Why were cities created

Its population of up to 34, put it on a scale with Uruk, Memphis and Harappa, and its communal works would have required large-scale social organisation and management. All these urban cultures shared two features that set them apart from the small-scale, egalitarian societies that precede them: an increased density of habitation, and evidence of a novel hierarchical social structure.

But there is one more early experiment in urban development — in fact, comprising the oldest proto-cities we know of — that does not fit this pattern. Megasites built in Eastern Europe from years ago by a culture called the Cucuteni-Trypillia indicate that these people did not live in dense populations and, furthermore, retained the egalitarian social structure of their forebears, without the hallmarks of social class and hierarchy.

The story of the Trypillians is still being pieced together but their archaeological remains suggest some intriguing ideas about the origins of city living and the emergence of civilisation. Barthel, S. Urban gardens, agriculture, and water management: sources of resilience for long-term food security in cities.

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