ABSTRACT
The changing nature of exclusive membership groups, locality groups, and governmental structures, based upon the underlying transformation in the space-time ratio and the nature of production, present a multitude of facets necessitating study to the student of urban worlds. Urbanization has been conventionally used as a summary term for three different processes: the growth of cities, the increase in scale of a society, and the culture of city dwellers, or urbanism. Considering the city as the dominant human community in the history of the society of increasing scale, the relevant strategy is one that emphasizes the organizational structure and its dynamics. As the organizational transformation of the society continues, new sources of energy allow further decentralization of work; new techniques of communication and transport allow further spread of organization. The decentralization of residence, work, and play, around the metropolitan area, along with governmental fragmentation, are perhaps mere beginnings.
