Synekism is a concept in

urban studies Urban studies is based on the study of the urban development of cities and regions—it makes up the theory portion of the field of urban planning. This includes studying the history of city development from an architectural point of view, to th ...

coined by Edward Soja. It refers to the dynamic formation of the

polis Polis (: poleis) means 'city' in Ancient Greek. The ancient word ''polis'' had socio-political connotations not possessed by modern usage. For example, Modern Greek πόλη (polē) is located within a (''khôra''), "country", which is a πατ ...

state — the union of several small urban settlements under the rule of a "capital" city (or so-called

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

or urban system). Soja's definition of synekism, mentioned in ''Writing the city spatially'', is "the stimulus of urban agglomeration."

Social science

From the

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

' view, it is also a "nucleated and hierarchically nested process of political governance, economic development, social order, and cultural identity" Soja.''Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and Regions''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 2000, p.13-14. In densely settled urban places, a

critical mass In nuclear engineering, critical mass is the minimum mass of the fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction in a particular setup. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specific ...

provides potential for innovation that is not typically available in rural environments, therefore synekism can be thought of as the geographical relationships that create and give importance to cities.

Social science

Notes

Further reading