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LIFE IN THE CITY
Georg Simmel (1858-1918), German sociologist, who formulated social macro
theory by mixing sociology, history, aesthetics and epistemology into
social analysis, wrote about the influence of the modern city on modern
man.
He was interested in social diffentiation in modern society, and
how it came
about. In his book The Philosophy of Money (1900) he analysed how the
introduction of a money economy affected social structure and social
relationships. Daily life was rationalized by the development
of the money economy, as economic exchange developed from barter (bytte
af naturalier), over
paper money, to credit:
Within the city the unearned increment of ground
rent, through the mere increase in communication, brings the owner
automatically increasing profits. At this point, the quantitative
aspect of life is transformed directly into qualitative traits of
character. The sphere of life of the small town is, in the main,
self-contained and autarchic. For it is the decisive nature of the
metropolis that its inner life overflows by waves into a far-flung
national or international area (Georg Simmel: The Metropolis and
Mental Life)
He analysed the great social changes of urbanisation
and modernisation from a humanitarian point of view:
The deepest problems of modern life derive from
the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and
individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social
forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the
technique of life. The fight with nature which primitive man has to
wage for his bodily existence attains in this modern form its latest
transformation. The eighteenth century called upon man to free
himself of all the historical bonds in the state and in religion, in
morals and in economics. Man's nature, originally good and common to
all, should develop unhampered. In addition to more liberty, the
nineteenth century demanded the functional specialization {1} of man
and his work; this specialization makes one individual incomparable
to another, and each of them indispensable to the highest possible
extent (The Metropolis and Mental Life)
In the traditional society life was easygoing and
with a quiet daily rhythm. Time was tied to nature and the changes in
the weather and in nature. The seasons came and went and affected human
life in a very tangible way. The concept of time was thus concrete and
cyclical. Social relations were close face-to-face relations.
In the city life is completely different. The concept
of time changes. We have all heard the saying "Time is money".
Capitalist enterprise and the expansion of trade change the use of - and
the concept of time. Time becomes a rational measure for making money.
Consequently everything is measured in time, and we have to follow time
by constantly consulting watches.
The city has consequences for human relations. They
become anonymous. That is not only negative. It also has an emancipatory
side for urban man. He or she has got rid of the tight social control of
the small community.
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LINKS:
Carfree cities
The Medina in Fes
A Map of the City (poem)
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