Scott Greer

Bio: Scott Greer is an academic researcher from University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Metropolitan area. The author has an hindex of 17, co-authored 30 publications receiving 810 citations.

Urbanism Reconsidered: A Comparative Study of Local Areas in a Metropolis

Abstract: THE investigation of the internal differentiation of urban population has been concerned chiefly with economic rank and ethnic diversity, and with the differences which accompany variations in these factors. Such studies throw little light upon the broad, non-ethnic, cultural differences generated in the metropolitan environment, i.e., upon "urbanism as a way of life." While there has been much concern, theoretically, with the effects of the metropolitan ambit upon all social relationships, most of the empirical basis of urban theory has been the study of small "natural areas" or the study of gross regularities in census data, arranged spatially for analysis. Perhaps the best evidence bearing upon this larger question of "urbanism" has been the study of urban neighborhoods. The work of Donald Foley, for example, indicates that in a sample of Rochester residents (1) the neighborhood pattern still exists to some degree, but, (2) many individuals do not neighbor and do not consider their local area to be a social community.' Such studies approach the propositions that urban society is functionally rather than spatially organized and that urbanites are mobile, anonymous, and lacking in identification with their local area. To gauge the generality of Foley's conclusions, however, one needs to know where the neighborhoods he studied fit in an array of neighborhoods. Because wide variation exists, the relation between the area studied and others is crucial for the hypothsis tested; most of Rochester may be much more neighborhood oriented, or much less so, than the area studied. The Shevky-Bell typology of urban subareas is useful in this connection, for it allows any census tract to be located in three different arrays by means of three indices constructed from census data.2 It is hypothesized that these represent three dimensions within urban social space, each statistically unidimensional and independent of the others. The dimensions are social rank, segregation, and urbanization.3 The last largely measures differences in family structure, and, it is assumed, indicates corollary differences in behavior. Thus, when social rank and segregation are controlled, differences in the index of urbanization for specific tract populations should indicate consistent variations in social behavior. One purpose of the present research was to determine the nature of such corollary differences, and particularly differences in social participation. This report is based upon a pilot study of differences in social participation between sample populations in two Los Angeles areas (census tracts 35 and 63).4 The two tract populations are nearly identical with respect to two of the indices (social rank and segregation) and differ on the third, urbanization.

The Emerging City: Myth and Reality

Abstract: The Emerging City was written at a time when the great transformation from urban to suburban lifestyle was under way. It is a tribute to Scott Greer that his work understood the new contours of the city, and also well appreciated that far from spelling the end of urban life, the new developments in communication and transportation only served to change the social and political structure of modern societies. Greer established the principle that in urban affairs, public policy follows the market. The task of this fine work was to chart just how this flow took place. A careful researcher and writer, Scott Greer herein poses the largest questions of urban existence: What needs for fellowship and freedom are bedrock? What is gained and what is lost as urbanization unfolds? Can one speak of certain urban arrangements as good or bad for humans? The Emerging City attempts a theory of society within which the changing city could be interpreted at the social, political, and symbolic levels. The modern city is no longer an autonomous unit, but very much a part of, often at the center of, national and even international developments. As Janet Abu-Lughod points out in her sharp introduction most of the themes that are now in common usage owe their beginnings to Scott Greer.

The concept of community : readings with interpretations

Abstract: "Community" is a basic concept, perhaps the basic concept, in social science and in social philosophy. Its meanings are many and varied, yet it is pre-eminent in discussions of man and his world. The editors of this book have selected material from many sources in an attempt to explore the meaning and relevance of the idea of community as it is used in social science, political commentary, and general literature.The book is organized around four basic problems: What aspect of social life is community? What is the character of community in different settings? What is the relationship of politics to community? What is the prospect for community in today's changing world? To answer these questions, the editors have drawn from historical and contemporary sources in political philosophy, empirical social science, anthropology, sociology, history, political science, and ancient and modern literature (e.g., Isaac Bashevis Singer, C. P. Snow, Lawrence Durrell, and others)--all reflecting a broad spectrum of attitudes and approaches. Community is considered in both Western and non-Western societies. The editors introduce each chapter of the book with a critique and provide the reader with an informed general commentary.Including some of the classic statements on the meaning and importance of "community" while drawing upon new sources of insight, this book supplements courses relating to this central concept. Emphasizing the idea of community as an aspect of social organization and political life, it is especially useful in political science and sociology courses dealing with local politics and the urban world.

Housing Segregation, Negro Employment, and Metropolitan Decentralization

Abstract: I. Negro residential segregation, 176. — II. Segregation in Detroit and Chicago, 178. — III. The distribution of negro employment, 179. — IV. Negro employment by occupation and industry, 183. — V. The level of nonwhite employment, 189. — VI. Suburbanization and negro employment, 191. — VII. Postwar dispersal of employment and population in Chicago, 192. — VIII. Conclusions, 196.

"Urbanism as a Way of Life" A Review and an Agenda

Abstract: Louis Wirth's classic description of the social and psychological effects of urbanism is organized into a model for the purpose of reviewing relevant theory and empirical research. Evidence on predicted structural effects (differentiation, formal integration and anomie) and individual effects (sensory overload, role mobility, isolation and deviance) is, at most, mixed. The best-supported predictions are of differentiation and deviance. Alternative models of urban life are explored, and, in the process of the review, research directions are suggested.

Seeing Disorder: Neighborhood Stigma and the Social Construction of Broken Windows

Abstract: This article reveals the grounds on which individuals form perceptions of disorder. Integrating ideas about implicit bias and statistical discrimination with a theoretical framework on neighborhood racial stigma, our empirical test brings together personal interviews, census data, police records, and systematic social observations situated within some 500 block groups in Chicago. Observed disorder predicts perceived disorder, but racial and economic context matter more. As the concentration of minority groups and poverty increases, residents of all races perceive heightened disorder even after we account for an extensive array of personal characteristics and independently observed neighborhood conditions. Seeing disorder appears to be imbued with social meanings that go well beyond what essentialist theories imply, generating self-reinforcing processes that may help account for the perpetuation of urban racial inequality.

Homophily in voluntary organizations: Status distance and the composition of face-to-face groups.

Abstract: Recent work on the organized sources of network ties and on the social structural determinants of association are synthesized to produce several hypotheses about homophily. These hypotheses are tested with data on 304 face-to-face groups from 10 communities. We find that friends are more similar on status dimensions than chance and that this homophily is produced both by the restricted opportunity structure offered by the group and by homophilous choices made within the group. Organizational heterogeneity leads to substantially greater dyadic status distance within the organization, while organization size consistently reduces dyadic status distance. At a given level of diversity, a larger group will permit more homophilous friendship pairing. However, correlated status dimensions create little reduction in dyadic social distance. In general, homogeneity within groups is the overwhelming determinant of homophily.

From private attitude to public opinion: A dynamic theory of social impact.

Abstract: A computer simulation modeled the change of attitudes in a population resulting from the interactive, reciprocal, and reeursive operation of Latan~'s (198 I) theory of social impact, which specifies principles underlying how individuals are affected by their social environment. Surprisingly, several macrolevel phenomena emerged from the simple operation of this microlevei theory, including an incomplete polarization of opinions reaching a stable equilibrium, with coherent minority subgroups managing to exist near the margins of the whole population. Computer simulations, neglected in group dynamics for 20 years, may, as in modern physics, help determine the extent to which group-level phenomena result from individual-level processes. Writing about social phenomena, social scientists have produced empirical generalizations and theoretical analyses of social processes representing differing levels of social reality. Some analyses concern the cognitions, feelings, and behavior of individuals; others deal with small, medium, or large groups, collectivities, and organizations; still others involve such largescale human aggregates and systems as nations, societies, or cultures. Theories can be and are formulated and tested independently for phenomena at each of these levels, but one can also ask about the relations between mechanisms operating at different levels (Doise, 1986; Kenny, 1987; Nowak, 1976). These relations may be of two kinds. The functioning of higher level units (e.g., social groups) may be partly or completely determined and therefore explained by mechanisms known from theories describing phenomena at lower levels (e.g., human individuals). Alternatively, the functioning of lower level units (e.g., individuals) may be affected by the higher level units to which they belong. In other words, individuals in a given social context behave differently than they would outside that context. These relations, taken together, suggest that the interactive impact of individuals and their social context can result in the emergence of new regularities at the levels of both the individual