Atlantic revolutions: a reinterpretation

Abstract

Urbanization creates a hierarchy of central places, which house a range of political, economic, and cultural institutions, distributing them in space according to levels of demand. The largest cities in many national systems have tended to be political capitals: Moscow, Jakarta, Cairo, and Buenos Aires, for example, each of which also serves as a national commercial and cultural center. Extensive deurbanization of Western Europe followed the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century CE. Debates about the consequences of urban life have continued throughout the twentieth century as analysts from many political and disciplinary camps have weighed in. Market-driven economies work through inequality, which can be extreme, but they also concentrate wealth and other resources in the larger cities, where they encourage investment. Urban spaces and their allocations signal social values and shape everyday life for ordinary citizens. Industrialization and economic development made possible extensive rearrangements of urban spaces.