Evolution Of Cities As A Catalyst To Civilization Essay Example for Free

Evolution Of Cities As A Catalyst To Civilization Essay The paper seeks to explain the dynamics resulting to the civilization and modernization of our time, using the Athens, Rome, and Alexandria, Chinese cum Indian as a part of the explanation. The rise of democratic government as it relates to the development of cities, modern cities. The impact of religion, politics, leadership idiosyncrasy, trade and commerce, caste /Kinship system as it influenced the evolution of the modern city or state. The paper also looks at Contemporary cities in China and Europe. THE ANCIENT STRUCTURES OF CITIES The misconception of cities as related to population or numerical strength is prevalent even till date, but cities are defined from the perspective of population density; the square metres of the milieu, as it affects the problems of population explosion, the ancient had city states and imperial city state, the imperial denotes the undertone in the political system, which further affects the formation of the city or design(Reilly:128-129) The capital city functioned autonomously and even democratically in its activities, the cities in most cases served the egoistic purposes of rulers. Howbeit , the capital cities were much or less commercial hubs, where transactions from neighbouring and internal trade was operating, the influence of trade had a huge impact on the development or evolution of the state ,for instance it was within and without leading to the success of trade. The Utilitarian function of a city-state as posited by Aristotle is subject to debate, the ancient structure, he speaks in an ironic way, and Athens as submitted is overblown in expression an exaggerated existing city-state as disclosed in the strangers view. (Ibid)The cities flowing from the aforementioned creates a divergence from what we have now in the modern day, it lacks a lot of facilities. Athens is further depicted as a peasant village. (ibid, 130). The political structure of city-states is worthy of note here, power was exercised by majority, which is a sharp contrast with our modern cities. The exclusion of women and slaves from vital decision shows a gender imbalance, which in our modern cities to a huge extent has been addressed. The Athenian political system, however allowed for more participation and equality as political positions were occupied by lottery and not voter, per chance. It also allows professionalism cum promotion of skills. The importance of recreation, is also crucial in this paper, as the Athenian cities had time to have fun, the ampitheater,agora ,acropolis were centres of attraction, this in a way shows the evolution of all the good things we enjoy in the modern day ,declaring and affirming, they never fell from the sky. Alexandra the great as a student of Aristotle reveals the development of the city – states, toward complexity and more openness, depicted by architectural designs and imperialism. (Ibid, 134) . Ancient Rome was however characterised by most problems faced in contemporary cities, the cost of living as a good example, the show of power, class division and rule, identity was a paramount phenomenon in Rome. In India, it depicts the evolution of a commercial city other than the duo categorisation of cities, the debate of Indians commercial status is something countered by the existence of caste structures, religious beliefs and norms shaping their activities. The argument of this part is that the ancient states evolved from a small beginning, democratic to some extent to a powerful force to reckon with, this came decadence and other things that are evidenced by Rome. This in a way shows how the present cities react to globalization and liberalism in the context of continual revolution. RELIGIOUS INCLINATION AND THE SURGE TO CIVILIZATION The annexation of new colonies and empires, wars of conquest, created different shapes of emerging societies and cities majorly influenced by commerce and specialization of skills. Religion played a key role in the spread of commerce and its importance in major cities, Buddhism and Jainism were materialistic in approach, they believed in atheistism, making the relevance of gods or Supreme Being invalid, trade and commerce however formed the basis of those that believe in the duo ways of religion, this did not allow them to involve in agriculture as the religion did not allow killing of insects, Buddhism thus lays emphasis on cities. (Ibid, 147-150). The trade of Gupta kingdom represents the impact of trade as a main instrument of networking, spread of ideas as we have in the Contemporary cities, a replica of structures and buildings,governance,systems are always shared in the globe. The spread of these ideas around the ancient empires can be deduced as a mechanism of civilization, as education grew more and more in major cities and empires. The beauty and prominence of Gupta made it a centre of civilization, as pilgrims journeyed as far to visit the city. The political economy path however explains the issue of political democracy and economic perspective, the dependence of the economy on political systems. The political cum economic systems however, dictates the pace of development and progress in the Ancient cities.