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The persistence of ancient settlements and urban sustainability

We propose a dedicated research effort on the determinants of settlement persistence in the ancient world, with the potential to significantly advance the scientific understanding of urban sustainability today. Settlements (cities, towns, villages) are locations with two key attributes: They frame h...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Smith, Michael E., Lobo, José, Peeples, Matthew A., York, Abigail M., Stanley, Benjamin W., Crawford, Katherine A., Gauthier, Nicolas, Huster, Angela C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: National Academy of Sciences 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8157985/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33972421
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018155118
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author Smith, Michael E.
Lobo, José
Peeples, Matthew A.
York, Abigail M.
Stanley, Benjamin W.
Crawford, Katherine A.
Gauthier, Nicolas
Huster, Angela C.
author_facet Smith, Michael E.
Lobo, José
Peeples, Matthew A.
York, Abigail M.
Stanley, Benjamin W.
Crawford, Katherine A.
Gauthier, Nicolas
Huster, Angela C.
author_sort Smith, Michael E.
collection PubMed
description We propose a dedicated research effort on the determinants of settlement persistence in the ancient world, with the potential to significantly advance the scientific understanding of urban sustainability today. Settlements (cities, towns, villages) are locations with two key attributes: They frame human interactions and activities in space, and they are where people dwell or live. Sustainability, in this case, focuses on the capacity of structures and functions of a settlement system (geography, demography, institutions) to provide for continuity of safe habitation. The 7,000-y-old experience of urbanism, as revealed by archaeology and history, includes many instances of settlements and settlement systems enduring, adapting to, or generating environmental, institutional, and technological changes. The field of urban sustainability lacks a firm scientific foundation for understanding the long durée, relying instead on narratives of collapse informed by limited case studies. We argue for the development of a new interdisciplinary research effort to establish scientific understanding of settlement and settlement system persistence. Such an effort would build upon the many fields that study human settlements to develop new theories and databases from the extensive documentation of ancient and premodern urban systems. A scientific foundation will generate novel insights to advance the field of urban sustainability.
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spelling pubmed-81579852021-05-28 The persistence of ancient settlements and urban sustainability Smith, Michael E. Lobo, José Peeples, Matthew A. York, Abigail M. Stanley, Benjamin W. Crawford, Katherine A. Gauthier, Nicolas Huster, Angela C. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Perspective We propose a dedicated research effort on the determinants of settlement persistence in the ancient world, with the potential to significantly advance the scientific understanding of urban sustainability today. Settlements (cities, towns, villages) are locations with two key attributes: They frame human interactions and activities in space, and they are where people dwell or live. Sustainability, in this case, focuses on the capacity of structures and functions of a settlement system (geography, demography, institutions) to provide for continuity of safe habitation. The 7,000-y-old experience of urbanism, as revealed by archaeology and history, includes many instances of settlements and settlement systems enduring, adapting to, or generating environmental, institutional, and technological changes. The field of urban sustainability lacks a firm scientific foundation for understanding the long durée, relying instead on narratives of collapse informed by limited case studies. We argue for the development of a new interdisciplinary research effort to establish scientific understanding of settlement and settlement system persistence. Such an effort would build upon the many fields that study human settlements to develop new theories and databases from the extensive documentation of ancient and premodern urban systems. A scientific foundation will generate novel insights to advance the field of urban sustainability. National Academy of Sciences 2021-05-18 2021-05-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8157985/ /pubmed/33972421 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018155118 Text en Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Perspective
Smith, Michael E.
Lobo, José
Peeples, Matthew A.
York, Abigail M.
Stanley, Benjamin W.
Crawford, Katherine A.
Gauthier, Nicolas
Huster, Angela C.
The persistence of ancient settlements and urban sustainability
title The persistence of ancient settlements and urban sustainability
title_full The persistence of ancient settlements and urban sustainability
title_fullStr The persistence of ancient settlements and urban sustainability
title_full_unstemmed The persistence of ancient settlements and urban sustainability
title_short The persistence of ancient settlements and urban sustainability
title_sort persistence of ancient settlements and urban sustainability
topic Perspective
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8157985/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33972421
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018155118
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