Spatializing 6,000 years of global urbanization from 3700 BC to AD 2000

Abstract

How were cities distributed globally in the past? How many people lived in these cities? How did cities influence their local and regional environments? In order to understand the current era of urbanization, we must understand long-term historical urbanization trends and patterns. However, to date there is no comprehensive record of spatially explicit, historic, city-level population data at the global scale. Here, we developed the first spatially explicit dataset of urban settlements from 3700 BC to AD 2000, by digitizing, transcribing, and geocoding historical, archaeological, and census-based urban population data previously published in tabular form by Chandler and Modelski. The dataset creation process also required data cleaning and harmonization procedures to make the data internally consistent. Additionally, we created a reliability ranking for each geocoded location to assess the geographic uncertainty of each data point. The dataset provides the first spatially explicit archive of the location and size of urban populations over the last 6,000 years and can contribute to an improved understanding of contemporary and historical urbanization trends.

Following the footsteps of giants: modeling the mobility of historically notable individuals using Wikipedia

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Preserved layout features embedded in road network development

“…One useful track that was made possible by the availability of data and computational capability to handle them is a quantitative historical analysis, wherein the current state of the city may be understood by studying the spatial patterns left by urbanization [16]. And among these spatial features, the road networks are the ones that outlast the other physical elements [17,18], and, sometimes, even the very civilizations that built them [19].…”

The Settlement Structure Is Reflected in Personal Investments: Distance‐Dependent Network Modularity‐Based Measurement of Regional Attractiveness

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