Chapter 16: Population and Urbanization

Population is a very important part of a society. Population can show whether a society is increasing, decreasing or neutral. This is important because when a society has more people, I is considered more powerful. Urbanization is important also for it shows how developed a country or society is based on their cities and their populations.

A population is the number of people living in an area at a particular time. Demography is the are of sociology devoted to the study of human populations. The measure most often used by demographers to describe the births within a population is the birthrate. Fertility refers to the actual number of births occurring to women of childbearing age. Demographers distinguish fertility from fecundity, the biological capability to bear children. Mortality is the number of deaths within a a society. The measure most often used by demodeath rate. The infant mortality rate is the annual number of deaths among infants under one year of age per 1000 live births in a population. Life expectancy refers to the average number of years that a person born in a particular year can expect to live. Migration is the movement of people from one specified area to another. Migration rate is calculated as the annual difference between in-migration and out-migration. Growth rate is the rate at which a country's population is increasing. Doubling time is a period of time that is the number of years necessary for a population to double in size, given its current rate of growth. Demographers also study population composition. A population composition is shown in a pyramid, of the age and sex distribution of the population. The Malthusian theory predicted that the population would soon reach astronomical numbers. The demographic transition theory holds that the population patterns are tied to society's level of technological development. Zero population growth is the point as which nearly equal birthrates and death rates produce a growth rate of zero. Family planning is the conscious decision by couples to have a certain number of children. Some critics of family planning policies believe that economic development must proceed before people in less-developed nations will voluntarily limit their family size.

graphers to describe the deaths in a population is the

Urbanization involves the concentration of the population to move towards cities. A city is a permanent concentration of a relatively large number of people who are engaged mainly in non-farming activities. Most preindustrial cities contained a few thousand people while some were considerably larger. The industrial city covered a greater area and had a much larger population. Overurbanization is a situation in which more people live in a city than can be supported in terms of jobs and facilities. Urban ecology examines the relationship between people and the urban environment. According to a concentric zone model a typical industrial city spreads outward from the center, resulting in a series of circles, or zones. In the sector model growth occurs in wedge-shaped sectors outward from the center to the edge of the city. In the multiple nuclei model a city does not develop around one central core but around several centers of activity, or “nuclei.” Urban sprawl is characterized by poorly planned development on the edge of cities and towns. According to the urban anomie theory the city is an anonymous and unfriendly place, and living there carries serious negative consequences for residents. Compositional theory examined the ways in which the composition of a city's population influences life in the city. Subculture theory was used to explain the nature of city life, the characteristics of the city encourage rather than discourage the formation of primary group relationships.

As we can see population is very important for society. We saw that three factors influence population. We also saw that urbanization can bring about positive and negative effects. It is very important that we understand these two major concepts in order to further understand sociology.