TY - JOUR
T1 - Sprawl, squatters and sustainable cities
T2 - Can archaeological data shed light on modern urban issues?
AU - Smith, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
Several participants in the H-Urban listserv (a discussion group on urban history) provided helpful suggestions and citations on urban sprawl and squatter settlements; of these I especially thank Robert Bruegmann, Thomas Campanella, Richard Harris, Wendy Plotkin and Andy Weise. The following colleagues provided helpful comments on earlier drafts: George Cowgill, Michelle Elliott, Jill Grant, Thomas Hall, Steven Kowalewski, Joyce Marcus, Jeremy Sabloff, Barbara Stark and Abby York. I also thank several anonymous reviewers for constructive criticism and John Robb for helpful suggestions. Interaction with colleagues in the transdisciplinary research project, ‘Urban Organization Through the Ages’ — Christopher Boone, George Cowgill, Sharon Harlan, Julie Novic, Ben Stanley, Barbara Stark and Abby York — has contributed to my thinking on the topics discussed in this article. Fieldwork at Cuexcomate was funded by the National Science Foundation and Loyola University of Chicago, and the Yautepec Valley Survey was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Heinz Foundation and the University at Albany, State University of New York. That project was codirected by myself, Timothy Hare and Lisa Montiel.
Funding Information:
7. I am currently participating in a transdisciplinary research project funded by Arizona State University called ‘Urban Organization Through the Ages: Neigh-borhoods, Open Spaces, and Urban Life’ (see http:// latelessons.asu.edu/urban). This multi-year project is in its initial stages, and it is too early to determine what the outcomes will be.
PY - 2010/6
Y1 - 2010/6
N2 - Ancient cities as documented by archaeologists and historians have considerable relevance for a broader understanding of modern cities and general processes of urbanization. This article reviews three themes that illustrate such relevance: sprawl, squatter settlements and urban sustainability. Archaeology's potential for illuminating these and other topics, however, remains largely unrealized because we have failed to develop the concepts and methods required to analyse such processes in the past. The following aspects are examined for each of the three themes: the modern situation, the potential insights that archaeology could contribute, and what archaeologists would need to do to produce those insights. The author then discusses some of the benefits that would accrue from increased communication between archaeologists and other scholars of urbanism.
AB - Ancient cities as documented by archaeologists and historians have considerable relevance for a broader understanding of modern cities and general processes of urbanization. This article reviews three themes that illustrate such relevance: sprawl, squatter settlements and urban sustainability. Archaeology's potential for illuminating these and other topics, however, remains largely unrealized because we have failed to develop the concepts and methods required to analyse such processes in the past. The following aspects are examined for each of the three themes: the modern situation, the potential insights that archaeology could contribute, and what archaeologists would need to do to produce those insights. The author then discusses some of the benefits that would accrue from increased communication between archaeologists and other scholars of urbanism.
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U2 - 10.1017/S0959774310000259
DO - 10.1017/S0959774310000259
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:77953697130
SN - 0959-7743
VL - 20
SP - 229
EP - 253
JO - Cambridge Archaeological Journal
JF - Cambridge Archaeological Journal
IS - 2
ER -