Urban Conditions: General

Abstract

Solving United States urban problems is an increasingly important concern of the public and of govern ment officials. Social science can make an important contribu tion to solutions by providing urban social indicators. Three general propositions concerning this process are: (1) Social scientists must be prepared for accusations of betrayal from proponents of causes which they have previously supported, if data conflict with objectives of such causes. (2) How indi cators are developed will influence at what level problems are resolved. (3) Social indicators will be developed by profes sors and government executives whose judgments will be based on a value-background different from that of the urban masses being measured. In the light of these propositions, four guidelines for social indicators are suggested: (1) They should be in the realm of disaggregation and correlation. (2) As they cannot be apolitical, they must be pan-political. (3) They should be concerned with the future as well as the present. (4) They should provide comparisons of local, national, and "best practice" data. The indicators should report urban conditions in three categories: (1) people as individuals— numbers, distribution, density, mobility, employment, income, behavior, health, and participation rates; (2) f amilies—un— employment and welfare statistics' correlations and "poverty neighborhood" studies; and (3) institutions—public service and voluntary organizations, business, mass media, education, and urban ecology.—Ed.