1. The Mercantile City

2. economy pre-industrial capitalism, 1600s- mid 1800s (exc. Venice, Milan, Genoa, Bruges) site generally on navigable waterways at break-in-bulk point scale small enough to cross on foot morphology compact rounded shape; land- uses and populations not greatly sorted situation close ties to hinterlands, weak ties to a few trading partners

3. Waterfront Site Image source: http://www.postaprint.co.uk/LONDON

4. Waterfront Site Image source: http://www.postaprint.co.uk/VIENNA

5. Changes in values ► nobility and clergy slowly lose ground to traders and craft guilds ► guilds provided education, insurance, identity and entertainment ► speculation on land and shipping led to a more adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit ► work initially improves quality of life, then moves towards industrial era’s ideal: “work for the sake of work” ► people no longer shy away from change, slowly move toward industrial era’s “change for the sake of change”

6. Cycle of Infrastructure Growth

7. Agricultural Roots of Urban Growth ► Organic fertilizer comes into use (manure) ► Technique of crop rotation is developed ► Fallow period is shortened ► New-world crops introduced from 1500s ► Enclosure (1750-1850) ► Clearing of woods, drainage of marshland

8. Strong ties to rural hinterland Picture source: http://www.postaprint.co.uk/

9. Big European cities by 1500? ► “big” at this time was over 100,000 ► Some already benefited from long-distance trade  Rome  Milan  Venice  Paris

11. Big European cities by 1750? ► Rome, Milan, Venice, Paris still had over 100,000 ► Now joined by:  London  Dublin  Amsterdam  Lyons  Berlin  Madrid  Lisbon  Naples  Palermo (Sicily)  Vienna  Moscow

13. Changes in the urban system ► Activity was now greater in NW. Europe than in S. Europe ► Cities in this area were now protected by the states that contained them, so walls were no longer necessary ► The biggest cities depended increasingly on their relations to other European cities rather than focusing on their hinterlands ► Colonies in the Americas & elsewhere drove European development by the 1700s

14. The U.S. urban system, 1800 (pre-railway) Don Meinig Atlantic America, 1492-1800

15. The Walking City

16. ► pedestrian scale (r < 2mi.) ► layering of activities in vertical space ► roads narrow and muddy ► waterfront dominated by mills, warehouses, docks ► dense population ► land uses not very sorted out (but low-lying flood- prone areas were “reserved” for industries & the poor)

17. Transportation & Communication Technology ► steamboat from early 1810s ► major canals (e.g. Erie Canal) from 1820s ► steam locomotive from 1830s ► telegraph from 1840s ► new infrastructure accelerated urban growth and ushered in the industrial era ► how?

18. Planning took a back seat to money-making ► grid layout was quick and easy to plan ► grid also promoted buying and selling of lots and properties ► solar exposure, though understood by Neolithic people and was now forgotten ► not until 19th c. was the need for parks and playgrounds recognized ► attention to the appearance and the safety of the built environment decreased (until 20th c.)

19. Application of a simple system http://www.carto.com/chighlights/us_east.html http://freepages.gen ealogy.rootsweb.co m/~blkyn/Map/NY.1 807.html  1764 1807 

20. Growing Pains ► Mercantile cities were beset by various problems due to the unprecedented concentration of people  Fire  Epidemic disease (cholera, tuberculosis, etc.)  Crime  Traffic accidents (yes, horse-drawn vehicles could kill people!)

21. Sanitation Problems ► Wastewater was not adequately isolated from drinking water sources ► Pigs were allowed to roam the streets to clean up food scraps ► Horses contributed to the mess in the roads ► Human wastes were thrown into the streets from windows at the 2 nd story and above ► Human wastes were dumped directly into canals and rivers that ran through the city

22. John Snow’s Cholera map ► Mortality map drawn in 1849 cholera epidemic ► First application of geographical information for the purpose of epidemiology ► Debunked theory of “miasmatic” transmission ► Resulted in the removal of the handle from the water pump on Broad Street in 1854 ► Various schemes for isolating fresh water and treating sewage followed from this discovery Source: http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/8

23. Summary ► Capitalist urban systems developed for several hundred years before industrialization ► This period was characterized by  Waterfront sites  Pedestrian scale  Poor sanitation  Growing trade  Changes in values  Simplification of land use patterns  Dawning of the application of science to areas such as urban health and transportation