THE BASES OF URBANISM IN TEXAS.

The article discusses the basis of urbanism in Texas. The paper presented in the article is in the nature of a preliminary report of a study begun some months ago on the subject of urbanism in Texas. While it is necessarily incomplete, the facts already secured justify presentation of certain conclusions as to the causal factors involved in the location and development of cities in this state. No particular method is utilized in the study to the exclusion of others. Geography is consulted for the facts about the natural environment, to which human life must inevitably adapt itself. History yields information about events, many apparently accidental, which have figured in the location of settlements, later expanded into cities. Statistical correlations show connections between various phenomena, from which the relationship of cause and effect may be inferred. Case studies of selected units give the necessary detail for a sympathetic understanding and appreciation of the interplay of forces between individual and community. The plan of the study as a whole is cast on broad lines. Taking aggregation of population as the prerequisite of urbanism, the investigators have undertaken, as their first task, to present a picture of growth of urban population in Texas. This is obviously necessary for a delineation of the field. The second task involves the discovery, classification and evaluation of the factors responsible for the location and increase of urban aggregations.