The 17th century was a century of rapid human progress. There was the Scientific Revolution. Philosophers like John Locke and Thomas Hobbes laid the groundwork for modern political thought, while René Descartes and Blaise Pascal made important contributions to philosophy more broadly. Meanwhile, in the arts, William Shakespeare redefined English literature, while Rembrandt changed the way artists approach their subjects.

The above mentioned people have something important in common, other than being extremely intelligent white men. They spent non-negligible parts of their lives in cities. In the 1600s, only 8% of the European population lived in cities. Many people spent their entire lives without setting foot in a big city. But there is a sense in which you need to spend some time in a city to become an influential historical figure, or at least if you wish to understand human societies. Cities tell thousands of tales about history, culture and economics.

In history #

To begin with, cities serve as historical documents. A city’s architecture provides insights into the lives of its inhabitants, both of the past and present. Consider, for example, the massive apartment complexes of East Berlin or the colourful houses perched on the hills in Valparaíso.

Monuments tell us about the values, artistic ideals and technologies at a given time in history. The Blue Mosque of Istanbul marks the historical influence of Islam, while the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest marks the influence of the Jewish community in Budapest. The Burj Khalifa is a remarkable engineering achievement, as well as a symbol of wealth and vanity.

A city might also contain more explicit historical references, such as memorials. Memorials, being explicit expressions of regret, grief and triumph, reveal the citizens’ relation to history. The Monument to the Discoveries in Lissabon, built as late as in 1960, is a glorification of the country’s colonial past.

In culture #

But cities aren’t just of interest to historians. Movies, books and plays need to take place somewhere where there’s life, and there’s no more life than in a global metropolis. Rural areas are sometimes referred to as “dead”, while New York never sleeps. In fact, many pieces of narrative art appear to be about the city itself, the plot being a mere formality. Some novels are riddled with location references to the point of becoming difficult to follow for non-locals; consider Ulysses, for instance.

Cities often referenced in popular culture become cities of our imagination, making them tourist magnets. Paris owes a large part of its tourism to the innumerable cultural references to the French capital. Indeed, “American expats loafing in Paris” could almost be considered its own literary genre.

Just as the characters they create, artists are also products of cities. This has given rise to another kind of cultural tourism, whereby visitors visit key locations in an artist’s life. Prague doesn’t just brand itself in terms of cheap beer, but also as the city of Franz Kafka.

In economics #

Some cities aren’t defined by their historical and cultural heritage, but rather by economical factors. Such cities shed light on how the global economy works, as well as the human desire to make it big. For this reason, many accounts of economic history involve lengthy descriptions of cities.

To analyse cities from an economical viewpoint, Max Weber introduced the distinction between “producer cities” and “consumer cities” in his 1921 article The City. Producer cities are organised around some specific trade, while consumer cities are rather like administrational centres with residents having access to certain streams of income. Think Detroit versus Washington DC or, for a European example, Antwerpen versus Brussels. An extreme example of a producer city is Kiruna, a city in the north of Sweden, built in the 1890s to serve the Kiruna Mine.

Certain cities are defined by the human capital they attract, the quintessential example being San Francisco. Startup founders pilgrim to Silicon Valley, since that’s where everything happens. For many San Franciscans, The City by the Bay is more of a transit point than a proper home. University towns are similar, in that a large part of its population aren’t permanent residents.

Understanding people through cities #

Much of human innovation, whether it be in culture, economics or arts, takes place in cities. Wonders happen when smart people with diverse backgrounds form tightly knit communities, as in, say, Bloomsbury in the 1910s. Such communities are more likely to arise in cities. However, this isn’t the sole reason cities are important drivers of human progress. To drive real human progress, you need to understand humans and the societies they build. If you want to understand people – their fears, desires and rituals – understand cities.

Cities are storytellers. They tell you thousands of stories in a most engaging way, all at once. Even a moderately sized city can tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know. You just have to listen.

Thanks to Raphaëlle Cohen, Emil Wasteson Wallén and Miles Kodama for feedback on this text.