A Long-Term Archaeological Reappraisal of Low-Density Urbanism: Implications for Contemporary Cities

Abstract

Implications for Contemporary Cities Introduction: Context and IssuesThe proliferation of dispersed, low-density urbanism in today's world has inspired considerable scholarly and popular interest (Angel 2012; Ewing and others 2018). Although there is no consensus in

Provisioning an Early City: Spatial Equilibrium in the Agricultural Economy at Angkor, Cambodia

“…There is also debate concerning the degree to which the massive hydraulic works at Angkor were involved in multi-cropping (Bourdonneau, 2010 –2011). Although we do not subscribe wholesale to Groslier’s ( 1979 ) “hydraulic city” hypothesis, under which the huge (~ 16km 2 ) barays (formal reservoirs) played a central role in feeding hundreds of thousands of people, it is nevertheless clear that various scales of hydraulic infrastructure—including a vast and intricate network of ricefield walls and embankments (Hawken, 2012 , 2013 ), hundreds of smaller-scale dams, and many thousands of local community ponds—were used to carefully and deliberately manage the flow of water around the Greater Angkor Region (Evans, et al, 2007 ). This infrastructure, which required supra-household and supra-community cooperation for construction, maintenance, and proper functioning, was crucial for managing the delicate balance of water levels that are important for wet rice cultivation (Pottier, 2000 ).…”

“…Of the 3000 km 2 , Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate that approximately 1500 km 2 of the land in the AMA was developed by community temples (Evans, 2007 ; Pottier, 1999 ), and over 1000 km 2 of Angkorian period ricefields have been mapped over that 1500 km 2 area (Hawken, 2012 ). This finding suggests it is reasonable to estimate the associated land in production for each temple community based on distances to adjacent temples during the period the temple was constructed and in subsequent periods as additional temple communities filled in the landscape.…”

“…Angkor is a prototypical example of low-density agrarian urbanism , a characteristic feature of which is farming within the settlement area itself (Fletcher, 2012 ). At Angkor, this included household vegetable gardens within the civic-ceremonial centers (CCCs) (A. Carter, et al, 2018 ; Castillo, et al, 2020 ) and over 1000 km 2 of ricefields in the Angkor Metropolitan Area (AMA) that extended throughout the settled area (Hawken, 2012 ). Studies of documentary records indicate that agricultural production across the AMA revolved around temples organized communally and owned by elites, many of which had access to extensive state-sponsored hydraulic infrastructure (Klassen & Evans, 2020 ; Lustig & Lustig, 2019 ).…”

“…Donations of cows and buffalos to new temple foundations are mentioned in inscriptions (Jacob, 1993 ). It is likely that these bovine were used for animal traction and many ox-cart pathways have been documented among ricefields on the ancient landscape (Hawken, 2012 ).…”

Weak Ties and Strange Attractors:Anomalocivitasand the Archaeology of Urban Origins

“…One example is the 'low-density, agrarian-based urbanism' identified by Roland Fletcher (2009, 2) in tropical forest regions including the Maya and Khmer lowlands, and seen as 'a normal feature of human habitation […] used by every major socio-economic system on the planet', albeit rarely approached since the sixteenth century. This was a settlement pattern which offered a dense concentration of population and intense societal integration, but without a tightly defined core or clear separation from an agrarian countryside, and arguably with a distinctive pattern of growth and resilience (Hawken and Fletcher 2021). Another example of unusual yet arguably urban configurations are early medi eval European buhrs, Burgen, or other large fortified sites, which were clearly defined centres for communal investments and social gatherings in socially differentiated societies, but were not permanently settled by a large population (Christie and Herold 2016).…”