Cities and economic development

604 Pages·39.99 MB·\604

by  Paul Bairoch

p?
I
. V- I
irsL\ \\ -•;•]
I
fe,
JureJzz«-/ L
‘ ; V
S* "V aV
rherma ■S?>:
; ■ v
V. *• ^ V /.]
jHartrlinni- \
i J
‘ r/^ha^i)nia7iv
7s cum \ -
'el}- \
'■raj scum \
iril)Hovhim
71/10.
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
aAa
Umlmm
SETON
HALL
UNIVERSITY
H
oo
OZ 18 5 6
w CO/3
c
> Gift Of
HX
z
D O
h-J
hJ
<
X
oz
William J. Connell
ffl
1
C/D
NEW JERSEY
073 1037Sfi2
Cities and Economic Development
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2018 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/citieseconomicdeOOOObair
Cities and
Economic Development
From the Dawn of History
to the Present
Paul Bairoch
Translated by Christopher Braider
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
SOUTH ORANGE NJ 07079
The University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
© 1988 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1988
Printed in the United States of America
06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 3 4 5 6 7
Originally published in Paris under the title De Jericho a Mexico: Villes et
economie dans I’histoire, © Editions Gallimard, 1985.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bairoch, Paul.
[De Jericho a Mexico. English]
Cities and economic development: from the dawn of history to the
present / Paul Bairoch ; translated by Christopher Braider,
p. cm.
Translation of De Jericho a Mexico.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-226-03465-8 (cloth) ISBN 0-226-03466-6 (pbk.)
1. Urbanization—History. 2. Cities and towns—Growth—History.
3. Urban economics—History. 4. Economic development—History.
I. Title.
HT111.B3513 1988
307.7'6'09—dcl9 87-35484
CIP
© The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
the American National Standard for Information Sciences —Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48—1984.
Contents
List of Tables
Introduction
The Reasons for the Book xviii; The Contents of the Book xix;
Plan of the Book xxi; Acknowledgments xxii
I From the Birth of Urbanism to the Beginnings of the
Great Civilizations
1 The Birth of Urbanism and the Economy
The Neolithic Revolution 3; Stages in the Rise of Agriculture
5; Locating the Origins of Urbanization 8; Preurban Towns or
Protourbanization 9; The Relations between the Economy and the
Birth of Urbanism: Agriculture and Transport 11; The Tyranny of
Distance 11; The Impossibility of True Cities before Agriculture
13; Peasants Who Live in Cities 15; What if the City Invented
Agriculture? 16
2 The Urban Revolution: Its Beginnings in
the Middle East
Early Urbanization, Early Agriculture 19; “International Trade
”
Preceded True Urbanization 20; The First Urbanized Cultures:
Density and Size 21; A Dominant Form of Urbanized Culture:
City-States 24; From the City-States of Sumer to the Cities of the
Egyptian Empire by Way of Babylon 25; Egypt: A Civilization
That First Evolved without Cities ? 28; The Phoenicians: The First
Commercial Towns 29; What Sustained the Commercial Towns of
the Ancient World? 31; Israel: Small Towns Inhabited by Peasants
and Vine Growers 34; And What of the Other Cultures of the
Middle East? 36; The Maghreb: A Delayed Growth of Agriculture
and Cities 36
3 The Beginnings of Urbanization in Asia
India: the Harappa Civilization as a False Start 39; China:
Multiple Centers of Agriculture and Urbanization 42; Japan:
A Late but Sudden Urbanization 45; Korea: Essential Borrow¬
ings from China 46; The Cities of Southeast Asia: A Diffusion of
Indian and Chinese Urban Systems? 47
4 The Beginnings of Urbanization in Black
Africa and the New World 52
Black Africa: An Urban History That Remains to be Written 52;
The Neolithic Revolution in Black Africa 53; The First Cities of
Black Africa 55; The Great Urban Cultures of Black Africa 56;
Islam and Urbanization in Black Africa 60; Urbanism in the Pre-
Columbian Civilizations 62; The Beginning of Agriculture and
Cities in the New World: Were They Invented Here Too ? 63 ; Highly
Urbanized Societies in the New World: Were There Any? And If
So, How Can They Be Explained? 66; North America: Cultures
without Cities 68; And What of the Other Continent? 69
5 Athens and Rome—Two Very Different Civilizations:
The Sources of European Urbanization? 71
The Aegean Civilization: Palaces or Towns? 72; Greek Civiliza¬
tion: City-States with Commercial Functions 73; The First At¬
tempts to Determine the Maximum Size of Cities 74; Those “Distant
Foreigners” That Cultivated Wheat for Greek Cities 76; Local Eco¬
nomic Functions 77; The Greek Colonies 79; The Etruscan Cities
and Rome 80; The Roman Empire: A Dominant Metropolis 81;
The Population of the First Great Metropolis, Rome 81; Rome: A
Parasitic Capital 83; A Parasitic Metropolis, But an Empire with
Many Cities 86; Europe before the Miracle of Greece 87; The Late
Urbanization of Non-Romanized Europe 89; A Rough Computa¬
tion of the Urbanization of Romanized Europe 91
6 The Beginnings of Urbanization: The Relations
between Agriculture, Civilization, the Economy,
and Cities 93
The Earliness, Multiplicity, and Simultaneity of the Rise of Agri¬
culture 93; The Earliness, Multiplicity, and Simultaneity of the
Rise of Cities 94; No Cities without Agriculture, But no Agricul¬
ture without Cities 94; Is the City the Characteristic Trait of Hu¬
manity? 95; Cities and Civilizations 96; Urbanism and the Econ¬
omy: The Economically Generative City and the Parasitic City 99;
The Case of Greece 100; The Case of Rome 101; Is Generalization
Possible? 106
II Europe from the Fifth Century to the
Eighteenth Century 107
7 Europe from the Fifth Century to the Tenth Century:
A Period of Transition Marked by Declines and
Renaissances 109
The Question of Economic Decline in Europe after the Fall of
Rome 109; From 500 to 700—800: A Decline in the Population of
Europe or Only a Decline in the Population of European Cities?
Ill; An Urban Decline That Nonetheless Set the Scene for Later
Urban Development 114; From 800 to 1000: An Urban Renais¬
sance 116; Muslim Spain: An Urban Culture 118; Christian Eu¬
rope: An Urban World Reborn Thanks to the Church and Trade
120; The Slavic World: The Birth of the City 122; Bulgaria: A
, Rival oj Byzantium 123
vi
contents
8 Europe from the Eleventh Century to the Eighteenth
Century: A Survey of the Economy and Urbanization 124
1000 to 1320—40: A Period of Economic Expansion 124; A
Rapid Growth in Population 127; 1300—1340 to 1470—90: The
Upheavals of the Period of the Black Death 129; 1470—90 to
1700: An Expansion of Trade in an Otherwise Stagnant Economy
130; Stagnation in Agriculture? 133; Industry: Progress, But No
Fundamental Change 134; 900—1000 to 1300—40: A Period of
Strong Growth in Urban Population 135; 1340 to 1400—20:
A Period of Nongeneralized Urban Recession 139; The Sixteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries: A Shift in the Center of Gravity of Ur¬
ban Europe 140
9 Cities—Their Locations, Spheres of Influence, Size,
and Economic Functions: A Few General Remarks on
Matters of Method 142
The Location of Cities 142; From Spheres of Influence to the
Urban Hierarchy 144; Is There a Law Governing the Size of
Cities? 146; Basic and Nonbasic Functions of Cities 150; Specific
Urban Functions 151
10 The Surge of Urban Growth in Medieval Europe 153
Medieval Cities and the Future Urban Structure of Europe 153; A
Surge of Urban Growth without Increase in the Level of Urbaniza¬
tion—and Yet ... 157; The Geographical Component in the
Surge of Urban Growth (1000—1300) 158; From the Fortified
Castle to the Burg, from the Burg to the New Burg, from the New
Burg to the Merchant’s Agglomeration, from the Merchant’s Ag¬
glomeration . . . 161; Small Towns with Highly Local Functions
164; Regional Centers 164; Large Cities 166; Commercial Cities
166; Industrial Cities 167; Administrative Cities 168; Cities and
Universities 169; The Medieval City: A School of Democracy?
170; And What of Distant Russia? 170; The Black Death: A
Staggering Demographic Catastrophe from Which the Cities Re¬
covered Quickly 172
11 European Cities from the Sixteenth Century to the
Eighteenth Century 175
The Break with the Past at the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century
175; A New Surge of Urbanization 176; Urban Growth and the
Divisions of Time 177; Urban Growth Resulting from the Rise of
the New Commercial Powers 178; A Western Europe Far More
Urbanized Than the Rest of the Continent 181; The First Very
Great Cities in Europe 183; What Factors Explain the Diversity in
the Growth of Cities between 1500 and 1700? 185
12 Urbanization and Development in Europe before
the Industrial Revolution: 1000—1700 189
The City; Agent of Civilization 189; The City and Development
in Europe from 1000 to 1500 192; The City and Development
in Europe from 1500 to 1700 198; What Conclusions Can Be
Drawn? 201; But May we Really Speak of Development in Tradi¬
tional Societies? 202; Splendid but Impoverished Cities 203; And
CONTENTS
How Was the Pie Divided? 204; Was There a Specific Urban De¬
mography? 205; A Trend Established Long Ago: People Died
Younger in Cities 206; And What of Urban Fertility ? 208; A
Negative Natural Balance Sheet: The Country Nourished the City
with People as Well as with Food 208
III The Role of the City in the Development of the
Western World 211
13 Urbanism in Developed Countries: 1700-1980 213
The Eighteenth Century in Europe: Contrasts in Regional Devel¬
opment 214; The Urban Explosion in Nineteenth-Century Europe
216; A Digression: The Criteria Used to Define Urban Population
217; The Twentieth Century: A Variety of Cyclical Patterns 219;
The Urbanization of the Rest of the Developed World 221; The
Emergence of the Megapolis 223; Large Cities, But No Dramatic
Change in the Average Size of Cities 226
14 Urban Demography in Developed Countries from
the Eighteenth Century to the Twentieth Century 228
The City: Graveyard of Babies 229; Lower Life Expectancy in the
Cities Even for Adults 233; The Causes of Disproportionately
High Mortality Rates in the Urban Environment 236; The Urban
Origins of the Second Demographic Revolution 238; The City: A
Brake on Its Own Growth 240
15 The City and the First Phases of the Industrial
Revolution in England 243
The Industrial Revolution in England: A Rapid Survey of a
Complex Phenomenon 243; Traditional England: An Essentially
Rural Country Despite Its Commercial Role 246; London and the
English Agricultural Revolution 248; The Place of Urbanization
in the Explanations of the Industrial Revolution in England 250;
Traditional Cities and the Industrial Revolution 252; The Reasons
behind the Lack of a Role for Traditional Cities 256
16 Urbanization and the Diffusion of the Industrial
Revolution 258
Urbanization and the Diffusion of the Industrial Revolution in
Europe 258; Urbanization and Economic Growth 260;
Urbanization and Industrialization 262; Instances of Parasitic
Urbanization 265; The Persistence of Urban Networks in Countries
in Decline: How May It Be Explained'? 267
17 Industrialization and the Cities in the Western World
in the Nineteenth Century 269
Industrial Cities Different from Traditional Cities 269; The Hu¬
man Costs of Urbanization Stemming from Industrialization 271;
Human Costs, but Human Benefits as Well 275; Cities near
Coalfields 276; The Railroads: New Cities and Giant Cities 277;
The Need for Urban Transportation: A Late Development 279; A
Glimpse into the History of Urban Transportation 280; The Ability
to Build Higher, Thanks to Industry, but the Creation of New
' Problems as Well 283; Urbanization through Industrialization,
Made Possible Only Thanks to Agricultural Progress 287
vm
contents