Includes bibliographical references and index

Part I: Early cities. Part II: Pre-modern cities. Part III: Modern and contemporary cities. Augusta McMahon -- Robin Osborne and Andrew Wallace-Hadrill -- David Mattingly and Kevin McDonald -- Cameron A. Petrie -- N. Steinhardt -- David L. Stone -- Luuk de Ligt -- Mario Liverani -- J.A. Baird -- Raymond Laurence -- Marc Boone -- Bruno Blonde© and Ilja Van Damme -- Dominique Val©♭rian -- Ebru Boyar -- Hilde de Weerdt -- William T. Rowe -- James McClain -- Leonard Bluss©♭ -- Felipe Fernandez-Armesto -- Bas van Bavel, Maarten Bosker, Eltjo Buringh, and Jan Luiten van Zanden -- Anne Winter -- Wim Blockmans and Marjolein 't Hart -- Peter Burke -- Andrew Lees and Lynn Hollen Lees -- Alan Gilbert -- Carl Abbott -- Kristin Stapleton -- Paul Waley -- Prashant Kidambi -- Howard Dick and Peter J. Rimmer -- Mercedes Volait and Mohammad al-Asad -- Bill Freund -- Ho-fung Hung and Shaohua Zhan -- Leo Lucassen -- Alan Gilbert -- Martin V. Melosi -- Marjatta Hietala and Peter Clark -- Hannu Salmi -- Thomas R. Metcalf -- Xiangming Chen and Henry Fitts -- Jussi S. Jauhiainen -- Carola Hein -- Penelope J. Corfield. Mesopotamia / Cities of the ancient Mediterranean / Africa / South Asia / China / Economy / Population and migration / Power and citizenship / Religion and ritual / Planning and environment / Medieval Europe / Early modern Europe : 1500-1800 / Middle East : 7th-15th centuries / The Ottoman city : 1500-1800 / China : 600-1300 / China : 1300-1900 / Japan's pre-modern urbanism / Port cities of South East Asia : 1400-1800 / Latin America / Economy / Population and migration : European and Chinese experiences compared / Power / Culture : representations / Europe : 1800-2000 / Latin America / North America / China : 1900 to the present / Japan / South Asia / South East Asia and Australia / Middle East / Africa : 1000-2010 / Industrialization and the city : East and West / Population and migration / Poverty, inequality, and social segregation / The urban environment / Creative cities / Cinema and the city / Colonial cities / Contemporary metropolitan cities / Suburbs / Port cities / Conclusion : cities in time /

"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 and raises many questions. How did global city systems evolve and interact in the past? How have historic urban patterns impacted on those of the contemporary world? And what were the key drivers in the roller-coaster of urban change over the millennia - market forces such as trade and industry? Rulers and governments? Competition and collaboration between cities? Or the urban environment and demographic forces? This pioneering comparative work by fifty leading scholars drawn from a range of disciplines offers the first detailed comparative study of urban development from ancient times to the present day. The Handbook explores not only the main trends in the growth of cities and towns across the world but also many of the essential themes in the making and remaking of the urban world."--Provided by publisher.