Cities 07

One of the starkest differences between the writings of these four authors is their views concerning the role of the city in facilitating or hindering the union of communities. Whitman and Stansell both see the city as a milieu in which different communities and classes, with sometimes opposing ideologies, are able to come together creating new social frameworks, whereas Wirth and Engels view the effects of urbanity as further separating individuals from one another. It is difficult to say which of these authors are correct in their assumptions, for (apart from Whitman and Stansell) they are writing about different cities in different times. However, I will argue generally that cities serve to bind rather than detach differing communities.
In his prose Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Whitman describes the city as a place in which many people of divergent classes and characters come together and share a common experience. In addition, his writing suggests that people come to the city in order to find an identity, which infers urban areas to be accepting and tolerant places where individuals are able to experiment with varying lifestyles. The following passages might help to articulate these points.

I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence,
Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt,
Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd,
Just as you are refresh'd by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh'd,

Saw many I loved in the street or ferry-boat or public assembly, yet never told them a word,
Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnawing, sleeping,

As is clear from these words, Whitman creates an image of the city wherein individuals are bonded together through the shared experience of urbanity. There is not a feeling of separation and fear of the stranger, which is often associated with the city, but rather the description often associated with a small town where neighbors are considered to be a sort of family. Such a description is not so strange if the city is viewed as an agglomeration of towns in the form of neighborhoods, clubs, communities etc, which form yet a larger unified community taking the form of the city. Similarly, Stansell describes the bars and cafés of New York as places where strangers of all kinds come together and traverse previously existing social and economic barriers. All the members of the community, rich or down and out, intellectual or blue collar, are able to come together in a common place and share the common experience of cosmopolitan life. Stansell points out that the experience of bohemia is something that is not only desired by all kinds of people but also accessible to them.
Contrary to the views of Whitman and Stansell, Wirth speaks of the substitution of “primary for secondary contacts.” He argues that although a city dweller may have more acquaintances, they are not of the profound nature as those found in rural areas. One could argue against this point by noting that while there are certainly more secondary contacts in urban areas, this is not indicative of there being fewer primary contacts; that urbanites still have close friends and relatives in the city but also have as contacts those whom they pass by on a daily basis while running errands, going to work, or visiting any number of small businesses in their neighborhood. Wirth also argues that the city causes for the breaking down of the neighborhood. I see this in the exact opposite way especially when considering the social workings of suburbs (which might not be entirely fair to Wirth as they were ahead of his time). It seems as though being separated from one’s neighbor and communicating only by the occasional wave across a large yard and chain link fence is far more impersonal than the secondary contacts of urban areas. Instead of walking to the corner store, residents hop in protective pods and drive to a large grocery store where they get a different cashier with every visit. Having space allows people to separate themselves from one another instead of meeting face to face. With density, on the other hand, individuals are obliged to acknowledge the existence of others.