The Urban Revolution - University of Washington.pdfVIP

The Urban Revolution Author(s): V. Gordon Childe Source: The Town Planning Review, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Apr., 1950), pp. 3-17 Published by: Liverpool University Press Stable URL: /stable. Accessed: 19/09/2011 14:46 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms Conditions of Use, available at . /page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@. Liverpool University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Town Planning Review. THE URBAN REVOLUTION by V. GORDON CHILDE Director of the Institute of Archaeology, the University of London * concept of city is notoriouslyhardto define. The aimof the present is to the - or rather - as essay present city historically prehistorically * the resultantand symbol of a revolution that initiated a new economic * stage in the evolution of society. The word revolution must not of course be taken as denoting a sudden violent catastrophe; it is here used for the culmination of a progressive change in the economic structure and social organisationof communities that caused, or was accompaniedby, a dramatic in - an increase would as an obvious increase the