Ernest Burgess

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Ernest Watson Burgess (May 16, 1886 – December 27, 1966) was an urban sociologist at the University of Chicago. Burgess was born in Tilbury, Ontario, and educated at Kingfisher College in Oklahoma. He continued graduate studies in sociology at the University of Chicago. In 1916, he returned to the University of Chicago, as a faculty member. Burgess also served as the 24th President of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

[edit] Research

Burgess' groundbreaking social ecology research, in conjunction with his colleague, Robert E. Park, provided the foundation for The Chicago School. In The City ^[1], they conceptualized the city into the concentric zones, including the central business district, transitional (industrial, deteriorating housing, ...), working class residential (tenements), residential, and commuter/suburban zones. They also viewed cities as something that experiences evolution and change, in the Darwinian sense.

[edit] Bibliography

Burgess, Ernest W., Robert E. Park. (1921) Introduction to Science of the Sociology. ISBN 0-8371-2356-9.
↑ Park, Robert E., Ernest W. Burgess and Roderick D. McKenzie. (1925) The City, University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-64611-4.