CITY-A Mosaic of Social, Cultural & Economic Worlds- Arnav Saikia (2013MUD007)

8/12/2019 CITY-A Mosaic of Social, Cultural & Economic Worlds- Arnav Saikia (2013MUD007)

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INTRODUCTION:

Louis Wirth describes City as aSocial Organisation with alarge population andhigh density which is heterogeneous in nature and are dependent on eachother.This means that a number of people from different social and culturalbackground live in a city.

This separation/polarisation/stratification occurs over the a period of time dueto various social, economic and political factors separation by caste,formation of CBDs, Land-Use etc. Because of all these factors a city getsdivided into-

Some of the major factors leading to this polarisation are-Cultural/ReligiousBackground

caste system, Hindu community, Muslim communityEconomic diversity SEZs, CBDs, slumsPolitical Dominancecolonial townsFunctional zoningLand-use zonesSocial Exclusion blacks and whites, racism

How it affects Urbanity:Formation of different zones rich-poor, different religious settlementsleads to different types of UrbanMorphologyDifferent lifestyles can be seen atdifferent parts of the city.Although within the same city,different characters are formed.According to Marcuse, divisionaccording to caste, race, religion etchave marked heavily on the effects oflifeof the city, including its form anddemocracy.

poor

rich

differentactivities

different

culture

different

religiondifferent

ethnicity

rich

poor

Hindu

Muslim

Brahmin

Shudras

slums

places withdifferent densityplaces withdifferent culture and religionplaces withdiverse economic classesplaces withchange in Land-Use.

References:

Deborah Stevenson: Cities and UrbanCultures, 2003


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THE SOCIO-CULTURAL STRATIFICATION:

History of social stratification in India: Socio-cultural division of the city existed in Indiantowns and cities right from the very existence of thecaste system (varna system).Indian towns and cities were planned based of thecastes/varna.

People of same classes live together and the citywas divided into zones of different castes.The most privileged caste (Brahmins) were giventhe most priority and privileged part of the city.

There were separate residential quarters for Brahmins (e.g.- mohalla Chauban inFirozabad), Vaisyas, weavers and other artisan castes. The low castes lived on theperiphery of the town.

How it affects Urbanity:Historical influence can still be seen inthe present setting

Hierarchy of urban form is developedbased on hierarchy of castesIn south India rich Brahmin castesettlements can still be seen around atemple complex, surrounded bysettlement of other castes.Different types of architecturalcharacters are formed along differenttypes of cultural settings.

In many cities we have settlements with different religions Hindu community, Muslim community, Christiansettlement. E.g. Old Bhopal (Muslim dominating) NewBhopal (Hindu dominating)

This process is continuously going on with

every migration it gets more strength to it.

Brahmins

Quarters

Cultivating Castes

Middle Ranking Castes

Service Castes

Unclean Castes

This system existed for theMuslim mohallas as well.There were separatequarters for separate castes(katra Sonaran, katra Pathanan,mohalla Shishganam, mohallaNaalbandhan in Firozabad,mohalla Churiwallan in oldDelhi)This formation of caste & religion

based neighbourhood sti llprevails in most of the cities inIndia.

References:

Caste: I n Time and Space, Social

Geography of India,

The caste are also related to theLandownership

The city of Jaipur was planned according to the caste system, influence of which isstill seen today.


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THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRATIFICATION:

Land value plays a key part in determiningthe pattern of urban land use and form. Andland value is a direct reflection ofaccessibility.Accessibility is the greatest at the city centreand decreases away from it. It is also

influenced by radial and circumferentialroutes.Because of high land values and high taxesthese regions are mostly occupied by therich people who can afford them. Thesurrounding areas are occupied by the How it affects Urbanity:

Patches of different urban charactersare formed.A chain reaction is formed.Because of this discrimination thedemocracy of the city is beingquestioned.Demands of different classes aredifferent- mall and street markets;vehicle friendly-pedestrian friendlyroads, etc.

And accordingly the urban density also changes.

With the rise ofShoppingCentres Malls,Hypermarketsetc and

emergence ofSpecialEconomic Zones(SEZ) thisdiscrimination isbeingconsolidatedeven further.

This becomes a chain reaction as richwill be there where there is rich andpoor will be there where there is poor.

middle class people and the areas awayfrom the city centre are occupied by thepoor.

References:

R.Knowles & J.Wareing: Economic and

Social Geography, 2012

There are various theories of Urban

Structure:The Concentric Theory

The Sector Theory

The Multiple Nuclei Theory

E.W. Burgess, 1923

H.Hyot & M.R. Davie, 1939

C.D. Harris & E.L. Ullman, 1945


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Conclusion:Too many characters are formed within a single city.While there is a possibility of better interactions with the community there is a fewchange of interactions between different communities.Makes a city more interesting with the formation of strong characters. They act as a chain reaction, with every new addition strengthening the previouscharacter.Every part of the city gets its own identity and follows their own culture independently.

STRATIFICATION DUE TO POWER & ETHNIC ORIGIN:

Stratification based on common Ethnic origin:Kalibari in Bhopal, a Bengali dominating localityTangra in Kolkata (Chinatown) has more than 2000Chinese population following their own culture

Stratification due to Politics/Power:

Right from the British period, there has been adomination of power reflected in the urban form ofthe city. Some of the best examples are:Lutyens New Delhi where hierarchy is maintainedbased on the status of the people and is still beingfollowed.The division of Pondicherry and Calcutta into blacktown and white town. Their influences can still beseen as the white town has evolved as a richneighbourhood and black town intoneighbourhood of the poor.

Stratification due to Social Exclusion:Racism- Exclusion of African Americansin American cities led to the formation ofsettlements of different races.Social exclusion can be seen in the stillprevailing castes system of India.

With the course of time, every part of the city acquire its own identity and everyparts has its own needs. They have their own lifestyle and follow their culture intheir own way. Therefore as Urban design students I must conclude that thesecharacters play a very important role in the urban form of a city and they mustbe taken care of while doing any intervention.

According to the U.S. Census

Bureau American FactFinder,the Percent of Persons Who

Are Black or African

American Alone: 2000 There

are either more than 90.1 %or less than 22 % of Black

people in an area. Few

patches have a mix.

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CITY-A Mosaic of Social, Cultural & Economic Worlds- Arnav Saikia (2013MUD007)