|1. the social and economic reasons for the development of towns in particular places;|
|2. the types of social relation that characterise towns.|
If we look at these ideas in more detail we will see first of all what is specific about the sociological approach, and secondly how the sociology of development deals with these problems from its particular perspective.
In one sense, when we look at the reasons for the development of a town, we are asking questions about its biography, its history. You may have been taught in geography lessons that big towns like Manchester developed because natural resources were nearby, and these could be processed using the available technology so as to produce cotton goods. That kind of explanation would only be the very beginning of a sociological explanation. It leaves unanswered questions such as: Why did that technology become available and profitable to use at that time?