Editing Urban sociology (section)

{{Short description|Sociological study of life and human interaction in metropolitan areas}}
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{{Sociology}}
'''Urban sociology''' is the [[sociology|sociological]] study of cities and urban life. One of the field’s oldest sub-disciplines, urban sociology studies and examines the social, historical, political, cultural, economic, and environmental forces that have shaped [[urban area|urban environments]].<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/urban+sociology Dictionary reference]</ref>
Like most areas of sociology, urban sociologists use statistical analysis, observation, archival research, census data, social theory, interviews, and other methods to study a range of topics, including [[poverty]], [[Racial segregation|racial residential segregation]], economic development, migration and demographic trends, [[gentrification]], [[homelessness]], blight and crime, [[urban decline]], and neighborhood changes and revitalization. Urban sociological analysis provides critical insights that shape and guide [[urban planning]] and policy-making.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the City|last=Caves|first=R. W.|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=978-0415862875|pages=723}}</ref>

The philosophical foundations of modern urban sociology originate from the work of sociologists such as [[Karl Marx]], [[Ferdinand Tönnies]], [[Émile Durkheim]], [[Max Weber]] and [[Georg Simmel]] who studied and theorized the economic, social and cultural processes of [[urbanization]] and its effects on [[social alienation]], class formation, and the production or destruction of collective and individual identities.

These theoretical foundations were further expanded upon and analyzed by a group of sociologists and researchers who worked at the University of Chicago in the early twentieth century. In what became known as the [[Chicago school (sociology)|Chicago School of sociology]] the work of [[Robert E. Park|Robert Park]], [[Louis Wirth]] and [[Ernest Burgess]] on the inner city of [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] revolutionized not only the purpose of urban research in sociology but also the development of [[human geography]] through its use of quantitative and ethnographic research methods. The importance of theories developed by the Chicago School within urban sociology has been critically sustained and critiqued but still, remains one of the most significant historical advancements in understanding [[urbanization]] and the city within the social sciences.<ref name=Martin>Martin, D.G., "Chicago School" in D. Gregory, R. Johnston, G. Pratt, M. Watts and S. Whatmore, eds., ''The Dictionary of Human Geography'', London: Blackwell, 2009.</ref> The discipline may draw from several fields, including cultural sociology, economic sociology, and political sociology.