The size and shape of the city, the transportation routes, and 
the pattern of work-residence locations largely determine the temporal 
life and daily movement of the population. Physical features, such 
as high ground or "the lake front", become visible symbols of status 
„locations. Likewise, differences in types and densities of man-made 
structures, particularly the habitat, mark the difference between a 
slum district and a "gold coast!, or a rooming-house section and a 
"zone of working men's homes”, | 
Many researchers have investigated the sociology of housing and 
the social attributes of residential communities.  Prominent here is 
the work of Faris and Duünham^ who demonstrated several linkages between 
social facts and neighborhoods classified according to certain housing 
characteristics, Among others, Louis Wirth? emphasized housing as a 
social value, and of all housing types in American cities, the single- 
family structure seems to have particular sociological significance. 
It has been said to be indicative of family solidarity. Its occupants 
are generally ascribed higher social status. Some writers have used 
prevalence of single-family homes as an index of urbanization, fertility, 
and labor force characteristics. In addition, this structure is a 
symbol of home-ownership which in turn relates to many social phenomena, 
The many investigations reporting relationships between residence locus 
and status position are aptly summarized by Reimer: 
The city dweller!s "address" tells not only 
where he lives, but where he belongs on the 
Social scale... From street to street and 
from block to block, there is a consciousness 
of social status as conveyed by residence in 
that very locations 
Thus, only a cursory look at sociological literature reveals several 
physical-spatial data categories intimately related to the social 
structure of the city and capable of study by photographic interpretation. 
  
Le Ro Eo Le Faris and He Warren Dunham, Mental Disorders in Urban 
Areas, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1939. 
5. Louis Wirth, "Housing as a Field of Sociological Research", 
American Sociological Review, XII (April 1947), pp. 137 - 143. 
6. Svend Reimer, The Modern City, New York:  Prentice-Hall Inc., 
1952, p. 211,