Urban Sociology

Jane Jacobs, the author of, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," compared the city to an ecosystem. Before going in and quickly trying to adjust it and put massive amount of work in, it first has to be studied. There has to be community/planning, meaning it would be a very good idea to go into the community and talk with the people there and observe the way that they're living. This is how the observer could get a sense of that community and the way communication takes place and the form and sense of community.
The neighborhood is the basis of America social fact. The approach of the neighborhood may be different from city to suburbs. Some may feel that a neighborhood is just the fact of walking to your neighbor's house and being comfortable with them and conversating with them whereas others are fine with just saying a simple hello or a wave.
There is a modernist approach formed by Wright where Paternalism is intertwined and it is a physicalist fantasy, where specialists and professionals are needed to observe the city and neighborhood in order to understand it. In contrast this is different then the new urbanism approach where people should talk with others in the city community before letting specialists come into the picture and intertwine with changing the city.