity:
As Bogardus observes, the “Urban groups have a reputation for namelessness.” By virtue of its size and population, the urban community cannot be a primary group. Here nobody knows anybody and nobody cares for anybody. The urbanites do not care for their neighbours and have nothing to do with their miseries or pleasures.
15. Norm and social role conflict:
The urban community is characterized by norm and social role conflict. Factors such as the size, density and heterogeneity of the population, extreme occupational specialisation and the class structure prevalent in the urban context lead to such a state of affairs.
In the absence of uniform and fixed social norms, individuals or groups often seek divergent ends. This has a considerable share in causing social disorganization.
16. Rapid social and cultural change:
Rapid social and cultural change characterize urban life. The importance attached to traditional or sacred elements has been relegated to the background. The benefits of urban life have effected changes in respect of norms, ideologies and behaviour patterns.
17. Voluntary associations:
The urban community is characterized by impersonal, mechanical and formal social contacts occurring among the people. Naturally they have a strong desire for developing genuine social relationships to satisfy their hunger for emotional warmth and sense of security. They form associations, clubs, societies and other secondary groups.
18. Formal social control:
Social control in urban community is essentially formal in nature. Individual’s behaviour is regulated by such agencies as police, jails, law courts etc.
19. Secularization of outlook:
In cities ritual and kinship obligations are diluted. Caste and community considerations yield to economic logic. This results in secularization of outlook.
20. Urban areas provide impulses for modernization in society as a whole.