ABSTRACT
Since cities first emerged six millennia ago, urban households have depended for their survival on the exchange of necessities. Thus, urbanization delivered a boost to retail exchange. The inability of centralized state distribution systems to meet household subsistence needs encouraged the growth of private sector exchange initiatives, and retail exchanges grew in line with population growth. Exchanges in the early city initially consisted of the daily necessities required both by ordinary people and the elites. This subsequently expanded to include luxury goods and other goods not available locally.
