Do Now:

• We all live in one of the biggest cities in the world today.

• Where were the first cities?• How were they different from the cities of

today?

Aim: When and why did people start living in cities?

Field Note: Ghosts of Detroit?

“The semicircular shaped Grand Circus Park in Detroit, Michigan is divided by several streets, making it look like the hub and spokes of a bicycle wheel from above. The grouping of buildings along Grand Circus Park (Fig 9.1) reflects the rise, fall, and revitalization of the central business district (CBD) in Detroit. The central business district is a concentration of business and commerce in the city’s downtown…Abandoned high-rise buildings called the ghostsof Detroit are joined by empty single-family homes to account for 10,000 abandoned buildings in the city.”

• Urban: the built-up space of the central city and suburbs

• Includes the city and surrounding environs connected to the city

• Is distinctively nonrural and nonagricultural

When and Why Did People Start Living in Cities?

• A city is an agglomeration of people and buildings clustered together to serve as a center of politics, culture, and economics.

Concept caching:Kansas City, MO

What benefits do cities afford to its people?

© Barbara Weightman

Cities then and Now• In the late 20th century China announced a major

economic development project in Guangdong.• They established a special economic zone (SEZ) and

business and industry boomed.• The city of Shenzhen was drastically changed.

Need to Know Dates

• What we do today with cities took thousands of years to develop originally.

• Human communities have existed for over 100,000 years.

• 8,000 years ago first cities established.• But only 200 years ago did cities resemble

what they are today.

The Hearths of Urbanization

• Switch from hunter and gather to agriculture happened before urbanization.

• Early Ag between 10,000-12,000 years ago.• First cities came after agriculture.• First was Catal Huyuk as a village not a city.• They were small in size and population.

The Hearths of Urbanization

• Two components enabled cities to stabilize and grow:

• Agricultural surplus and Social stratification• Two competing theories on what led to them• Advances in irrigation led to a surplus in agriculture

and a leadership class formed to control the surplus and technology to produce it.

• A king or priest demanded more labor to generate an agricultural surplus to help them retain power.

• The leadership class, or urban elite, consisted of a group of decision makers and organizers who controlled the resources.

• They controlled the food supply, production, storage, and distribution.

• They did not work the fields.• Devoted time to pursue religion and philosophy.• Led to writing and record keeping.• Writing made possible the codification of laws and

the preservation of traditions.

The Hearths of Urbanization

• The innovation of the city is called the first urban revolution, and it occurred independently in six separate hearths, a case of independent invention.

• The six urban hearths are tied closely to agriculture.

The Hearths of Urbanization

The Six Hearths of Urbanization

1. Mesopotamia, 3500 B.C.E.2. Nile River Valley, 3200 B.C.E.3. Indus River Valley, 2200 B.C.E.4. Huang He Valley, 1500 B.C.E.5. Mesoamerica, 1100 B.C.E.6. Peru, 900 B.C.E.

Need to Know Dates

The Fertile Cresecent

• Cities of Ur and Babylon. Located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Showed signs of social classes based on sized of houses.

• A mud wall protected the city.• Temples and shrines at the center.• Temples dominated the landscapePriests resided in

palaces.• Ordinary citizens in mud walled houses very close to

each other.

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Nile River Valley

• Interrelationship between urbanization and irrigation.

• The might of the rulers is seen in the feats of their architecture.

• They built the pyramids, tombs, and the sphinx.

• Theories hold that slaves built the pyramids but today archeology claims ordinary citizens built them as part of their tax payment

Indus River Valley

• First cities were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.• Intricate planning with a leadership class but all the

houses was equal in size.• No palaces or monuments.• All dwellings had access to the same infrastructure • Wastewater drains and stone lined wells.• Cities had thick walls• Discovered coins from far way indicating significant

trade.

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Huang He and Wei Valleys• the yellow and Yangtze rivers. Dating back to 1500 BCE.• Purposefully planned their cities with a vertical

structure are the center and built the city around it.• Inner wall had the temples and palaces.• Leadership class built enormous and elaborate

structures.• 200 BCE Emperor Qin Xi Huang directed the building of

the Great Wall.• He built an elaborate mausoleum for himself.• 7,000 terracotta warriors stand guard over his burial

place.

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mesoamerica

• Cities were religious centers.• Olmec built San Lorenzo and the gulf coast of

Mexico.• They carved stone monuments.• Olmec civilization died out but the Maya built

cities in the same region also centered around religious temples.

• Tikal, Chichen –Itza, Uxaml, and Copan.

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Peru• they Chavin built cities.• The largest was 10,530 feet in the Andean

highlands. •

Summary:

• In todays landscape can we see evidence of ancient civilizations still in practice today? Explain.