Books: Cities By John Reader

 (Drivebycuriosity) - Do you like cities? Are you fascinated by metropolises like New York, London, Singapore or Tokyo? Then you might also enjoy the book "Cities" by John Reader ( amazon).

The author knows a lot about cities, "the defining artifacts of civilization". "We shape the city, then it shapes us", he claims. Reader explains why cities were founded, why they grow or sometimes shrink and what kind of challenges they generate.

"The advent of the city as a center of human activity freed ever increasing numbers of people from the burden of finding food and shelter for themselves, directly from the land". Cities provided "food, security and cultural environment". 

Naturally the book starts with the beginning of the cities, the first known settlements and their growth to regional metropolises, especially in Mesopotamia (today: Iraq and parts of Syria, Turkey and Iran) which were known as Ur, Uruq and Babylon.

Readers discusses intensely the influences of politics & the economy for founding and expansion of cities. Some are the capital of a Prince, others merchant´s places. Cities like Berlin owe their growth to the politics (Prussian kings) but many other grew because they become important centers for merchandise, such as London, New York and Singapore. 

The Author describes further the snowball effect which leads some cities to grow into metropolises and global centers: "Financiers liked to congregate in regional and national cities, close to the ear of governments that controlled public finance, where legislative control of economic social affairs was exercised and might be lobbied". Along with the banks and the insurance companies came the headquarters of large industrial companies, the media and marketing agencies. He concludes that the driving forces are banking, accounting, management, law, journalism and advertisement.

We learn also about the immense tasks the growth of cities generate, especially for feeding the inhabitants of ancient Rome (at it`s peak one million!) with grain. Despite his ardor for cities Reader finishes his book with a slightly pessimistic undertone. He sometimes describes them also as "dangerous parasites, with a capacity to harm regions far beyond their own boundaries". 

Anyway, highly recommended, not only for lovers of cities.