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The Roots of European Urban
Expansion
• Greek Cities – Originally from Aegean Sea to the
North
• Borrowed ideas from the “Fertile Crescent”
• By 800 BC, Athens, Sparta, and Corinth emerge
• Religion, Commerce, Administration, Defense –
All were important to each Greek City State
General Plan of a Greek City
• “Acropolis” – Center,
place of temples, gov.
offices, and storehouses
“High-City”
• “Sub-urbs” – Included
“Agora” for the market,
political gatherings,
military quarters, and
residential neighborhoods
• All city features were
surrounds by a large wall
System of Greek City States
Greek Systems of Cities
• Most located along coastlines
– sea trade and marine
dependency
• Population growth and
limited cultivable land drove
overseas colonization
• Managed by democratic and
participatory models-based
on citizens electing city
leadership
• Civil Laws and policies, no
longer seen as
unchallengeable divine
commands
•
Roman
Empire
Expanding Roman Empire displaced Greek civilization between
the second and first century BC
• Romans established towns across southern and portions of western
Europe-laying the foundation for the Western European Urban
System
Characteristics of a Roman City
• Based on the Grid System Central
“Forum” for markets and political
gathering, and encircled by a
defensive wall
• Newly established Roman cities
were based on inland locations, used
as command and control centers for
rest of territory. Also part of an
extensive system of long distance
trade. (e.g. London, Brussels, Paris,
Cologne, Vienna, Sofia, and
Belgrade were all Roman Cities).
Large Roman towns were about
15,000-30,000 people/Small towns
2,000-5,000 people
•Romans were great engineers. Designed
excellent road systems throughout the
Empire for military control and
communication. Romans usually
established extensive sewer systems in
their cities. These systems even set the
standard for cities of today.
Systems of Control within the Roman City
• Unlike Greek City-States,
Roman cities were not
independent – Part of a well
organized empire centered on
Rome
• Newly established Roman cities
were designed along the rigid
Roman class System
• Used these new cities to impose
their legal system and authority
throughout their empire.
• Convinced native tribes that
“Romanization equal
Urbanization”
• Tribal Centers were
redeveloped as Roman towns
with varying levels of
importance
• Governed by former soldiers
and settlers from Rome
– Coloniae – Settlement with full
Roman benefits
– Municipia – Formal charter
status, only partial Roman
citizenship for its inhabitants
– Civitates – Market and
administrative centers for tribal
districts, that were retained in a
Romanized form.
Roman Empire ~100 CE
THE FALL OF ROME ~475 c.e.
The Fall of Rome and Mass Exodus of Its
People
The Dark Ages and Western European
Cities
• Some Urban Centers survived
• Ecclesiastical or university
towns (e.g. St. Andrews,
Scotland Oxford and
• Cambridge, Liege, Belgium)
• Defensive StrongholdsCastles/hilltop towns (e.g.
Eastern Europe and Northern
Italy)
• Administrative HubsAdministrative Centers for upper
hubs of the feudal society (e.g.
Cologne, Winchester, and
Toulouse
San Gimignano, Northern Italy
Vast Majority of People in Europe Began
to live in Feudal Systems
Why did Feudalism curtain the
Development of European Cities?
• Highly structured
and self contained
• Rigid rural forms of
economic and
social organization
based on communal
chiefdoms of
Germanic Tribes
Urban Revival in Europe During
the Medieval Period
• By 11th Century,
feudalism begins to fray
• Steady population growth,
limited amount of
cultivable land
• Nobility places higher
taxes on serfs and tenants
• As a result, more products
were being sold for cash
• Establishment of trade in
basic ag. Products and
crafts
Rise of Medieval Towns
• Towns of Roman
Origin
• Towns of Village
Settlements
• Bastides – Planned
towns in France,
England and Wales
• Planted Towns –
Emerged along
roadsides or riverside
location for
commercial purposes
Berne, Switzerland
Rise of Medieval Towns-Bastides
Importance of Medieval Towns
• Due to City Walls,
socioeconomic
groups were now
stratified vertically
• Key: Rise of a new
phase of urbanism
called Merchant
Capitalism
Importance of Medieval Towns
The Allegory of Good and Bad Government by Lorenzetti, 1330s
• Self Governance driven by Capital rather than
Land
Siena, Italy Today
Northern Italy and the Hanseatic League
• By 12th century,
merchants of Venice,
Pisa, Genoa, and
Florence had established
commercial networks
with the Hanseatic
League (Federation of
City-States within the
North Sea and the Baltic
Coast)
• End of the 13th century,
Europe had an extensive
network of urban centers
poised to take advantage
of trade routes (both sea
and land).
Northern Italy and the Hanseatic
League
• By the early
1400s, Europe
now had about
3,000 cities
containing a total
of 4.2 million
people
• This regional
urban system
stood poised to
extend its grasp to
a global scale.
The Hanseatic League, 1100-1600s c.e.
• Original trade agreement between Lubeck (fish) and Hamburg
(salt) – Set standard for merchants in other German cities
• Became the first cooperative agreement that united cities
across Europe into an Economic Trade association
The Hanseatic League
• Based on membership
privileges, protection against
pirates and robber barons.
• Own financial and legal
systems, and strong tradition
of civic and individual rights.
• Engaged in negotiations,
bribes, embargos and even
war with other “hostile” port
cities
• Over 200 participating cities
Amsterdam to Reval in Estonia
Decline of the Hanseatic League,
late 1600s
• Rivalry and
internal struggles
• New Global
Trade
opportunities
with the
Americans and
Asia
• Declining Baltic
Fish Stocks
• Reformation and
Thirty Years War
• Ottoman Empire
Legacies of the Hanseatic League
Homework for Thursday (9/25)
Compare and Contrast five of the urban/settlement structures that
we covered in class (Greek City-State system; Roman Empire and
its cities; Dark ages urban settlements; Medieval towns; Hanseatic
League cities; early urban industrial settlements) based on the
following attributes:
Governance
Size of population
Religion (faith)
Wealth Sources
Food Sources
City Form, Boundaries and examples (e.g. London, Siena, etc.)
Class stratification (lineage, professions, and so on)
Common Cultural Features (features that all urban dwellers
identify with)
Lasting Legacies
Urban Expansion and Consolidation
• Rise of the Renaissance and the Baroque Periods (14th –18th
century) in Europe
• Scale and Sophistication of Merchant Capital coupled with
advanced scientific technologies allowed European powers to
shape the world’s economies and societies
• Rise of Colonial Cities - Administrative and military center
(Oaxaca; Mexico City; Quito in Ecuador; Guadalajara; Lima,
Peru) Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro were more commercial in
nature
• Gave rise to Gateway Cities – Acted as links between one
country and its region and another; served as colonial trading
posts (e.g. Rio and gold mining; San Paulo and coffee; Buenos
Aires and mutton/wool/cereal; Accra (Ghana) cocoa; Calcutta
and jute, cotton, and textiles.)
• By 1700s, exploitation of New World gave a distinct advantage
to European Port Cities along the North Sea and the Atlantic
Coast. ( London, Lisbon, and Amsterdam)
Trevi Fountain, Rome
Urbanization and the Industrial
Revolution
• Along with expanding global imperialism and trade, the Industrial
Revolution propelled much of the urban growth in European cities
beginning in the mid 1700s
• Industrialization required that all stages of production be perform in
close proximity with the help of machinery-required rural workers to
move to the “sites” of production – formed the beginnings of
Industrial Towns and Cities
• The Industrial Revolution needed cities that could supply factories,
warehouses, stores, offices, transportation networks, labour pools, and
consumer markets.
• Led to the development of Central Business Districts (office
buildings, corporate headquarters, and large tracts of worker housing.)
Manchester: Shock City
• Grew from a town of 15,000 in 1750 to a metropolis of
500,000 in 1861 to a world city of 2.3 million in 1911
• Shock City – Embodiment of surprising and disturbing
changes in economic, social, and cultural life.
• Archetypal form of a new Industrial City – sole purpose
was to assemble raw materials and to fabricate,
assemble, and distribute manufactured goods.
• Also a World City – at the top of a global urban system.
Takes and conducts a disproportionate share of the
world’s most important activities- economic, political
and cultural-within its space.
• Began to see a rise of Core Economies in NW Europe –
Growth was dependent on continued exploitation of the
New World
Britain's Industrial Legacy