The authors include Rudolf Cesaretti (Arizona State University), José Lobo (ASU), Bettencourt (Santa Fe Institute and ASU), Ortman (University of Colorado Boulder and SFI), and Michael E. We are now finding that what we know about contemporary urban processes may be applicable to the past because of similarities in micro-level behaviors and the effects they have on the larger system, he says. On the macro, institutional level, modern and historical cities may look very different, says Bettencourt. The authors analyzed data from 173 medieval cities from across Western Europe, finding that these data show statistically indistinguishable community grouping patterns among medieval capital cities in Italy, England, France, and Belgium and much younger European cities. In short, the social dynamics enabled by medieval cities were fundamentally similar to those of contemporary cities.
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1300 did not substantially constrain social mixing, economic integration, or the free flow of people, ideas, and information.” The authors write: “This would suggest that the institutions of Western European urban systems ca. Today, companies, technologies, and a global economy dominate our lives.ĭespite the dramatic changes in economic and political structures over the last 700 years, a new look at medieval cities’ population sizes and distributions suggest that some urban characteristics have remained remarkably consistent.Ī paper published this week in PLOS One highlights one major similarity: in both medieval and modern European cities, larger settlements have predictably higher population densities than smaller cities. People use the phrase Middle Ages to describe Europe between the fall of Rome in 476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century. Life in 14th-century cities centered around hierarchical institutions such as the crown, guilds, and churches. Medieval cities – with their agrarian societies and simple market economies – seem very different from modern European urban centers.
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