ABSTRACT
Five thousand years of urban history and perhaps as many of proto-urban history are spread over a few score of only partly exposed sites. The origins of urban life—the period when humankind was transformed from hunters and gatherers to city dwellers—is shrouded in the distant past. The citizens of the early towns lived an urban life that was fragile. Precariousness was, perhaps, an inevitable consequence of the growth of cities. Childe viewed the development of society in terms of distinct stages and considered the emergence of urban life as a critical evolutionary phase in the rise of modern civilization. This chapter shows that the growth of cities and urban life has been a discontinuous process, marked by the rise and fall of great cities and urban civilizations. It suggests that many of the ideas associated with modern life have their origins in observations made about industrial cities.
