In 2008 for the first time the majority of the planet's inhabitants lived in cities and towns. Becoming globally urban has been one of mankind's greatest collective achievements over time. Written by leading scholars, this is the first detailed survey of the world's cities and towns from ancient times to the present day.

• 1: Peter Clark: Introduction


• Part I: Early Cities


• 2: Augusta McMahon: Mesopotamia


• 3: Robin Osborne and Andrew Wallace-Hadrill: Cities of the Ancient Mediterranean


• 4: David Mattingly and Kevin MacDonald: Africa


• 5: Cameron A. Petrie: South Asia


• 6: N. Steinhardt: China


• 7: David L. Stone: Economy


• 8: Luuk de Ligt: Population and Migration


• 9: Mario Liverani: Power and Citizenship


• 10: J.A. Baird: Religion and Ritual


• 11: Ray Laurence: Planning and Environment


• Part II: Pre-Modern Cities


• 12: Marc Boone: Medieval Europe


• 13: Bruno Blondé and Ilja Van Damme: Early Modern Europe: 1500-1800


• 14: Dominique Valérian: Middle East: 7th-15th Centuries


• 15: Ebru Boyar: The Ottoman City: 1500-1800


• 16: Hilde de Weerdt: China: 600-1300


• 17: William T. Rowe: China: 1300-1900


• 18: James McClain: Japan's Pre-modern Urbanism


• 19: Leonard Blussé: Port Cities of South East Asia: 1400-1800


• 20: Felipe Fernández-Armesto: Latin America


• 21: Bas van Bavel, Maarten Bosker, Eltjo Buringh, and Jan Luiten van Zanden: Economy


• 22: Anne Winter: Population and Migration: European and Chinese Experiences Compared


• 23: Wim Blockmans and Marjolein 't Hart: Power


• 24: Peter Burke: Culture: Representations


• Part III: Modern and Contemporary Cities


• 25: Andrew Lees and Lynn Hollen Lees: Europe: 1800-2000


• 26: Alan Gilbert: Latin America


• 27: Carl Abbott: North America


• 28: Kristin Stapleton: China: 1900 to the Present


• 29: Paul Waley: Japan


• 30: Prashant Kidambi: South Asia


• 31: Howard Dick and Peter J. Rimmer: South East Asia and Australia


• 32: Mercedes Volait and Mohammad Al-Asad: Middle East


• 33: Bill Freund: Africa: 1000-2010


• 34: Ho-fung Hung and Shaohua Zhan: Industrialization and the City: East and West


• 35: Leo Lucassen: Population and Migration


• 36: Alan Gilbert: Poverty, Inequality, and Social Segregation


• 37: Martin V. Melosi: The Urban Environment


• 38: Marjatta Hietala and Peter Clark: Creative Cities


• 39: Hannu Salmi: Cinema and the City


• 40: Thomas R. Metcalf: Colonial Cities


• 41: Xiangming Chen and Henry Fitts: Contemporary Metropolitan Cities


• 42: Jussi S. Jauhiainen: Suburbs


• 43: Carola Hein: Port Cities


• 44: Penelope J. Corfield: Conclusion: Cities in Time

Peter Clark was until recently Professor of European Urban History at the University of Helsinki. Educated at Oxford he was the first director (1985) of the Centre for Urban History at the University of Leicester where he remains Visiting Professor. In 1989 he helped found the European Association for Urban History and he has published or edited over 20 books on urban, social, cultural and environmental history. In 2010 he received an honorary degree from Stockholm University.