Sociology & Anthropology · Urban & Rural Sociology
A topic within Urban & Rural Sociology, itself one of 9 topics in that field and part of Sociology & Anthropology.
2 works
Georg Simmel
Argues that the nervous overstimulation of city life forces urbanites to adopt a protective, reserved and calculating attitude (the blasé outlook) that is not personal coldness but a rational defence against a sensory overload rural life never produced.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Louis Wirth
Argues that size, density and heterogeneity of population -- not any particular culture or economy -- are what produce the impersonality, weak kinship ties and tolerance of difference that mark urban life everywhere.
link checked 17 Sept 2026