How is urbanization negatively effecting our society? The answer to this question is not a simple one. When answering this question, one must understand that urbanization can not be stopped, but only contained in a manner that will help United States to function better as a country.
The more densely populated and more heterogeneous a community is, the more accentuated characteristic can be associated with urbanism. Urbanism promotes urban violence, political instability, crime and aggressive behavior. Rapid population growth in urban areas also perpetuates poverty.
Another major issue being created by this social problem is the breaking of traditional family structure. Our cities are not working well. Sanitation, safety, transportation, education, housing and even electricity are failing. These are all responsibilities of the government, or it is at least their job to regulate the services deemed to be monopolies. And it is a known fact that monopoly is deemed toward inefficiency.
Functionalists look at our cities as a means to profit. Cities are places where everybody visits, and therefore venders can raise their prices and profit more on their products. For example, from my own personal experience, I bought a pack of cigarettes for 3 dollars at my local gas station, and when I visited inner city or landau, I bought the same brand of cigarettes for 4 dollars
In the United States, the breaking of the traditional structure is an issue that has become increasingly noticeable in recent years, particular in urbanized areas. The traditional mom-and-dad-and-children are rarely seen in the inner cities any more. There is a weakened bond of kinship and declining social family significance as America has transferred industrial, educational and recreational activities to specialized institutions outside of the home. It is depriving families of their most characteristic, historical functions. With divorce rates rising, delinquency is also becoming more of a problem than before. In single parent families, parents spent less time with children. The specialized institutions often help, but cannot replace the role of a child guardian. As long as the divorce rate continues to increase, delinquency will continue to increase in these areas as well.
The variations of people give rise to segregation of people by race, religious practice, ethnic heritage as well as economic and social status. Segregation often creates much tension and prejudice between social groups. This can cause physical or mental damage to individuals or society. As for racism and segregation, there is not much that can be done to fix these problems. Individuals will always have their own opinions no matter how ignorant. And the only thing we can do is to hope these problems dye out as we desegregate our communities. People will choose their destination or place of residence according to many different ideals and needs, for example, what fits their budget. The government assumes major responsibility for development, attempting to meet rapidly increasing demand for education, housing, agricultural and industrial development, transportation and employment. The government budget is not distributed equally, mainly due to differentiation in areas. Areas with higher income will obviously have a higher budget to work with. Urban areas are usually lacking in financial resources. Therefore they are not able to repair all the problems in these areas, such as sanitation, education, and many other categories. America has hired approximately 50% more teachers in the last few years than have been hired in the past. But the increasing population keeps the classrooms just as large. The effort does not meet the need. Thus, the problem remains as strong as ever.
Due to the overpopulation in urban areas and lack of employment opportunity, the crime rate is a huge problem in which they are faced with. Also, lack of traditional family structure and weakened bonds of kinship weaken the moral of children growing up in the urban areas. These children grow up in poverty and usually look at crime as a quick and easy way out.
The problems in urban areas are far more serious than can be handled in any short-term efforts. We can only hope to contain them, and attempt to make sure that no more problems arise from the already existing ones.
责任编辑：wangpeng6151
