The author claims that when understanding the most
important characteristics of a society, one must study
its major cities as they may have a particular
administrative, financial, historical and/or cultural
status in a country. Although studying the major cities
can bring numerously valuable information, we
cannot ignore our focus on the rural areas which
arguably play a more important role in discovering the
crucial features of a society.
First, the research on the studying of major cities could always
help us to understand some key points of a society. For instance,
the primary governments of each country are often located in the
major cities. When it comes to economy, large cities serve as the
prominent center of trade, banking and finance. Furthermore,
people from various places would love to go to sizable cities for
advancing future careers because those areas have developed
ample opportunities and great services in every aspect. These
advantages of large cities can be attributed to their remarkable
geography location and political support from their local
governments. Therefore, studying the major cities is a fine method
to analyze the main characteristics of a social group because
different people, who come from various areas, are inevitably
carrying their own local features. As a result, it is easy to do a
cross-national research about key aspects of a given society in its
large cities, without having to travel excessive miles.
Nevertheless, compared with examining the major cities, some
small towns and rural areas are more valuable for studying the
characteristics of a society, especially referring to its culture.
Oftentimes, we can find representative cultural traditions in the
rural areas. Suburbs and small cities are less convenient for
foreign visitors, so there are fewer possibilities for integration
from alien culture compared with those of big cities. In addition,
because of the uneven economic developments in a society,
people live in rural areas may have less material needs and
social desires due to the economic inclination in developing
metropolises. Consequently, local traditional rituals and customs
mostly exist in countryside areas in many countries as the
citizens in suburb areas perhaps do better in respecting their
local traditions, and therefore, cultural practices in small cities
are more untouched and complete.
Although we can find the representative cultural elements in the major
cities as every society puts a considerable amount money and effort into
building national museums and colossal theatres in the sizeable cities,
such like the most renowned museum, Louvre, in Paris, the capital of
France, the project of studying major cities to realize the characteristics
of a society is limited by the homogenous development of these cities.
Influenced by modernization and globalization, major cities have lost
many of their own special features and share a lot in common.
Nowadays, we can observe more and more communication and
integration between different social groups across nations. As the major
cities are on the frontline of this integration, they are most likely to
influence one another through this assimilation process. That is why an
individual may experience similar sensations towards any major city,
may it be Shanghai, Tokyo or New York, as they share a large number of
analogous traits such as skyscrapers, busy road intersections and
complex traffic routes. Here, the disadvantages of studying major cities
in trying to understand the most characteristics of a certain social group
become evident.
Accordingly, I strongly believe our central focus on
studying the characteristic in a society should be
placed on the small cities rather than simply on the
major ones.
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