City and Country: The Historical Evolution of Urban-Rural Systems

City and Country: The Historical Evolution of Urban-Rural Systems argues that urbanization is based on urban dependency and that as population increases, the depth of the caloric well reflects this increased demand and requires a population to go further afield for resources, leading to conflict with neighboring groups.

Format: Hardback
Length: 490 pages
Publication date: 17 June 2021
Publisher: Lexington Books

City and Country: The Historical Evolution of Urban-Rural Systems

The assumption that every human requires, on average, two-thousand calories per day to stay alive forms the foundation of this intriguing exploration. Tracing the consequences of this insight leads us to the concept of the caloric well, which represents the caloric demand at a specific point in the environment. As population growth occurs, the depth of the caloric well reflects this increased demand, necessitating communities to venture further afield in search of resources. This phenomenon is known as urban dependency.

City and Country delves into the structural implications of these dynamics, spanning from the Paleolithic era to the present day. Urban dependency can be understood as the outcome of the caloric demands a population places on a given environment, and when these demands exceed the environment's capacity to sustain them, a caloric well emerges. This well deepens over time, extending the horizon from which resources are gathered, often leading to conflicts with neighboring groups.

Before the establishment of settled villages, population increases led to cultural and technological innovations that facilitated greater utilization of existing resources. The broad-spectrum revolution approximately 20,000 years ago, the emergence of agricultural villages 11,000 years ago, and the hierarchically organized systems of multiple settlements working together to produce sufficient food during the Ubaid period in Mesopotamia, seven-thousand years ago, marked significant milestones in the development of urban-rural systems.

As cities emerged and populations grew, the urban dependency morass deepened, necessitating the expansion of urban-rural systems. These urban-rural dynamics serve as the underlying logic upon which modern capitalism is built. The culmination of two decades of research has shed light on the intricate interplay between cities, countries, and the evolution of urban-rural systems, providing valuable insights into the complex tapestry of human history and society.

Weight: 844g
Dimension: 227 x 160 x 33 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793644329