ancient cities

nation to which it belongs. The advantages of a
comparative method have been questioned and
denied. This tradition has been called “true” local
history or local history per se.
Thematic Urban History
Thematic urban history is a form of case study
within an urban context. A general historical
theme or process—such as economic, social, demographic,
political, cultural, architectural, or law
and order—is analyzed in depth by examining one
city or by comparing two or more cities with each
other. However, the city or town is not, as in
urban biography, seen as an independent variable
of research in its own right. The city only provides
the physical frame for the analysis. The city is used
as one example of many to shed light on an overall
process of development.
Thematic urban history got its breakthrough in
the 1960s and 1970s and quickly constituted a
substantial part of all urban history research. By
that time demographic, social, and economic issues
dominated in urban historical research, and they
were frequently examined through quantitative
methods and statistical techniques. The theoretical
perspectives were often emanating from the social
sciences, not least sociology and geography.
While focus has shifted in favor of a cultural
approach, inspired by the humanities, the study of
the culture of cities and the lifestyles of urban
people has long traditions in urban history. There
is richness of urban institutional histories—such
as schools, churches, museums, and voluntary
organizations—often narrative in character. From
the 1960s and beyond, a rising interest in urban
popular culture can be noted, and much more
attention was at the same time given to the role of
local culture in city-to-city variations in politics
and governance.
The more recent development of urban culture
research provides new ways of exploring and
understanding cities and towns. Focus is on the
discursive level of society: symbols, texts, experiences,
and conceptions of urban life, as well as
how realities are communicated through the
sources. The theoretical basis of this new approach
is, to a great extent, postmodern theory. The cultural
approach has also provided impulses for an
increasing interest among urban historians for
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monuments, museums, preservation of industrial
remains, and reconstruction of town quarters, as
well as for cultural heritage in general.
A renewed interest for urban symbol making
and the image of the city can also be observed. The
city stands for positive values like power, richness,
creativity, and opportunities, but at the same
moment the city is identified with negative beliefs
like helplessness, poverty, danger, and destruction.
Thus, the urban milieu has been depicted as both
paradise and hell. Current matters such as climate
changes, environmental issues, ethnicity, gender,
globalization, urban networking, innovations, and
city branding are also reflected in urban history.
Such topics have received increased attention and
share of research even from an urban historical
perspective.
In past times the issue of royal charters and
trading privileges as well as the building of walls
around the cities made the distinction between
city and country clear. Town privileges also meant
a special form of local administration and local
governing. Even later, cities and towns had their
own kind of local authorities and a more complex
administration than rural municipalities. Such
variations in local governing are further examples
of important specific urban features.
Many themes researched by urban historians
can be studied in any locality, urban or rural. The
issues are not necessarily specific to cities, towns,
or other urban settlements. They become urban
themes when the geographical research area is
made up of an urban site. A continuous debate in
urban history and urban studies has been if there
exist any urban specific characteristics at all
besides the built-up environment, the population
density, the population size, and the economic
functions. The question has also been if such specific
urban features are of any significance for
understanding human behaviors and other aspects
of urban development.
Themes that urban historians should be addressing
more intensively, as we know little about the
urban history of these localities, are the development
of cities in India, Southeast Asia, Africa,
Australia, Japan, South America, and Latin America.
Australian urban and planning history has been
flourishing during the past few decades. Currently,
Indian and Southeast Asian cities are facing rapid
economic growth and dramatic physical, social,