Moscow in 1897 as a Preindustrial City: A Test of the Inverse Burgess Zonal Hypothesis

Abstract

Numerous studies of American communities have found that status decentralization tends to be the dominant pattern for larger communities undergoing population growth and geographic expansion. Comparative research by Sjoberg and others indicates, however, that the dominant pattern in preindustrial societies has keen for status to be centralized rather than decentralized in the larger communities. An inverse Burgess zonal model thus appears to apply in preindustrial communities. The purpose of this paper is to test the Sjoberg model of the preindustrial city using census data from Moscow in 1897, a major world city that has not been researched for its implications on the theory of urban structure. Data on estates, literacy, education and occupation indicate a centralized status system. Indexes of that reflect a decentralized pattern are the sex ratio, percent with certain physical defects and emotional disorders, and the rate of divorce. The distributional patterns of the socioeconomic status and disorganization in prerevolutionary Moscow were thus consistent with the Sjoberg model of the preindustrial community.