ABSTRACT
WHILE material on the pre-industrial city was relatively scarce and scattered at the time Wirth was writing, data on industrial cities was already plentiful, though not usually organized to provide tests of his theory. The present chapter therefore begins by selecting some of the data which are most pertinent to Wirth's theory, and attempts to test it. The organization of this part closely parallels the second section of the preceding chapter. In particular, attention will be focused on the structure of the city rather than on the processes within it. These tests will be followed by an examination of the evidence on classificatory schemes for cities ; evidence on the social areas within a city; and finally on the functioning of primary groups within the context of the city. These subjects will occupy the four sections of the chapter.
