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At Penn State, urban and community sociology flourishes due to a strong group of faculty researchers who consider locations as significant, evolving spaces for societal interaction. Our scholars explore various place-centered subjects such as racial and ethnic housing segregation, neighborhood transformation, environmental influences (on crime, health, education, and similar areas), community expansion, urban growth, immigration settlement trends, local connections (social networks, emotional bonds to places, etc.), and economic hardship in both cities and rural areas. These studies often span multiple geographical levels, from local communities to entire metropolitan regions and further. While most research concentrates on North America, some faculty members also examine urban and community dynamics in other global regions.