| Description |
1 online resource (350 pages) : illustrations |
| Series |
Urban archaeological pasts |
| Contents |
List of Figures -- List of Tables -- List of Case Studies -- Preface -- 1 Premodern Cities and the Wide Urban World -- Theses on Premodern Cities -- The Dimensions of Urbanism -- Defining Cities and Urbanism -- Expanding the Boundaries of Urbanism -- My Basic Model -- The Context of This Book -- Premodern Cities and Urbanism Today -- 2 The Prehistory of Energized Crowding -- Energized Crowding -- Hunter-Gatherers and the Earliest Human Settlements -- Early Farming Villages -- What We Don't Know about the Development of the Earliest Cities -- The Built Environments of Energized Crowding -- Into the Urban Realm -- 3 The Size of Cities and Settlements -- Why Is Population Size Important? -- Population Density -- Crowds, Stress, and Cognitive Overload -- Neighborhoods and Community Formation -- Low-Density Cities -- Voluntary Camps: High-Density Temporary Settlements -- Cities as Social Reactors: Settlement Scaling and Economic Growth -- Settlement Size Data -- Size Is Important -- 4 States, Cities, and Power -- Can Cities and States Live without One Another? -- Empires, City-States, and Weak States -- Collective and Autocratic Governance -- Kevin Lynch and the City as a Practical Machine -- Ancient Governments and Urban Planning -- Cities, States, and Governments in Deep History -- 5 Markets, Crafts, and Urban Life -- Economic Growth and Economic Urban Functions before Capitalism -- Market Economies and Command Economies -- Urban Crafts and the Division of Labor -- The Regional Economy -- Long-Distance Commerce and Economic Networks -- Economic Activities and Urban Functions -- 6 Top-Down Institutions and the Scale of Urban Life -- Urban Institutions -- Social Class and Wealth Inequality -- The Royal Palace as an Urban Institution -- Government and the People -- Institutions, Freedom, and Coercion in Premodern Cities -- 7 Generative Forces and Urban Life -- Generative Forces and the Tensions of Urban Life -- Urban Houses and Households -- Making a Living -- Neighborhoods -- Poverty, Prosperity, and Ancient Urban Life -- Urban Life through the Ages: Institutions and Generative Processes -- 8 The Value of Premodern Cities Today -- Who Owns the Past? -- Scientific Value -- What Have We Learned? -- Research Priorities -- Premodern Cities into the Future -- New Life from Old Ruins |
| Summary |
"In this book, Michael E. Smith offers a comparative and interdisciplinary examination of ancient settlements and cities. Early cities varied considerably in their political and economic organization and dynamics. Smith here introduces a coherent approach to urbanism that is transdisciplinary in scope, scientific in epistemology, and anchored in the urban literature of the social sciences. His new insight is "energized crowding," a concept that captures the consequences of social interactions within the built environment resulting from increases in population size and density within settlements. Smith explores the implications of features such as empires, states, markets, households, and neighborhoods for urban life and society through case studies from around the world. Direct influences on urban life - as mediated by energized crowding - are organized into institutional (top-down forces) and generative (bottom-up processes). Smith's volume analyzes their similarities and differences with contemporary cities, and highlights the relevance of ancient cities for understanding urbanism and its challenges today"-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on March 27, 2023) |
| Subject |
Cities and towns, Ancient.
|
|
Civilization, Ancient.
|
|
Social history -- To 500.
|
|
Cities and towns, Ancient
|
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Civilization, Ancient
|
|
Social history
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| ISBN |
9781009249027 |
|
1009249029 |
|
