Urbanite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Urbanite is a word used in the United Kingdom to describe a demographic of people who, like yuppies, are young, urban professionals, but unlike yuppies, are socially conscious. This group of people has been called the yuppies of the 21st Century. Their social conscience has been attributed to their living through the “caring, sharing” 90s, while in other ways they may be products of the “greedy, selfish” 80s.
Urbanites can be seen as the very opposite of the lower class group identified as “Chavs”. Urbanites are young, like Chavs, but unlike Chavs, they are educated, upmarket and highly aspirational.
An alternate definition of Urbanite in the United States is a humorous description of recycled concrete, typically from old sidewalks or other flat concrete slabs removed during construction. This derives from names of rock types -- see the number of rock types ending in the 'ite' suffix at List of rocks. See links in a typical search http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=urbanite+concrete
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[edit] Characteristics
Research at the British commuter newspaper Metro has focused on three elements of Urbanites that go some way to defining and describing them:
[edit] Demographics
Urbanites are aged between 17-44, they are full-time working professionals and they are living or working in one the UK’s top 20 urban areas by population (i.e. big cities, not small towns). By our calculations, there are 5 million Urbanites in the UK right now.
[edit] Attitudes
Metro's original qualitative research in 2001 identified Urbanites as having 6 key characteristics: they are time-poor, city-proud, media-literate, brand-centric, trend-sensitive and culturally-aware. They are affluent consumers with an optimistic outlook on life that is very different from those who live in “small town” or rural areas.
[edit] Motivations
The third element towards a sociology and psychology of Urbanites is connected to their expectations from life. Through research on the "Urban Life" consumer panel, Metro has crystallised the 10 “Great Expectations” that above all else motivate and drive Urbanites:
1. Expecting to live a meaningful and experience-rich urban life
2. Expecting to succeed in multiple areas of life (not just career)
3. Expecting to get substantial fulfilment from work (not just cash)
4. Expecting to be at the hub of a large friendship network
5. Expecting the traditional ideal of “true love” in the modern world
6. Expecting to have to “make time” in order to have and enjoy time
7. Expecting to use debt to have what they want, and have it now
8. Expecting to have a progressive government that delivers results
9. Expecting to live in a pleasant “urban village” area of their city
10. Expecting to live a responsible life as an urban consumer
