VII. THE GROWTH OF THE CITY
The growth of the city has been described as the outstanding characteristic of modern civilization. The sociologist is interested in the processes underlying this phenomenon.
1. One of the most obvious phases of this growth is the addition in numbers and the expansion in area of the city. This has been accurately measured by the statisticians and geographers. The typical process of expansion is from the core of the city outward toward the periphery. While ample materials for such studies of processes exist, their interpretation and analysis is yet to be undertaken. In the process of growth the city tends to become empty, as concerns habitations, at the center. This phenomenon is referred to as “city-building.”
Ballard, W. J. “Our Twenty-nine Largest Cities, Jour. Educ., XXCIII (April 27, 1916), 468.
Bassett, E. M. “Distribution of Population in Cities,” American City, XIII (July, 1915), 7–8.
Bernhard, H. “Die Entvölkerung des Landes,” Deutsche Rundschau für Geog., XXXVII (1914–15), 563–67.
Of twenty-one countries examined, all showed an increase in urban population between 1880–1910, in most cases far exceeding the natural increase in population, and a decrease in percentage of rural population. (VII, 3; VIII, 1; X, 2.)
Brown, Robert M. “City Growth and City Advertising” (Abstract of paper read at 1921 Conference of American Geographers), Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geog., XII (1922), 155.
A discussion of the causes of growth of American cities with an analysis of the one hundred cities showing the largest gains since 1910. Classification as to type of advertising campaigns used.
Bushee, F. A. “The Growth of Population of Boston,” Pub. Amer. Statistical Assoc., VI (1899), 239–74. (VIII, 3.)
City-Building: A Citation of Methods in Use in More Than One Hundred Cities for the Solution of Important Problems in the Progressive Growth of the American Municipality (Cincinnati, 1913). (V, 4, 5; VI; VII, 5.)
“City Growth by Dead Reckoning,” Literary Digest, XXCII (August 9, 1924), 12.
Fawcett, C. B. “British Conurbations in 1921,” Sociol. Rev., XIV (April, 1922), 111–22.
Feather, W. A. “Cities That Make Good,” Forum, LVII (May, 1917), 623–28.
Gregory, W. M. “Growth of the Cities of Washington,” Jour. Geog., XIV (May, 1916), 348–53. (VII, 3.)
“How Big Should a City Be?” Literary Digest, LI (August 28, 1915), 399–400.
James, Edmund J. “The Growth of Great Cities,” Ann. Amer. Academy, XIII (1899), 1–30. (VII, 2, 3.)
Traces the growth of the cities and the genesis of the problems connected with it.
Jefferson, Mark. “Great Cities of the United States in 1920,” Geog. Rev., XI (July, 1921), 437–41.
Martell, P. “Die Bevölkerungsentwicklung der Stadt Berlin,” Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, X (1917), 207–15. (VII, 3; VIII, 1.)
Püschel, Alfred. Das Anwachsen der Deutschen Städte in der Zeit der mittelalterlichen Kolonialbewegung (Berlin, 1910).
Contains fifteen city plans. Traces the growth of cities in the medieval period and the changes in city structure. (II, 2; VII, 2.)
Ridgley, D. C. “Sixty-eight Cities of the United States in 1920,” Jour. Geog., XX (February, 1921), 75–79.
One of a series of postcensus-report analyses of the growth of the urban population.
Roth, Lawrence V. “The Growth of American Cities,” Geog. Rev., V (May, 1918), 384–98.
Holds that the growth of the cities of the United States has passed through four periods, each of which in its turn was the response to the commercial and industrial development of a new geographical region. Distinguishes between site and situation in city growth, and is here concerned mainly with general situation as a contributory influence. (III, 2, 3, 4.)
Sedlaczek. “Die Bevölkerungszunahme der Grossstädte im XIX Jahrhundert und deren Ursachen,” Report of the Eighth International Congress of Hygiene and Demography (Budapest, 1894). (VII, 3; VIII, 1; X, 1.)
United States Bureau of the Census. A Century of Population Growth (Washington, 1909). (VII, 3; VIII; X, 2.)
United States Bureau of the Census. Population: Fourteenth Census of the United States (3 vols.; Washington, 1920). (VII, 3; VIII, 1, 2; IX, 1; X, 2.)
Van Cleef, E. “How Big Is Your Town?” American City, XVII (November, 1917), 471–73.
Weber, Adna Ferrin. The Growth of Cities in the Nineteenth Century: A Study in Statistics, “Columbia University Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law” (New York, 1899).
Besides being the most important book on the growth of the city from a statistical standpoint, it contains many other features of great value to the student of the city, especially of the influence of the urban environment on the population. (VII, 2, 3; VIII.)
“Why Cities Grow,” Literary Digest, LVIII (August 17, 1918), 22–23.
Zahn, F. “Die Volkszählung von 1900 und die Grossstadtfrage,” Jahrbuch für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, XXCI (1903), 191–215. (VII, 3.)
2. Every addition in numbers and expansion of the city area is accompanied by the redistribution and re-allocation of the whole population. Some elements are given a new locus, while others shift but little as a result of the stimulus incident to the arrival of newcomers. This redistribution of the city population has become a constantly operating process in view of the constant growth of the city either through natural increase of the population or through migration from without.
Allison, Thomas W. “Population Movements in Chicago,” Jour. of Social Forces, II (May, 1924), 529–33. (V, 1, 3; VII, 4.)
Aurousseau, M. “Distribution of Population: A Constructive Problem,” Geog. Rev., XI (October, 1921), 568–75.
“Density concerns itself with the number of people per unit of area; distribution deals with the comparative study of density from area to area; and arrangement considers the way in which people are grouped. Grouping is the fundamental concept....” (I, 1; IV, 1; X, 2.)
Bushee, F. A. “Ethnic Factors in the Population of Boston,” Pub. Amer. Statistical Assoc., Vol. IV, No. 2, pp. 307–477. (V, 1, 2, 3.)
Douglas, H. Paul. The Suburban Trend (New York, 1925).
Traces the movement toward decentralization in the larger American urban communities. (VII, 2, 1, 4; IV, 2; III, 5; V, 4.)
Hirschfeld, Magnus. Berlins drittes Geschlecht, Vol. III in “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905).
A study of the homosexuals in Berlin as a sample of the grouping of population in the large city. (V, 1, 3; VII, 5.)
Hooker, G. E. “City-Planning and Political Areas,” Nat. Mun. Rev., VI (May, 1917), 337–45. (IV, 3; V, 1, 4, 5; VI, 7.)
The London Society. The London of the Future (New York and London, 1921).
An excellent view of the processes bringing about the allocation of the population and the trend of growth of the city from the core pressing outward toward the periphery. (II, 3; III, 1, 5, 6; IV; V; VI; VII; VIII, 1, 2, 3; IX, 1, 2, 3, 4.)
Ripley, W. Z. “Racial Geography of Europe,” Popular Science Monthly, LII (1898), 591–608; XIV, “Urban Problems.” See also his “Races of Europe,” chap. xx, on “Ethnic Stratification and Urban Selection.” (V, 3.)
Salten, Felix. Wiener Adel, Vol. XIV in “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905).
Shows the local grouping of the nobility in the large European city. (IX, 4.)
Schmid, Herman. City bildung und Bevölkerungsverteilung in Grossstädten: Ein Beitrag zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des modernen Städtewesens (München, 1909).
Shows that the normal process of growth of the city is by emptying at the center, and redistributing its population around the periphery. (Compare Mark Jefferson, “The Anthropography of Some Great Cities: A Study in Distribution of Population,” Bull. Amer. Geog. Soc., XLI (1909), 537–66. (VII, 4, 5.))
Williams, James M. An American Town: A Sociological Study (New York, 1906).
Primarily an analysis of an American community from a socio-psychological standpoint. Contains some interesting facts on growth and distribution of population. (III, 5; V, 1, 2, 3; IX, 1, 3.)
Winter, Max. Im unterirdischen Wien, Vol. XIII in “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905).
A description of Vienna, showing the processes of segregation, allocation, and communication at work in the city population. (V, 1; VI, 4, 6; VII, 5; IX, 3, 4.)
3. During the latter part of the nineteenth century the expressions, “the flight from the country,” and “the drift to the city” began to be heard. The rapid increase in population of the cities was found to be due not to natural increase, i.e., excess of births over deaths, but to migration from the surrounding rural area. In America the rapid increase in the size of the cities was due chiefly to an increasing stream of European immigrants who avoided the farm but were attracted to the urban environment. Population statisticians have been alert to discover whether this process is continuing or whether a change is taking place. Improvements in rural life and conscious efforts to control the movement of population have been observed as to their possible effect on the rural-urban population equilibrium.
Ashby, A. W. “Population and the Land,” Edinburgh Rev., CCXXIV (1916), 321–39. (X, 1, 2.)
Ballod, C. “Sterblichkeit und Fortpflanzung der Stadtbevölkerung,” Jahrbuch für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, XXXIII (1909), 521–41. (VIII, 1, 3.)
Bauer, L. Der Zug nach der Stadt (Stuttgart, 1904). Reviewed in Archiv f. Rassen u. Gesellschaftsbiologie, II, 300. (VII, 1.)
Beusch, P. Wanderungen und Stadtkultur: eine bevolkerungspolitische und sozialethische Studie (München-Gladbach, 1916).
Böckh, R. “Der Anteil der örtlichen Bewegung an der Zunahme der Bevölkerung der Grossstädte,” Congress Intern. d’Hygiène et de Démographie (Budapest, 1894). (VII, 1.)
Bowley, A. L. “Births and Population in Great Britain,” Econ. Jour., XXXIV (June, 1924), 188–92. (VII, 1; VIII, 1.)
Bryce, P. H. “Effects upon Public Health and Natural Prosperity from Rural Depopulation and Abnormal Increase of Cities,” Amer. Jour. Public Health, New York, V, 48–56. (VIII; X, 1, 2.)
Cacheux, E. “Influence des grandes villes sur la dépopulation,” Rev. Philanthrop. Paris, XXXVII (1916), 513–18. (VIII; X, 1.)
Dickerman, G. S. “The Drift to the Cities,” Atlantic Monthly, CXI (1913), 349–53. (IX, 2; X, 1, 2.)
Dittmann, P. Die Bevölkerungsbewegung der deutschen Grossstädte seit der Gründung des deutschen Reiches (Bamberg, 1912). (VII, 1.)
Groves, E. R. “Urban Complex: A Study of the Psychological Aspects of the Urban Drift,” Sociol. Rev., XII (1920), 73–81. (IX, 2; X, 2.)
Hecke, W. “Volksvermehrung, Binnenwanderung, und Umgangssprache in den österreichischen Alpenländern und Südländern,” Statist. Monatsschr., XXXIX (1913), 323–92. (VIII, 1. 3; X, 2.)
Hoaglund, H. E. “The Movement of Rural Population in Illinois,” Jour. Pol. Econ., XX (1912), 913–27.
Mayr, G. von. Die Bevölkerung der Grossstädte, in “Die Grossstadt” (Dresden, 1903).
One of the best statements of the problem. (VII, 1, 2; VIII, 1, 2, 3.)
Prinzing, Dr. F. “Die Bevölkerungsentwicklung Stockholms, 1721–1920,” Jahrbuch für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, XLVII (1924), 87–93.
An excellent case study of the situation in a modern European city. (VII, 1; X, 1, 2.)
——. “Einheimische und Zugezogene in den Grossstädten,” Zeitschr. für Sozialwiss., VII (Berlin, 1904), 660–67.
Ravenstein, E. G. “The Laws of Migration,” Jour. Royal Statist. Soc., XLVIII (1885), 167–227. (X, 2.)
Spencer, A. G. “Changing Population of Our Large Cities,” Kindergarten Primary Mag., XXIII (1910), 65–71.
Steinhart, A. Untersuchung zur Gebürtigkeit der deutschen Grossstadtbevölkerung, Entwicklung, und Ursachen, “Rechts und Staatswissenschaftliche Studien,” Heft 45 (Berlin, 1912). (VIII, 1; X, 2.)
Voss, W. “Städtische Kleinsiedlung,” Archiv für exacte Wirtschaftsforschung, IX (1919), 377–412.
Weisstein, G. “Sind die Städte wirklich Menschenverzehrer?” Deutsche Städte Ztg. (1905), pp. 153–54.
4. The mobility of a city population incident to city growth is reflected in the increased number of contacts, changes of movement, changes in appearance, and atmosphere of specific areas due to succession of population groups, and in differences in land values. Mobility implies not mere movement, but fresh stimulation, an increase in number and intensity of stimulants, and a tendency to respond more readily to new stimulation. The process by which the city absorbs and incorporates its own offspring or foreign elements into its life, and what becomes of them, may be referred to as the metabolism of city life. Mobility is an index of metabolism.
Bercovici, Konrad. Around the World in New York (New York, 1924).
Discusses the local communities and the sifting process in the large city. (VII, 1, 2; IX, 3; V, 1, 2, 3.)
Digby, E. “The Extinction of the Londoner,” Contemp. Rev., London, XXCVI (1904), 115–26. (VII, 2, 3; VIII, 1; IX, 2, 3.)
Herzfeld, Elsa G. Family Monographs; The History of Twenty-four Families Living in the Middle West Side of New York City (New York, 1905).
Examples of extreme mobility (tendency to migrate) in the tenement district. (VII, 5.)
Meuriot, P. “Les Migrations internes dans quelques grandes villes,” Jour. Soc. Stat., Paris, L (1909), 390. (V, 1; VII, 2.)
Prinzing, F. “Die Bevölkerungsbewegung in Paris und Berlin,” Zeitschr. für Soziale Medizin, Leipzig, III (1908), 99–120.
Stephany, H. “Der Einfluss des Berufes und der Sozialstellung auf die Bevölkerungsbewegung der Grossstädte nachgewiesen an Königsberg i. Pr.,” Königsb. Statist., No. 13, 1912. (VII, 2, 3.)
Weleminsky, F. “Über Akklimatisation in Grossstädten,” Archiv für Hygiene, XXXVI (1899), 66–126. (VII, 3, 5; VIII, 1.)
Woods, Robert A. Americans in Process: A Settlement Study, North- and West-End Boston (Boston, 1902). (VII, 2; V, 3; IX, 3.)
Typical of a number of settlement studies giving a view of the effect of the city on its foreign population.
5. City growth may be thought of as a process of disorganization and reorganization. Growth always involves these processes to some extent, but when the city grows rapidly we see the disorganization assuming proportions which may be regarded as pathological. Crime, suicide, divorce, are some of the behavior problems in which social disorganization, when viewed from the personal side, expresses itself. The disappearance of the neighborhood and the local community with its personal forms of control is one of the immediate causal elements in this process.
Addams, Jane. The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets (New York, 1909). (V, 1, 2, 3; IX, 3; X, 2.)
Bader, Emil. Wiener Verbrecher, Vol. XVI, “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905). (VI, 4; VII, 5; IX, 4.)
Bonne, G. “Über die Notwendigkeit einer systematischen Dezentralisation unserer Grossstädte in hygienischer, sozialer, und volkswirtschaftlicher Beziehung,” Monatschr. für soz. Med., I (Jena, 1904), 369, 425, 490. (V, 5; VIII.)
Buschan, G. H. Geschlecht und Verbrechen, Vol. XLVIII, “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905).
Some observations on the natural history of the city population. Very fragmentary. (VIII, 2; IX, 3, 4.)
Chalmers, Thomas. The Christian and Civic Economy of Large Towns (Glasgow, 1918). (IV, 5; VII; VIII, 1, 4.)
Classen, W. F. Grossstadt Heimat: Beobachtungen zur Naturgeschichte des Grossstadtvolkes (Hamburg, 1906).
Classen, W. Das stadtegeborene Geschlecht und seine Zukunft (Leipzig, 1914).
Henderson, C. R. “Industry and City Life and the Family,” Amer. Jour. Sociol., XIV, 668. (VIII, 1, 2, 3.)
Lasson, Alfred. Gefährdete und verwahrloste Jugend, Vol. XLIX, “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905).
The dangers confronting youth in the city and juvenile delinquency. (IX, 4.)
Marcuse, Max. Uneheliche Mütter, Vol. XXVII in “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905). (VIII, 1, 3; IX, 3.)
Illegitimacy in Berlin. Types of unmarried mothers.
Ostwald, H. O. A. Das Berliner Spielertum, Vol. XXXV in “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905). (VI, 6; IX, 4.)
Gambling in the city.
——. Zuhältertum in Berlin, Vol. V, “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905). Panderers and their victims in the city. (IX, 1, 4.)
Schuchard, Ernst. Sechs Monate Arbeitshaus, Vol. XXXIII in “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905).
Six months’ experiences in the workhouse of the city, where the opportunity to observe social disorganization is great. (VI, 4; IX, 3, 4.)
Sears, Charles H. The Redemption of the City (Philadelphia, 1911).
Sharp, Geo. W. City Life and Its Amelioration (Boston, 1915).
Steiner, Jesse F. “Theories of Community Organization,” Jour. Social Forces, III (November, 1924), 30–37. (V; VIII, 3.)
——. “A Critique of the Community Movement,” Jour. App. Sociol., IX (November-December, 1924), 108.
Problems of social control in relation to community organization and disorganization. (V; VIII, 3.)
Stelze, Charles. Christianity’s Storm Center: A Study of the Modern City (New York and Chicago, 1907).
Strong, Josiah. The Challenge of the City (New York, 1907).
From a religious and moral standpoint. (X, 1, 2.)
Thomas, W. I., and Znaniecki, Florian. The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, Vol. V, “Organization and Disorganization in America” (Boston, 1920). (V, 3; VII, 2.)
“The Tragedy of Great Cities,” Outlook, CXXVI (1920), 749–50.
Werthauer, Johannes. Sittlichkeitsdelikte der Grossstadt, Vol. XL in “Grossstadt Dokumente” (Berlin, 1905).
A collection of typical city delinquencies of the sex type. (V, 4; IX, 4.)