City

City, large centre of population organized as a community. The word city is derived from the Latin word civitas, which denotes a community that administers its own affairs. In ancient Greece such an independent community was called a city-state; it consisted of a chief town and its immediate neighbourhood. The cantons which constitute the Swiss federation are not unlike cities in this sense. During the Middle Ages a city was usually identical with a cathedral town; accordingly, when King Henry VIII of England established new bishoprics in boroughs, he made these into cities. In modern Great Britain “city” is merely a complimentary title conferred by the monarch on important towns.

Cities began to evolve in prehistoric times when groups of nomadic hunters and foragers developed a settled agricultural life. In order to protect themselves and their food supplies from raids by predatory nomads, they built their dwellings within a walled area or in a naturally fortified place, such as the acropolis of ancient Greek cities. Because the availability of water was also an important consideration, these settlements were usually located along a river. Such settlements led to specialization and the division of labour. Markets developed in which artisans could exchange their specialities for other types of goods. A growing priesthood contributed to intellectual life. Thus, cities were responsible not only for the rise of commerce and industry but also of art and learning, and they played an essential role in the emergence of all great civilizations. Among the most notable cities of the ancient world were, in the order of their development, Thebes, Memphis, Babylon, Nineveh, Susa, Tyre, Carthage, and Jerusalem. Alexandria is said to have contained more than 500,000 inhabitants, and Rome was still larger. As capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople succeeded Rome as the principal city in Europe. In the Islamic East, during part of the Middle Ages, Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo led in population; Cordoba was the greatest city of the Islamic West and, for a time, of all Europe. In East Asia, the Han dynasty capital of Chang'an (modern Xi'an) was by the 6th century the world's largest city built on a grid pattern with broad thoroughfares. In pre-Columbian America the Maya and other civilizations built large stone cities as the centres of monarchical city states.

The development of cities in Europe was a feature of the breakup of feudalism. At the beginning of the 16th century Europe had 6 or 7 cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants; at the end of the century it had 13 or 14 such cities. During the 17th century, although the population of Europe remained stationary, that of the cities increased. The largest city in the world at the end of the 18th century was Edo (modern Tokyo), with 1.4 million inhabitants; fruit of the highly integrated commercial civilization of Tokugawa Japan.

A notable trend of the 19th and 20th centuries has been the constant growth of urban communities at the expense of rural districts. City populations represent an increasing proportion of the total national populations not only in highly industrialized nations but also in agrarian countries. The principal causes of this urban growth have been the development of the factory system, improvements in transport, and the mechanization of agriculture, which reduced the need for farm labour. Many modern cities have been planned as industrial centres near sources of raw materials. More than 350 such cities were built in the USSR.

One of the characteristics of modern urban growth is the development of suburbs adjacent to and economically dependent on the central city. Much of the increase in population of modern cities is accommodated in these suburban extensions. In the older portions of the city the population is displaced by business and industrial expansion; rapid-transit facilities make it feasible for people employed within the city to take up residence in outlying districts.

After World War II cities everywhere continued to expand far beyond their political boundaries. This has given rise to vast new governmental and quasi-governmental agencies to deal with the problems of metropolitan areas. Representatives of city governments, as well as of private interests, frequently participate in such bodies.