THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE DEVELOPED IN THIS MONOGRAPH (PART OF A KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY SERIES ON COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT) FOCUSES ON THE DEMOGRAPHIC AND ECOLOGICAL STRUCTURING OF COMMUNITIES BOTH LARGE AND SMALL, THE CHARACTER OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND OF INTERACTION IN COMMUNITIES, (INCLUDING PATTERNS OF VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION AND NONPARTICIPATION), COMMUNITY POWER STRUCTURES AND LEADERSHIP, COMMUNITY CLEAVAGES AND CONFLICT, AND THE TREND TOWARD GREATER INTERDEPENDENCE AMONG COMMUNITIES. AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO SET FORTH THE TRENDS THAT HAVE OCCURRED BECAUSE OF URBANIZATION AND TO EXAMINE IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING AND ACTION. IN PARTICULAR, AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE THE DISTRIBUTION OF FACILITIES AND SERVICES IN KANSAS IS SEEN IN THE OPTIMISTIC RESPONSES OF COMMUNITY LEADERS TO A RECENT SURVEY ON THE FEASIBILITY OF FORMING INTEGRATED COMPLEXES OF SMALL COMMUNITIES. (THE DOCUMENT INCLUDES EIGHT CHARTS AND 32 REFERENCES.) (LY)