Small Towns and Cities in World History: From the Middle Ages to Present

This volume provides for the first time a comparative view of the development of small towns and smaller cities across the world from the Middle Ages to the present day. It examines the evolution of their role and impact in the main urban networks and systems in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. It focuses on key topics and cutting edge questions relating to the urban economy, population, social life, governance and cultural life. Reassessing the conventional picture of small towns in decline, it argues for the dynamic dimension of their development and their importance for global urbanisation over the long run. This is a major pioneering study, bringing together the latest research by leading and younger scholars which sheds sustained light on a major component of the urban system in both the Global North and South, and thus makes an essential contribution to understanding world urban development over time.