Urban Poverty and the City

A young man on a shiny new motorcycle zooms by the substandard dilapidated housing of some Mumbai residents. Photo credit: Nicole Carter, Soc 167


For the first time in human history, more people today live in cities than in rural areas. In a generation, over 70% of the world is expected to be urbanized. Urban sociology, then, is more important now than ever before.  Focusing on topics such as urban poverty and slums, wealth and gated communities, neighborhood change and neighborhood effects, housing and residential mobility, and community life and city politics, this research cluster focuses on the inner-workings of cities and urban life.

The department sponsors the Urban Theory and Data Lab.

Affiliated Graduate Students

Related Publications

Chan Tack, A., & Small, M. L. (2017). Making Friends in Violent Neighborhoods. Sociological Science, 4:, 224-48.
Chan Tack, A., & Small, M. L. (2017). Making Friends in Violent Neighborhoods. Sociological Science, 4:, 224-48.
Small, M., Sommer, T. E., Sabol, T. J., Chase-Lansdale, P. L., Wilde, H., Brown, S., & Huang, Z. Y. (2017). Promoting Parents Social Capital to Increase Children’s Attendance in Head Start: Evidence from an Experimental Intervention. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 10(4), 732-66.
Small, M., Sommer, T. E., Sabol, T. J., Chase-Lansdale, P. L., Wilde, H., Brown, S., & Huang, Z. Y. (2017). Promoting Parents Social Capital to Increase Children’s Attendance in Head Start: Evidence from an Experimental Intervention. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 10(4), 732-66.
Winship, C., & O’Brien, D. (2016). The Gains of Greater Granularity: The Presence and Persistence of Problem Properties in Urban Neighborhoods. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 33(3), 649-674.
Winship, C., & O’Brien, D. (2016). The Gains of Greater Granularity: The Presence and Persistence of Problem Properties in Urban Neighborhoods. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 33(3), 649-674.