Urbanism as a way of Life

Louis Wirth had 3 distinct characteristics that were necessary in a city. A city had to be dense or contain a dense population, be heterogeneous and include large permeate structures. The problem with Louis Wirth article is that it may not adapt as well to the new technology and movement of the city.  Today’s skyscrapers are large structures but many lack the craftsmanship detail to become permeate structures in the urban environment. Instead they are built to produce profit and torn down and rebuilt to produce even more.  Companies don’t need large office building or manufacturing plants to conduct their businesses with the internet, email and video conferences people can do business from countries away at the touch of a button making living in the city less of a necessity for companies and their employees.  Though the general population of the city still remains dense I believe the population of people that live there have expanded or changed the reasons why they choose to remain in the city. Also with the use of better public transportation there are many people who have moved out to the suburbs with their families but continue the commute into the city for school, work, or pleasure keep the city at a relatively constant day-to-day state.

Though a city can be a very heterogeneous place it also becomes a place where different social, class or racial groups congregate into smaller areas, for example china town, boys’ town, little Italy. These areas of the city become know for their cultural or social activities and continue to attract others with similar interest.  Wirth does not mention the social groups that are formed as a result of the city and how different the city can be from one end to the other. Conceptualizing the city into one distinct way of life I believe is almost impossible there is too much that changes from one city block to another to be able to say, “yes that is what urban life is” and “no that doesn’t happen in urban life”.

Wirth also fails to address the problems of social class in the city, many associate the city with a vast difference between rich and poor and leads to how you can define an urban way of life without talking first about the differences of how urban people live their lives. Today we also have to deal with media coverage that is involved in skewing our opinion of urban life. If you are never in the city and all you see in the media is about how dangerous the city is, you may miss out on the many cultural and social events that make the city such an interesting place to live.