A "vastly entertaining" history of urban centersfrom the ancient world to today (Time).
From the earliest example in the Ancient Near East to today's teeming centers of compressed existence, such as Mumbai and Tokyo, cities are home to half the planet's population and consume nearly three-quarters of its natural resources. They can be seen as natural cultural artifactsevidence of our civic spirit and collective ingenuity.
This book gives us the ecological and functional context of how cities evolved throughout human historythe connection between pottery making and childbirth in ancient Anatolia, plumbing and politics in ancient Rome, and revolution and street planning in nineteenth-century Paris. This illuminating study helps us to understand how urban centers thrive, decline, and rise againand prepares us for the role cities will play in the future.
"A superb historical account of the places in which most of us either live or will live." Conde Nast Traveller