Today in class, we discussed how certain aspects of a social structure, such as population density, might affect the life experiences of members of that society.
An example of this discussed in class was Kowloon, formerly a walled slum of Hong Kong. The population of this small part of town was approximately 50,000, while the population density was 1,900,000 per square kilometer. A person growing up in this environment would have considerably different life experiences than someone growing up in London, where the population density is only 4669 per square kilometer.
In the United States is there so much of a difference in growing up in a highly populated area than growing up in a less populated area? I feel like in different countries it has more of an effect on people's life experiences than it does here. Here, most people have close to the same opportunities. (or at least that's what our country strives for)
ReplyDeleteThis picture absolutely blows my mind. I do kind of agree that in the United States there is less of an effect. For example, I've met people at OU that grew up in a town of 400, and I've also met people that live in big cities.
ReplyDeleteI come from one of the fastest growing suburbs in Ohio. It's called Lewis Center (a suburb about 20 mins outside of Columbus). I have lived here my whole life. Over the past 18 years it is interesting to see how much its changed. Everything was farmlands 18 years ago. Then, a few years ago the Polaris Mall was put in. This changed a lot in my town. I know this is no where close to as dense as Hong Kong, but if society hadn't put in everything within my town then it would of affected my life experience greatly. For example, the malls and surrounding restaurants provide jobs for my society. Across the street from the mall is the Chase Bank headquarters which provides jobs for more than 2,000+ people. It is truly crazy to think all of this was not there ten years ago. All of my life experiences would be way different. I wouldn't have my seasonal job at Victoria Secret. I would have to drive farther to get to a local bank or grocery store. My fast growing society opened a lot of opportunities for the people in my town and myself.
ReplyDeleteI think all of you raise great points. I think it is probably true that differences in density and impact on peoples lives are certainly greater in other countries. One reason is that the density in places like Hong Kong or Singapore are much greater. The second is that there are much greater technological and economic contrasts between urban and rural in many other countries.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand-- seeing the effects of growth in communities in the US is still quite striking and living someplace that goes through that kind of growth can really change peoples lives.
I considered myself rather naive before entering college and learning about different people's life experiences. I transferred from Mount Union and my roomate was from a small town in Florida called Lakeland. It is for lack of a better word a country town. They have one mall, one movie theater, and one grocery store. This was a major contrast to my lifestyle living in Cleveland Heights, Oh where I am surronded by different malls, stores, movie theaters, and other venues where people can socialize, eat, shop, network and many other things. What was interesting was how the economic status' of our city were polar opposites. It made me realize how living in a cosmopolitan city versus a more rural town can provide opportunities that you take for granted. Jobs among one thing was the biggest area that jumped out at me. In the summer there is no difficulty for teenagers to find seasonal jobs to work at and he expressed to me how most teenagers do not work and if they do work it is not for much money at all because the jobs are reserved for adults so they can provide for their families.
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