Transcript Urbanization

Questions to Answer
 1.
How did your city change
over time?
 2. How would you re-design
your city?
 3. What are the benefits of
urban planning?
The First Urban Revolution
Two components enable the
formation of cities:
1.
an agricultural surplus
2.
social stratification
(a leadership class)
Six Hearths of Urbanization
In each of these hearths, an agricultural surplus and social stratification
created the conditions necessary for cities to form and be maintained.
Six Hearths of Urbanization
Mesopotamia, 3500 BCE
 Nile River Valley, 3200 BCE
 Indus River Valley, 2200 BCE
 Huang He and Wei River Valleys, 1500
BCE
 Mesoamerica, 1100 BCE
 Peru, 900 BCE

Indus River Valley
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were
two of the first cities of the Indus
River Valley.
- intricately planned
- houses equal in size
- no palaces
- no monuments
Huang He and Wei River Valleys
The Chinese
purposefully planned
their cities.
- centered on a
vertical structure
- inner wall built
around center
- temples and
palaces for the
leadership class
Terracotta Warriors guarding the tomb of the Chinese Emperor Qin Xi Huang
Mesoamerica
Mayan and Aztec Civilizations
Many ancient cities were theocratic centers where rulers were
deemed to have divine authority and were god-kings.
Mesoamerica
Between 300
and 900 CE,
Altun Ha,
Belize served
as a thriving
trade and
distribution
center for the
Caribbean
merchant
canoe traffic.
Diffusion of Urbanization
The Greek Cities
by 500 BCE, Greeks were highly
urbanized.
 Network of more than 500 cities and towns
 On the mainland and on islands
 Each city had an acropolis and an agora
Athens, Greece
the agora
the acropolis
Diffusion of Urbanization
The Roman Cities
a system of cities and small towns,
linked together with hundreds of miles
of roads and sea routes.
 Sites of Roman cities were typically for trade.
 A Roman city’s Forum combined the acropolis and
agora into one space.
 Roman cities had extreme wealth and extreme
poverty (between 1/3 and 2/3s of empire’s
population was enslaved).
Roman Empire
The Roman Forum
Aqueducts in Nimes, France
During the mercantile era, the cities that thrived were embellished by
wealthy merchant families, who built ornate mansions, patronized the
arts, participated in city governments, and supported the reconstruction
of city centers.
Genoa,
Italy
Site and Situation during European
Exploration
• The relative importance of the interior
trade routes changed when European
maritime exploration and overseas
colonization ushered in an era of oceanic,
worldwide trade.
• The situation of cities like Paris changed
from being crucial in an interior trading
route to being left out of an oceanic trade.
• After European exploration took off during
the 1400s, the dominance of interior cities
Site and Situation during European
Exploration
Coastal cities remained crucial after exploration
led to colonialism
 The trade networks European powers
commanded (including the slave trade) brought
unprecedented riches to Europe’s burgeoning
medieval cities, such as Amsterdam (the
Netherlands), London (England), Lisbon
(Portugal), Liverpool (England), and Seville
(Spain)
 As a result, cities that thrived during
mercantilism took on similar properties

The Second Urban Revolution
The Second Urban Revolution
A large scale movement of people to cities to
work in manufacturing. Made possible by:
1. second agricultural revolution that
improved food production and created a
larger surplus
2. industrialization, which encouraged
growth of cities near industrial resources
Industrialized regions of Europe, 1914
Fig. 10.19
Metropolitan areas of 3 million or more. Only metropolitan areas with a population of
5 million or more are named. Massive urbanized districts are no longer
characteristic only of the industrialized, developed countries. They are now found on
every continent, all latitudes, as part of most economies and societies. Not all cities
in congested areas are shown.
Average annual urban population growth rates. An urban growth rate of 5% means
that a country’s city population will double in just 14 years.
Urban?