WHEN AND WHY DID PEOPLE START LIVING IN

CITIES?Chapter 9

Part 1

When and Why Did People Start Living in Cities?

Urban: The buildup of the city and surrounding suburbs

Urbanization: Movement of people from rural to urban areas

Urban Population

Origins of Urbanization

Agricultural villages 10,000 years ago

The first urban revolution: Agricultural surplus Social stratification (leadership class)

Hearths of Urbanization

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, 200 BCE

Diffusion of Urbanization Greek cities (by 500 BCE)

Greeks highly urbanized – 500 cities and towns on the mainland and on

islands– Acropolis (buildings on a height of land) and an

agora (open public space) in each city

Rome

Roman cities– A system of cities and small towns, linked

together by hundreds of miles of roads and sea routes

– Forum: acropolis and agora combined– Extreme wealth and extreme poverty

Roman Empire

Urban Growth after Greece and Rome

Europe Middle Ages (500–1300) Little urban growth, even decline

Asia (1000-1200_ Centers along the Silk Road Urban growth in Korea, Japan

West Africa The Americas

The Second Urban Revolution (Late 1800s)

Movement to cities1. Second agricultural revolution2. Industrialization