History of Cities

The first cities In agricultural villages, all inhabitants were involved in some way in getting food Cities were more removed from everyday agricultural activities Food was supplied to the city Not all city dwellers were involved in actual farming Another class of city dwellers supplied services — such as technical skills, and religious interpretation

The first cities Two elements were crucial to this social change Generation of agricultural surplus was necessary for supporting nonfarmers Social system where people had different jobs Existence of distinct elite and lower classes Facilitates the collection, storage, and distribution of resources Well-defined channels of authority that exercise control over goods and people These two set the stage for urbanization

Models for the rise of cities Technical The hydraulic civilization model, developed by Karl Wittfogel Large-scale irrigation systems were the main reason urbanization happened Higher crop yields resulted Food surplus supported development of a large nonfarming population Strong, centralized government, backed by an urban-based military Farmers who resisted new authority were denied water

Models for the rise of cities Technical The hydraulic model cannot be applied to all urban hearths Urban civilization blossomed without irrigation in parts of Mesoamerica The question of how or why a culture might first develop irrigation

Models for the rise of cities Religious Paul Wheatley suggests religion was the motivating factor behind urbanization Knowledge of meteorological and climatic conditions was considered to be within the domain of religion Religious leaders decided when and how to plant crops Successful harvests led to more support for this priestly class Priestly class exercised political and social control that held the city together In this scenario, cities are religious spaces functioning as ceremonial centers First urban clusters and fortification seen as defenses against spiritual demons or souls of the dead

Urban hearth areas Where the first cities appeared, for example: Mesopotamia The Nile Valley Pakistan’s Indus River Valley The Yellow River valley (or Huang Ho) in China Mesoamerica Next slide gives general dates of urban life emergence for each region

Urban hearth areas Generally agreed first cities arose in Mesopotamia River valley of the Tigris and Euphrates in what is now Iraq Cities, small by current standards, covered one-half to two square miles Populations rarely exceeded 30,000 Densities could reach 10,000 per square mile —comparable to today’s cities

Urban hearth areas Early cities, also called cosmomagical cities, exhibited three spatial characteristics Great importance accorded the symbolic center of the city, which was thought to be the center of the known world Often marked by a vertical structure of monumental scale representing the point on Earth closest to the heavens This symbolic center took different forms The ziggurat in Mesopotamia The palace or temple in China The pyramid in Egypt and Mesoamerica The Stupa in the Indus Valley

Cosmomagical City: Beijing, China

Urban hearth areas Early cities, also called cosmomagical cities, exhibited three spatial characteristics. 2nd characteristic: In Mesopotamia, this area was known as the citadel and housed the elite who lived in relative luxury Streets were paved, drains and running water were provided Private sleeping quarters, bathtubs, and water closets were provided Privileges did not extend to the city as a whole

Urban hearth areas Early cities, also called cosmomagical cities, exhibited three spatial characteristics The city was oriented toward the four cardinal directions Geometric form of city would reflect the order of the universe Walls around the city delimited the known and ordered world from the outside chaos Attempt to shape the form of the city according to the form of the universe Thought essential to maintain harmony between human and spiritual worlds

The diffusion of the city from hearth areas Diffusionists believe ideas and techniques from Mesopotamia were shared with people in the Nile and the Indus River valley An alternate view is that trading took place only after these cities were well established

The diffusion of the city from hearth areas Little doubt diffusion is responsible for the dispersal of the city in historical times City used as vehicle for imperial expansion Initially, military controls newly won lands and sets up collection points for local resources As collection points lose some military atmosphere they begin to show the social diversity of a city Native people are slowly assimilated into the settlement as workers and may eventually control the city The process repeats itself as the empire pushes outward

Introduction Patterns seen in the city today are a composite of past and present cultures Two concepts underlie our examination of urban landscapes Urban morphology — physical form of the city, which consists of street patterns, building sizes and shapes, architecture, and density Functional zonation — refers to the pattern of land uses within a city, or existence of areas with differing functions

The Greek city Cities had two distinctive functional zones —the acropolis and the agora The acropolis was similar in many ways to the citadel of Mesopotamian cities Had the temples of worship, storehouse of valuables, and seat of power Served as a place of retreat in time of siege

The Greek city The agora was the province of the citizens A place for public meetings, education, social interaction, and judicial matters Later, after the classical period, it became the city’s major marketplace without losing its atmosphere of a social club

Roman cities As the empire expanded, city life diffused into areas that had not previously experienced urbanization Most cities were established as military (castra) and trading outposts Focal points for collection of local agricultural products Supply centers for the military Service centers for long-distance trading network

Medieval Town: Hirschhorn am Neckar, Germany This town reveals three important features of urban morphology: castle, wall, and cathedral. Hirschhorn castle caps the summit of a fortified spur in the bend of the Neckar River, affording a clear view of the river and forested valley.

The Renaissance and Baroque periods Form and function of the city changed significantly during the Renaissance (1500 — 1600) and baroque (1600-1800) periods Absolute monarchs arose to preside over a unified nation-state Rising middle class slowly gave up their freedoms to join with the king in pursuit of economic gain City size grew rapidly because bureaucracies of regional power structures came to dominate them Trade patterns expanded with the beginning of European imperial conquest City planning and military technology acted to remold and constrain the physical form of the city

The Renaissance and Baroque periods A national capital city rose to prominence in most countries Provincial cities were subjected to its tastes Power was centralized in its precincts First office buildings were built to house a growing bureaucracy Most important, it was restructured to reflect the power of the central government and insure control over urban masses