Cities can be seen as birthplaces of social experiments and social change. They are characterized by a sizable and heterogeneous population, but also by the fact that social relations show higher levels of anonymity and that social problems and contrasts are more tangible than elsewhere.
The spatial and social mobility of the urban population, the rise and fall of lifestyles and subcultures, and changing social relations between individuals and groups in urban settings become matters of serious political concern and so subjects of social scientific investigation. Cities are unique laboratories, a plethora of people, lifestyles and forms of human behavior can be seen.
Urban sociologists are interested, for instance, in how urbanites deal with public and private domains. They are also interested in how the fate of a diverse population is shaped by the institutional make-up of the city, and how they leave their mark on the urban environment. Urban Sociology is characterized by highly specific approaches, focusing on (qualitative) sociological-historical research and ethnography.
