Separating out the levels: Globalization, identity, and the Ekistic Grid in sociological perspective

The author is S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, at the University of Toronto. His special areas are Urban Sociology and Social Ecology, with a focus on built environments. His most recent book is Time Use: Expanding Explanation in the Social Sciences (Boulder, CO,Paradigm Publishers, 2005). Previous books include: Man and his Urban Environment: A Sociological Approach (1970 and 1976), Environmental Choice, Human Behavior, and Residential Satisfaction (1977), From Sun to Sun: Daily Obligations and Community Structure in the Lives of Employed Women and their Families (1985), Methods in Environmental and Behavioral Research (1987), and the Handbook of Environmental Sociology (2002). He is a member of the World Society for Ekistics, as well as the Royal Society of Canada. The text that follows is a slightly revised and edited version of a paper presented at the international symposion on "Globalization and Local Identity," organized jointly by the World Society for Ekistics and the University of Shiga Prefecture in Hikone, Japan, 19-24 September, 2005.