author
Roderick Duncan McKenzie
1885–1940
A leading figure in early urban sociology, this Canadian-American scholar helped shape the Chicago School's way of thinking about cities, migration, and human communities. His work explored how people and places influence one another as modern urban life takes shape.
1 Audiobook
The city
by Robert Ezra Park, E. W. (Ernest Watson) Burgess, Roderick Duncan McKenzie
About the author
Born in Carman, Manitoba, in 1885, he went on to become an important sociologist in the United States. He studied at the University of Chicago, where he earned his doctorate, and later became head of the sociology department at the University of Michigan.
He is especially associated with the Chicago School of sociology and with the study of human ecology. His writing focused on cities, neighborhoods, migration, and the social patterns created by urban growth, helping readers see the city as a living social environment rather than just a physical place.
Alongside his academic work, he served as second vice-president of the American Sociological Association in 1932–1933 and was a charter member of the Sociological Research Association. He died in 1940, but his work remains part of the foundation of modern urban sociology.