ABSTRACT
Culture is a non-genetically inherited collection of knowledge and practices. Through cultural activities, humans have created a novel urban ecosystem (the city) and this urban ecosystem is currently the habitat for the majority of humans across the globe. The onset of urbanization occurred after the introduction of agricultural practices and the pace of urbanization has been exponential over the past 200 years. During the same time period, there has also been a significant increase in human life expectancy and a corresponding reduction in lifespan inequality (a measure of aging rates within a population). The hypothesis is advanced that urbanization is the underlying cause of these changes in human life expectancy and aging. Since cities are now the dominant ecosystem in which humans reside, the process of urbanization has become the principal cultural activity driving human evolution. The corollary is that when we design future cities, we must be aware that modifications to our urban ecosystem will also alter the trajectory of our own species evolution.
