HTST 354: The City - Definitions and Origins
What is a City?
Difficulty in Defining Cities: Cities are inherently challenging to define concretely, as evidenced by the significant differences between ancient settlements like Çatalhöyük (dating to 6000 ext{ BCE}) and modern metropolises such as Tokyo (in 2025 ext{ CE}).
"Fixed" definitions, like the Canadian government's urban definition, often struggle to capture the full scope.
Flexible Definitions: It is crucial to approach the concepts of "urban" and "city" through flexible definitions that can adapt to changes across time and place, allowing for scalability and variability.
Key Elements of Urban Definition:
Population:
Emphasis on density and concentration rather than a singular absolute number.
Economics:
Characterized by mixed economic functions and diverse ways of earning a living.
Agglomeration: Leads to greater economic efficiency that scales with size, presenting both positives (growth, innovation) and negatives (pollution, crowding).
Housing: Functions as a significant economic resource.
Cities can offer cheaper labor for employers and serve to separate home life, work, and other social functions.
Society (Urbanism as a Way of Life):
Defined by complexity, heterogeneity (diversity), and often, inequality.
Distinctly Urban Lifeways - Key Elements:
Anonymity
Freedom
Diversity and Change
Community
Segregation
Social Ties: Shift from strong primary ties (common in rural settings) to more numerous, often weaker secondary ties.
Life Choices: Cities offer a greater array of life choices, each with both positive and negative implications.
Example: Freedom can foster more artists and thinkers but also contribute to increased crime and perceived bad manners.
Examples of Inequality: Evident in the stark contrast between rich and poor neighborhoods, such as those found in Mumbai or the social intersections seen in New York City.
Government:
Home of the State: Cities often serve as the administrative centers and homes of state power, providing crucial administrative capacity.
Governing Beyond the City: Cities play a role in coordinating decisions and storing expertise that affects wider regions or nations.
Governing Within the City: Cities face exacerbated problems like crime and poverty.
Unique Urban Problems: Specific challenges include traffic congestion and effective garbage disposal.
Public Space:
Features human-made monuments in contrast to natural ones.
Fosters shared experiences within a built environment.
Networks & Cultural Influence (Urban Imperialism):
Cities act as hubs for vast networks and exert significant cultural influence, sometimes referred to as "urban imperialism."
Historical Examples: The Silk Road through Asia during the Middle Ages, or the extensive trade connections and reach of Venice in the 15^{th} century.
Nightingale's Definition of Urban (P. 8 & 44):
"Space that allow us to bend time" (P. 8) – highlighting continuity and change, and contingency.
Posits cities as a necessary, but not the only, cause for change in modern history.
Describes cities as "energized crowds" (P. 44) – places where people gather to accomplish "big things."
Urban vs. Rural
Defining "Rural": Most of human history has been predominantly "rural."
A central question is whether "rural" can simply be understood as the absence of "urban."
Typical Rural Activities: Often associated with farming, fishing, hunting, mining, or recreational activities in natural settings.
Social Ties: Characterized by strong, close-knit ties, in contrast to the weaker, more numerous ties of urban environments.
Problematic Binary: The distinction between urban and rural can become blurred or complex when urban characteristics emerge in traditionally rural areas.
Unresolved Question About "Urban" Definitions: There is an ongoing debate about whether the term "urban" is sometimes confused with other concepts like "capitalism" or "statism," conflating a geographic setting with broader socio-economic or political systems.
Conclusion on Urban Definitions
Relative and Comparative Terms: Defining "urban" is best approached using relative and comparative terms, considering multiple factors.
Six Key Factors: Population, economics, society, government, public space, and networks are crucial for a comprehensive definition.
Double-Edged Character: Cities possess a duality, offering both benefits and drawbacks.
Quotes illustrating this: William Cowper (1867) stated, "God made the country and man made the town," contrasting with Oliver Wendell Holmes, who proposed, "God made the cavern and man made the house."
Complexity and Value of History: The study of cities reveals immense complexity, underscoring the value of historical inquiry to understand their evolution and nature.
Artistic Representation: George Grosz's "Metropolis" (1917) captures this complexity visually.
The Origin of Cities
Issues at Stake: Understanding the origins of cities necessitates exploring the relationship between the concept of a "city" and the broader concept of "civilization."
First Known Permanent Human Settlements:
Jericho and Çatalhöyük: Emerged approximately 13,000 - 9,000 years ago.
Abu Hureyra: Appeared around 12,000 - 10,000 years ago.
Population: These early settlements hosted an estimated 2,000 - 8,000 residents each.
Before There Were Towns: Long-Term Patterns of Human History
Genus Homo (Human): Appeared approximately 1.9 million years ago.
Homo sapiens (Modern Humans): Emerged between 300,000 - 500,000 years ago.
Migration Out of Africa:
Early Presence in Eurasia: Homo sapiens were present in Eurasia as early as 100,000 years ago, possibly even 200,000 years ago.
Genetic Ancestors' Exodus: Our genetic ancestors left Africa an estimated 60,000 ext{ BCE}.
Modern Brain Development: The modern human brain appears to have developed between 100,000 - 35,000 years ago.
Our Questionable Past: The fate of other hominid branches (Neanderthals, Denisovans, Floresiensis, etc.) and the megafauna raises questions about interactions and extinctions. Comparisons of "business models" between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, in relation to hunting mammoths, are imagined.
Foraging Lifestyle:
Duration: Prevailed for at least 35,000 years, spanning approximately 1,750 generations (compared to roughly 400 generations for farming).
Social Structure: Lived in bands of 20 - 100 people, with occasional larger macrobands or concentrations.
Semi-Permanent Residence: Foragers often established semi-permanent residences, managing resources through practices like controlled fires and dams.
Examples: Paintings from Lascaux Caves in SW France (c. 14,000 - 13,500 ext{ BCE}) and controlled fire use in Australia exemplify this period.
The Neolithic Transition (10,000 ext{ BCE} - 5,000 ext{ BCE})
Slow Adoption of Farming: The transition to farming occurred very slowly over a period of 5,000 years (from 9,000 ext{ BCE} to 4,000 ext{ BCE}).
Population Growth During Neolithic Transition (Puzzles in the Timeline, data from James Scott, Against the Grain, 2017, p. 4):
35,000 ext{ BCE}: Global population 3 million
10,000 ext{ BCE}: Global population 4 million
5,000 ext{ BCE}: Global population 5 million
1,000 ext{ BCE}: Global population 50 million
Foraging vs. Farming (Comparative Analysis):
Benefits of Foraging:
Dispersal of populations, potentially reducing disease transmission.
Diverse diet and more varied physical exercise.
Mobility allowed for adaptation to changing weather and resource availability.
Dangers of Farming:
Crowding increased susceptibility to disease.
Monotonous diet, potentially leading to nutrient deficiencies.
Repetitive physical labor often resulted in injuries.
High dependence on climate and successful harvests created security risks.
Archaeological Records: Evidence suggests that early farmers were generally smaller, sicker, suffered more injuries, and died younger than their foraging counterparts.
Modern Context: Contrasting modern farming in California with modern nomadism in Mongolia highlights the different security risks and predator threats inherent in each way of life.
The First Cities' Locations
Wetlands: The earliest cities frequently developed in wetland environments.
Characterized by flood zones, wet springs, and dry summers.
Often situated on "turtlebacks," which are slightly elevated areas within wetlands.
Examples: The location of ancient Jericho, the Yellow River Delta in China, and the historical marsh dwellers in modern Iraq exemplify this environmental pattern.
Diet & Environment at Çatalhöyük
Activities and Seasonality: The inhabitants of Çatalhöyük engaged in a variety of activities dictated by seasonal availability:
Plant Gathering: Hackberries, acorns, almonds (fall, late summer-fall for fruits), tubers (fall), and wild plants (spring/early summer).
Plant Tending and Seed Planting: Involved wild trees and plants, tubers, and planted crops in local gardens and fields up to 12 ext{ km} away (winter and spring).
Harvesting: Occurred in both spring and fall.
Fishing: Using hooks in the nearby Carsamba River (late winter-spring).
Animal Gathering: Eggs and honey (late winter-spring).
Animal Tending: Sheep, goats, and cattle were tended year-round.
Animal Hunting & Trapping: Targeted wild cattle, deer, boars, birds, and small mammals (spring and summer).
Visuals: Artist's images depict Çatalhöyük and its recreated interior, offering insights into daily life.
Conclusion on City Origins
The study of city origins presents a complex problem requiring historical explanation.
It involves understanding the long period "before there were towns," the pivotal "Neolithic transition," and the characteristics of "the earliest cities."
A key question remains: What crucial elements or features are missing from these earliest cities when compared to later urban developments?
Example: Remains of ancient Jericho provide clues to these early urban forms.