Farming Our Cities

Farming Our Cities

In the period immediately preceding the emergence of the first cities, two major society-shaping changes also took place. First, major advances in agricultural technology allowed those with other skills to trade of food instead of sustenance farming. Second, community decision-making was taken out of the hands of the village elders and given to a single leader, the chieftain. Without both of these shifts, the city, as we know it, could not have come to be. According to Mumford, "To interpret what happened in the city, one must deal equally with the technics, politics, and religion, above all with the religious side of the transformation," (1961, p. 33).

In prehistoric times it was necessary for everyone to spend the majority of their time collecting food. Hunting and food gathering at that time sustained less than ten people per square mile (Mumford, 1961, p. 10), and the technology to store food had not yet been developed. Simply surviving was a full-time occupation.

As technology progressed, it was possible to harvest more with less work. Orchards and fields of grain were planted. Animals were domesticated and used for farming and food. Irrigation ditches were built and manure began to be used as fertilizer. Eventually, containers were created to store surplus harvests. One person was now capable of providing food for many more.

These advances in agricultural technology left ever-growing proportions of the population free from contributing to the food supply. Those with other skills and abilities could survive by trading their labor or goods for food. Food, in effect, served as the first currency, as is still common in many non-industrial countries.

The hunter, no longer needing to stalk animals for food, took on the task of protecting the village (Mumford, 1961). In exchange for keeping villagers and their crops safe, the displaced hunter was voluntarily given payment in the form of food. Eventually though, these payments became compulsory, an early form of taxation.

As his power grew, the hunter-protector became the chieftain, replacing the village elders as ruling body (Mumford, 1961). According to Mumford this