An URBAN AREA is a location characterized by high human population density and many built environment

features in comparison to the areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is
not commonly extended to rural areas such as villages and hamlets.

SOME OF THE IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF URBAN COMMUNITY ARE AS FOLLOWS:

A sociological analysis of urban community contains several salient features. They are as follows:

1. Size:

As a rule, in the same country and at the same period, the size of an urban community is much larger than that of a
rural community. In other words, urbanity and size of a community are positively correlated.

2. Density of population:

Density of population in urban areas is greater than in rural communities. Urbanity and density are positively
correlated.

3. Family:

So far as urban community is concerned, greater importance is attached to the individual than to the family. Nuclear
families are more popular in urban areas.

4. Marriage:

In case of urban community there is a preponderance of love marriages and inter-caste marriages. One also comes
across a greater number of divorces. Sons and daughters enjoy considerable freedom in choosing their life partners.

5. Occupation:

In the urban areas, the major occupations are industrial, administrative and professional in nature. Divisions of labor
and occupational specialization are very much common in towns/cities/metropolises.

6. Class extremes:

In a city, the slums of the poor exist alongside the palatial bungalows of the rich, amidst the apartments of the
middle class members. The most civilized modes of behavior as well as the worst racketeering are found in the
cities.

7. Social heterogeneity:

If villages are the symbol of cultural homogeneity, the cities symbolize cultural heterogeneity. The cities are
characterized by diverse peoples, races and cultures.

8. Social distance:

Social distance is the result of anonymity and heterogeneity. Most of ones routine social contacts in a town or city
are impersonal and segmentary in character.

9. System of interaction:
This makes city life more complex and varied. The city life is characterized by the predominance of secondary
contacts, impersonal, casual and short-lived relations. Man, at any rate, the man in the street, virtually loses his
identity being treated as a number having a certain address.

10. Mobility:

The most important feature of urban community is its social mobility. In urban areas the social status of an
individual is determined not by heredity or birth but by his merit, intelligence and perseverance. Urbanity and
mobility are positively correlated.

11. Materialism:

In the urban community the social existence of man revolves round wealth and material possessions. The worth of
an urbanite today is being judged not by what he is but by what he has.

12. Individualism:

The urbanites attach supreme importance to their own welfare and happiness. They hesitate to think or act for the
good of others.

13. Rationality:

In urban community there is emphasis on rationality. People are inclined to reason and argue. Their relationship with
others is governed, for the most part, by the consideration of gain or loss.

14. Anonymity:

As Bogardus observes, the Urban groups have a reputation for namelessness. By virtue of its size and population,
the urban community cannot be a primary group.

15. Norm and social role conflict:

The urban community is characterized by norm and social role conflict. Factors such as the size, density and
heterogeneity of the population, extreme occupational specialization and the class structure prevalent in the urban
context lead to such a state of affairs.

16. Rapid social and cultural change:

Rapid social and cultural changes characterize urban life. The importance attached to traditional or sacred elements
has been relegated to the background.

17. Voluntary associations:

The urban community is characterized by impersonal, mechanical and formal social contacts occurring among the
people.

18. Formal social control:

Social control in urban community is essentially formal in nature. Individuals behavior is regulated by such
agencies as police, jails, law courts etc.

19. Secularization of outlook:

In cities ritual and kinship obligations are diluted. Caste and community considerations yield to economic logic.
This results in secularization of outlook.

20. Urban areas provide impulses for modernization in society as a whole.

The United Nations defines COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT broadly as "a process where community members
come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems."

Community development involves changing the relationships between ordinary people and people in positions of
power, so that everyone can take part in the issues that affect their lives. It starts from the principle that within any
community there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channeled into
collective action to achieve the communities' desired goals.

Community development practitioners work alongside people in communities to help build relationships with key
people and organizations and to identify common concerns. They create opportunities for the community to learn
new skills and, by enabling people to act together, community development practitioners help to foster social
inclusion and equality.

DIFFERENT APPROACHES

There are numerous overlapping approaches to community development. Some focus on the processes, some on the
outcomes/ objectives. They include:

Women Self-help Group; focusing on the contribution of women in settlement groups.

Community capacity building; focusing on helping communities obtain, strengthen, and maintain the
ability to set and achieve their own development objectives.

Large Group Capacitation; an adult education and social psychology approach grounded in the activity of
the individual and the social psychology of the large group focusing on large groups of unemployed or semi-
employed participants, many of whom with Lower Levels of Literacy (LLLs).

Social capital formation; focusing on benefits derived from the cooperation between individuals and
groups.

Nonviolent direct action; when a group of people take action to reveal an existing problem, highlight an
alternative, or demonstrate a possible solution to a social issue which is not being addressed through traditional
societal institutions (governments, religious organizations or established trade unions) are not addressing to the
satisfaction of the direct action participants.

Economic development, focusing on the "development" of developing countries as measured by their

economies, although it includes the processes and policies by which a nation improves the economic, political, and
social well-being of its people.

Community economic development (CED); an alternative to conventional economic development which

encourages using local resources in a way that enhances economic outcomes while improving social conditions.
 Sustainable development; which seeks to achieve, in a balanced manner, economic development, social
development and environmental protection outcomes.

Community-driven development (CDD), an economic development model which shifts overreliance on

central governments to local communities.

Asset-based community development (ABCD); is a methodology that seeks to uncover and use the
strengths within communities as a means for sustainable development.

Faith-based community development; which utilizes faith based organizations to bring about community
development outcomes.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR); a partnership approach to research that equitably

involves, for example, community members, organizational representatives, and researchers in all aspects of the
research process and in which all partners contribute expertise and share decision making and ownership, which
aims to integrate this knowledge with community development outcomes.

Community organizing; a term used to describe an approach that generally assumes that social change
necessarily involves conflict and social struggle in order to generate collective power for the powerless.

Participatory planning including community-based planning (CBP); involving the entire community in the
strategic and management processes of urban planning; or, community-level planning processes, urban or rural.

Language-based development; or Language revitalization focuses on the use of a language so that it serves the needs
of a community. This may involve the creation of books, films and other media in the language.