Page 481 - Essencials of Sociology

454 CHAPTER 14 Population and Urbanization

Let’s turn to a different aspect of population: where people live. Because more and
more people around the world are living in cities, let’s look at urban trends and urban life.

Urbanization

As I was climbing a steep hill in Medellin, Colombia, in a district called El Tiro, my in-
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Video: Sociology in Focus: formant, Jaro, said, “This used to be a garbage heap.” I stopped to peer through the vegeta-
Population, Urbanization, tion alongside the path we were on, and sure enough, I could see bits of refuse still sticking
and Environment out of the dirt. The “town” had been built on top of garbage.
This was just the first of my many revelations that day. The second was that the Medellin
police refused to enter El Tiro because it was so dangerous. I shuddered for a moment, but
I had good reason to trust Jaro. He had been a pastor in El Tiro for several years, and he
knew the people well. I was confident that if I stayed close to him, I would be safe.
Actually, El Tiro was safer now than it had been. A group of young men had banded
together to make it so, Jaro told me. A sort of frontier justice prevailed. The vigilantes told
Early cities were small economic the prostitutes and drug dealers that there would be no prostitution or drug dealing in El
centers surrounded by walls to keep Tiro and to “take it elsewhere.” They killed anyone who robbed or murdered someone. And
out enemies. These cities had to be they even made families safer—they would beat up any man who got drunk and battered
fortresses, for they were constantly
under threat. This photo is of Ávila, “his” woman. With the threat of instant justice, the area had become much safer.
Spain, whose walls date from 1090. Jaro then added that each household had to pay the group a monthly fee, which turned
out to be less than a dollar in U.S. money. Each business had to pay a little more. For this,
they received security.
As we wandered the streets of El Tiro, it did look safe—but I still stayed close to Jaro.
And I wondered about this group of men who had made the area safe. What kept them
from turning on the residents? Jaro had no answer. When Jaro pointed to two young
men, who he said were part of the ruling group, I asked if I could take their picture.
They refused. I did not try to snap one on the sly.
My final revelation was El Tiro itself. On pages 456 and 457, you can see some of the
things I saw that day.