Urbanization as a Phenomenon of Social History

Summary. The prime question considered is the process by which a village is transformed to a city. Two intermediate stages are defined: the quasi‐city and the proto‐city, the principal differences being that the proto‐city serves as a central place in a region, has a higher level of social production and contains a high percentage of people engaged part time or full time in specialist activities. The role of craftsmen, traders and palace/temples are discussed. The full city emerges only with a fully developed class society.