International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

On Theorising the City: Major Perspectives in Urban Sociology

This paper reviews four major theoretical perspectives in urban sociology to explain how sociologists have understood the city and urban life in different ways. It begins with the ecological perspective of Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and R. D. McKenzie, which views the city as a spatial order shaped by competition, succession, and differentiation. It then examines the political economy perspective, including Neo-Marxian and Neo-Weberian approaches, which interpret urban development through capitalism, class, markets, state power, and inequality. The paper also discusses the network perspective, focusing on Manuel Castells and Jan van Dijk, to show how information, communication technologies, and digital connectivity have transformed cities into nodes within wider networks. Finally, it considers the cultural perspective through Georg Simmel, Max Weber, and Louis Wirth, highlighting urban experience, individuality, social distance, and urbanism as a way of life. The paper argues that no single perspective can adequately explain the complexity of the city. Instead, urban sociology is strongest when these perspectives are read together, as each illuminates a different dimension of contemporary urban life. Taken together, they provide a broader and more balanced understanding of urban space, power, culture, and social relations.