Conclusions
It has been the goal of this paper to describe longitudinal patterns in urbanization over the last century and to analyze longitudinal relationships between urbanization and selected components of the modernization process. In order to accomplish these goals, an index of urbanization (Su) was constructed which took into consideration not only the proportion of the population in cities of a given size or larger, but also the pattern of the urban size-rank hierarchy.
The description of longitudinal trends was divided into those patterns exhibited by two subsets of countries denoted as “more urbanized” and “less urbanized.” It was shown that urbanization is increasing in both the more urbanized and less urbanized countries, but the periods of most rapid growth in urbanization took place at widely separated points in time. The greatest convergence of the two trends was found to be at the upper end of the urban size-rank hierarchy.
Three hypotheses were investigated in examining the longitudinal relationships between urbanization and selected components of modernization. Evidence was found to support the hypotheses that there is a threshold in the relationship between urbanization and components of modernization and that this threshold historically has been reached sooner by the more urbanized societies. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that processes of modernization will be more strongly related to levels of urbanization at earlier points in historical time.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ARRIAGA, EDUARDO E. 1970 “A New Approach to the Measurement of Urbanization.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 18 (January): 207–18.
BANKS, ARTHUR S. 1970 “Modernization and Political Change: The Latin American and Amer-European Nations.” Comparative Political Studies 2 (January):405–18.
BANKS, ARTHUR S. 1971 Cross-Polity Time-Series Data. Cambridge: MIT Press.
BANKS, ARTHUR S. 1972a “Correlates of Democratic Performance.” Comparative Politics 4 (January):217–30.
BANKS, ARTHUR S. 1972b “Political Characteristics of Nation-States: A Longitudinal Summary.” The Journal of Politics 34 (February): 246–57.
BENJAMIN, ROGER W., et al. 1971 “Modernization and Political Change: A Comparative Aggregate Data Analysis of Indian Political Behavior.” Midwest Journal of Political Science 15 (May):219–61.
BINDER, LEONARD 1971 “The Crisis of Political Development.” In L. Binder et al., Crises and Sequences in Political Development. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
ELDRIDGE, HOPE TEASDALE 1956 “The Process of Urbanization.” In Joseph J. Spengler and Otis D. Duncan (eds.), Demographic Analysis. Glencoe: The Free Press.
FRIEDMAN, JOHN 1971 “The Role of Cities in National Development.” In John Miller and Ralph A. Gakenheimer (eds.), Latin American Urban Politics and the Social Sciences. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
GIBBS, JACK P. 1966 “Measures of Urbanization.” Social Forces 45 (December): 170–77.
GIBBS, JACK P. 1968a “Further Observations on ‘Measures of Urbanization.’ ” Social Forces 47 (December):216–20.
GIBBS, JACK P. 1968b “Reply to Jones and Mitra.” Social Forces 47 (December):222–23.
HUNTINGTON, SAMUEL P. 1968 Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven: Yale University Press.
JONES, EMRYS 1966 Towns and Cities. New York: Oxford University Press.
JONES, F. LANCASTER 1967 “A Note on ‘Measures of Urbanization,’ with a Further Proposal.” Social Forces 46 (December): 275–79.
LERNER, DANIEL 1958 The Passing of Traditional Society. Glencoe: The Free Press.
LIPSET, SEYMOUR M. 1959 “Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy.” American Political Science Review 53 (March): 69–105.
MCCRONE, DONALD J. and CHARLES F. CNUDDE 1967 “Towards a Communications Theory of Democratic Political Development: A Causal Model.” American Political Science Review 61 (March): 72–79.
MEADOWS, PAUL 1969 “Introduction.” In Paul Meadows and Ephraim H. Mizruchi (eds.), Urbanism, Urbanization and Change: Comparative Perspectives. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
MITCHELL, J. CLYDE 1969 “Urbanization, Detribalization, Stabilization and Urban Commitment in Southern Africa: 1968.” In Paul L. Meadows and Ephraim H. Mizruchi (eds.), Urbanism, Urbanization and Change: Comparative Perspectives. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
MITRA, S. 1968 “ ‘Measures of Urbanization’: A Comment.” Social Forces 47 (December):220–21.
RUMMEL, RUDOLPH J. 1970 Applied Factor Analysis. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
SHILS, EDWARD 1965 Political Development in the New States. The Hague: Mouton.
SMITH, ARTHUR K. 1969 “Socio-Economic Development and Political Democracy: A Causal Analysis.” Midwest Journal of Political Science 30 (February): 95–125.
UN (United Nations) 1968a “World Urbanization Trends, 1920–60.” In Urbanization: Development Policies and Planning. New York: Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
UN (United Nations) 1968b “Urbanization and Economic and Social Change.” In Urbanization: Development Policies and Planning. New York: Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
WINHAM, GILBERT R. 1970 “Political Development and Lerner’s Theory: Further Test of a Causal Model.” American Political Science Review 64 (September): 810–18.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Banks, A.S., Carr, D.L. Urbanization and modernization: A longitudinal analysis. St Comp Int Dev 9, 26–45 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02800437
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02800437