Sociology

Culture of any pace is a system of beliefs, values, and attitudes that is learned shared among the people living in that place and which forms their thought processes, behaviors and images towards their environment. Just like any place, there is a specific culture prevalent in the urban settings. (n.a, n.d)

Urban Culture
The culture prevalent in urban settings like cities and towns is known as urban culture. There are behaviors, norms and values followed in these settings which are different from rural areas. Such norms and behaviors have developed from the past and extend to present giving a distinctive face to the urban areas.
 
In many countries, urban culture is considered as the modern culture as opposed to traditional culture of the rural settings. Where the rural culture is one where farmers and other such people are part of a closed community and there is a strong sense of collectivism, urban culture is more about individualism and impersonality. Whereas in rural settings, people follow a monotonous life with a particular living style by everyone, in urban settings there has been vast immigration bringing a mass of people from different localities and social settings which is why there is a diverse way in which people spend their lives. (Green, 1997)
 
In order to understand the culture of the modern cities, it must first be understood how cities developed. The development of cities is a result of capitalism. The beginning of industrial revolution and development of the market economy led to a change from the rural way of living to an urban lifestyle. As a result of these, new needs and wants of the citizens were created where at fist demand exceeded supply. Production and manufacturing operations as well as shopping outlets were built to respond to the consumerism. This led to developed cities and successful towns that everyone wanted to be a part of, thus resulting in immigration from rural areas to urban areas. Here a transformation was seen from the old traditional rural lifestyle to modern ways of living. Traditional norms were replaced by modern acceptable practices. Factories, markets, offices and banks emerged and there was an increase in diversity of cultures that people belonged to as many travelled from different areas to be a part of the modernized cities. However, following all this growth and development were the social issues. Many people could benefit from the increasing wealth while others remained poor and were still struggling, thus leading to inequality as well as crime. The sense of community was replaced by need for individualism and freedom. Restlessness and creativity became part of everyday life. (Lin, 2005)

Theories
There are many reasons why such a culture developed. People in search of a better life got involved in the race of productivity. Many theories have attempted to explain the behavior and values that emerged as a result. There are several theories of urban sociology developed by Karl Marx, Max Weber and other famous sociologists. According to early sociologists, the city is a place with a selfish, materialistic and inhuman social setting. The wild pursue of production and money leads to the destruction of the community values of selflessness and concern that were initially present in people.
 
According to Karl Marx, before industrialization began, society had traditional values and was in organized in the form of tribes where the member of each tribe looked out for other members of the tribe. As cities developed, there was an emergence of civilization. There was an increased understanding of politics as well as productivity and specialization in economics. Along with the economic freedom came the social issues of inequality which created social classes and causes conflict. (n.a, 2010)
 
Ferdinand Tonnies (1855-1936) a German sociological also studied the arrangement of the city. He differentiated between the rural and the urban culture by discussing two forms in which humans have organized themselves in society. One is the community where people have a strong sense of unity, a common goal of working for the overall benefit of everyone, living with families who they care about, working on the land where they live and have traditional norms which all of them follow. Another is the association which explains the life and people of the big city which is characterized by individual freedom, mechanic life, rational and calculating minds where each person has his own selfish goals. So in both settings people are living together, but in a community they are united, while this is not so much in the case of an association where individualism prevails. (n.a, 2001)
 
Other theorists have also studied the urban culture in much detail and have developed explanations of their understandings on the topic. Louis Wirth of University of Chicago is one of these. He formed descriptions regarding the urban lifestyle and culture. According to him, the city is big, densely populated by permanent inhabitants who are diverse in their cultural and social backgrounds. The culture of the cities can be defined using these three dimensions. When there is a large population, there are bound to be differences in the people living together, especially when many f them are immigrants. To control these differences, formal systems need to be developed, whether they are legal, economic or social. The density of population reflects the effect of a huge population on the communal life. There is a tendency to categorize people in order to understand the culture better. There may be a higher acceptance of the differences but stereotyping may lead to impartial behavior towards one category of people over the other. Diversity in the population leads to breaking of the lines that once existed between castes. However, this increases confusion as social movement among classes increases due to the opportunities that exist in the city which enable one to belong to a better social class.

Having discussed these theories, it is essential to understand the recent findings on the culture of people living in cities. After industrialization and urbanization, there has been a need to be better and more educated in order to have good jobs and enjoy better living standards. Social acceptance has become dependent on the amount of education and wealth that one can accumulate and the social economic class one belongs to. Theres a sense of achievement and freedom that each person wants. People want to live their lively free of anyones intervention so they can make their decisions about their education and wealth as they can best. There is a lot of competition leading to fewer jobs than applicants and causing problems like unemployment. The resources are scarce and while some people gain wealth others are still the target of poverty. Racial discrimination and other such social factors also cause conflict in cities.
 
However, it has been noticed that there are some bonds that take preference over anonymity. These are family ties, religious bonds, work etc. which lead to formation of different kinds of relationships. Thus relationships are not just determined on biological basis. Also, people have a different behaviors towards public as compared to their private image if themselves and the way they spent their lives privately. Therefore, people are highly capable of adapting to different situations, employing the demeanor which is best in a particular setting.
 
There is now an understanding that if competition prevails then due to lack of resources the scenario will remain such that some will benefit while others will suffer. For the society to succeed cooperation is essential. Many socialists including Karl Marx, support the development of a community where technology and effort should be used to benefit all and not just a few. This is being recognized in companies existing in urban setting where work is not just ordered in a hierarchy but shared by employees. Where the culture was initially that of competition - the best employee gets the best salary - now the culture is of cooperation where employees are empowered so that benefits are for the entire company which in turn benefits the employees and owners. Such a culture is essential for the long term survival in the urban life. (Einstein, 1949)

Conclusion
In the urban setting today, there is a widespread set of values and attitudes that combine to form the urban culture. The movement from the rural culture to urban culture has seen evident changes in the lifestyle and beliefs of people. Whether these changes have been good or bad depends on the perception of the various theorists and individuals. While on one side society has seen speedy development, at the other there has been exploitation of some classes over the other. It is essential for the urban society to understand the need for equality and sustainability and address the social issues present in the urban culture in order to ensure long term survival and societal benefits.