User:Lejohn1381/Urban sociology

Evolution of urban sociology
In a September, 2015 issue of "City & Community(C&C)," the article discusses future plans and discusses research needed for the coming future. The article proposes certain steps in order to react to urban trends, create a safer environment, and prepare for future urbanization. The steps include: publishing more C&C articles, more research towards segregation in metropolitan areas, focus on trends and patterns in segregation and poverty, decrease micro-level segregation, and research towards international urbanization changes. However, in a June, 2018 issue of C&C, Mike Owen Benediktsson argues that spatial inequality, the idea of a lack of resources through a specific space, would be problematic for the future of urban sociology. Problems in neighborhoods arise from political forms and issues. He argues that attention should be more on the relationship between spaces rather than expansion of more urban cities.

Criticism
The concept of urban sociology as a whole has often been challenged and criticized by sociologists through time. Several different aspects from race, land, resources, etc. have broadened the idea. Manuel Castells questioned if urban sociology even exists and devoted 40 years worth of research in order to redefine and reorganize the concept. With the growing population and majority of Americans living in suburbs, Castells believes that most researchers focus their work of urban sociology around cities, neglecting the other major communities of suburbs, towns, and rural areas. He also believes that urban sociologists have over complicated the term of urban sociology and should possibly create a more clear and organized explanation to their studies, arguing that a "Sociology of Settlements," would cover most issues around the term.

Many urban sociologists focus behind the concept behind human overpopulation. Perry Burnett, who studied at the University of Southern Indiana, researched behind the idea of Urban sprawl and city optimization for human population. Some sociologists would criticize that urbanization could range issues from racial discrimination to high income taxes. Burnett would counter the idea that urban overpopulation could actually benefit the efficiency of cities. His work would equate optimal resources, incomes, households, etc. to display that larger and more city sizes would be more beneficial through more equal income and land distribution.