The wish to live in areas with ‘people like us’: metropolitan habitus, habitual urbanity and the visibility of urban-rural differences in South Bavaria, Germany

Abstract

In contemporary urban research, classical notions of differences in mentality between the urban and rural population as known since the writings of Cicero have once again become en vogue. The concept of ‘metropolitan habitus’, elaborated by British Sociologist Tim Butler, is the most influential revival of mental differentiation in this context. With the help of the concept of metropolitan habitus, Butler is able to differentiate between distinct gentrified neighbourhoods in London. The paper takes up this discussion of urban attitudes and lifestyles and presents a slightly different concept of habitual urbanity and residential capital, derived from the work of Pierre Bourdieu. The main aim of these theoretical ideas is the investigation of urban-rural differences and differences within rural areas in relation to urbanity, which is not possible with Butler's urban-focused concept. Therefore, the paper defines urbanity as the contingency of a city, which means its broad range of possible coincidences due to social density. Urbanity manifests itself in the greater scope of action of its inhabitants. Habitual urbanity and residential capital are instrumental in helping people to deal with the broad range of possibilities that urban life offers. After introducing this theoretical conceptualisation, the paper presents empirical results of a visual study concerning urban-rural differences carried out in South Bavaria using the reflexive photography method. The study reveals indications that habitual differences between urbanites and the rural population in terms of urbanity and contingency still exist. These seem to be just a matter of how to respond to the challenges of strangeness and otherness. The study thus demonstrates the empirical potential of the concept of habitual urbanity and residential capital.

Notes

[1] Tallon and Bromley (2004, 773)

[2] Of all the German rural regions, South Bavaria exhibits relatively strong socio-economic dynamics, which makes the very south of Germany an interesting region for urbanisation research (Paesler 1976; Dirksmeier 2009). Furthermore, Munich (1,326,807 inhabitants in 2008) is the urban centre of that region. For at least 35 years population gains are recorded for South Bavaria including Munich as a result of an inner-German, north-south and east-south migration trend. South Bavaria features a combination of dynamic socio-economic growth, a single urban centre and a scenic rural area, which is untypical for Germany and makes the region an interesting spot for investigating urban-rural differences in terms of residential capital and habitual urbanity. In order to select the municipalities for this research an explorative principal components analysis for the assortment of rural municipalities with urban characteristics was carried out using structural data compiled by the Bavarian State Office for Statistics and Data. On the basis of this data the municipalities of Tegernsee and Bodolz/Lake Constance were selected. The village of Tegernsee is situated in the Miesbach district by Lake Tegern. At the end of 2008 3986 residents were registered in this municipality. Bodolz is situated in the Lindau district directly on the shore of Lake Constance. Between 1970 and late 2008 the population of this municipality doubled from 1550 to 3180 inhabitants.