3 Theories of Community development
THEORIES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITIES
Man has always lived in groups. It was not, however, until human
groups began living a more or less sedentary life that settlements or
communities, appeared. Different theories have been proposed on the development
of communities. Prominent theories of the development of communities are given
below:
1. Gras's
Theory of Economic Change: The eminent economic historian N.S.B. Gras
propounded the theory that the village community was preceded by a nomadic
economy and the latter by a collectional economy, which was the most primitive.
Villages developed into towns when a class of traders settled permanently in
the villages and began trading from their homes. Finally, when conditions were
favorable, the towns developed into metropolises, or large cities, which,
according to Gras appeared with the rise of empires and nation-states. Gras
contended that the following conditions must be present in order for a
metropolis to arise : considerable natural resources, good for transportation
conditions, i.e., land that lends itself to the construction of highways, with
a location near navigation of water but at a considerable distance from other
large cities, and a temperate climate.
2. Cooley's Theory of
Transportation: Charles Horton Cooley put forth the theory that the development
of large cities is primarily due to a "break in transportation" that
is, an interruption in the movement of goods for the purpose of transferring
them from one type of conveyance, say a wagon or railroad, to another, such as
a mule or a boat. He distinguished two type of 'breaks', the physical and the
commercial, both of which may be involved at one the same time. By the first he
meant mere physical transfer or storage of goods, and by the second a change in
ownership. Transfer necessitates various activities which bring people
together. People co-operate to unload and store the commodities and to complete
the financial transactions involved in the transfer of ownership. This
procedure so requires warehouses and financial institutions, each with its
personnel. The persons engaged in various tasks, the primary workers, attract
other secondary workers who cater to their needs. Consequently, houses have to
be built and hotels, lodging houses, and shops have to be established.
Institutions and organizations of all types must be the founded to satisfy the
need of the people. The more extensive the activities connected with the break
in transportation, and the greater is the number of people involved. The
concentration of people and activities stimulates production. As a a result,
manufacturing also develops. Commercial development induces industrial
activity. The modern metropolis video thus comes into existence.
Metropolitanism manifests itself in a remarkable development of
subordinate communities around a central city place or their orientation
towards it, so as to give the arrangement more or less of an integrated unity.
3. MacKenzie's Theory of
Development of Transportation : R.D. McKenzie, in The Metropolitan Community, showed that the
development of each of the three major types of transportation-water, rail, and
motor-had a specific influence upon the course of city development in the
United States. These three types of transportation played effective roles in
certain periods, corresponding to phases of urban development. The water
transportation period was important up to 1850 and marked the development of
urban communities along the sea coasts, lakes, and navigable rivers. Rail
transportation made possible the growth of towns and cities at junctions
inland. Motor transportation, beginning early in the twentieth century, started
the trend towards city regionalism.
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