The persistence of ancient settlements and urban sustainability

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Abstract

We propose a dedicated research effort on the determinants of settlement persistence in the ancient world, with the potential to significantly advance the scientific understanding of urban sustainability today. Settlements (cities, towns, villages) are locations with two key attributes: They frame human interactions and activities in space, and they are where people dwell or live. Sustainability, in this case, focuses on the capacity of structures and functions of a settlement system (geography, demography, institutions) to provide for continuity of safe habitation. The 7,000-y-old experience of urbanism, as revealed by archaeology and history, includes many instances of settlements and settlement systems enduring, adapting to, or generating environmental, institutional, and technological changes. The field of urban sustainability lacks a firm scientific foundation for understanding the long durée, relying instead on narratives of collapse informed by limited case studies. We argue for the development of a new interdisciplinary research effort to establish scientific understanding of settlement and settlement system persistence. Such an effort would build upon the many fields that study human settlements to develop new theories and databases from the extensive documentation of ancient and premodern urban systems. A scientific foundation will generate novel insights to advance the field of urban sustainability.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Journal ID (hwp): pnas

Journal ID (pmc): pnas

Journal ID (publisher-id): PNAS

Title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Publisher: National Academy of Sciences

ISSN (Print): 0027-8424

ISSN (Electronic): 1091-6490

Publication date (Print): 18 May 2021

Publication date (Electronic): 10 May 2021

Publication date PMC-release: 10 May 2021

Volume: 118

Issue: 20

Electronic Location Identifier: e2018155118

Affiliations

[1] ^aSchool of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287;

[2] ^bSchool of Sustainability, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287;

[3] ^cUniversity City Exchange, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ 85287;

[4] ^dLaboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ 85721;

[5] ^eSchool of Geography, Development and Environment, University of Arizona , Tucson, AZ 85721

Author notes

¹To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: mesmith9@ 123456asu.edu .

Edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, and approved March 24, 2021 (received for review November 4, 2020)

Author contributions: M.E.S., J.L., M.A.P., A.M.Y., B.W.S., K.A.C., N.G., and A.C.H. designed research; M.E.S., J.L., M.A.P., A.M.Y., B.W.S., K.A.C., N.G., and A.C.H. performed research; J.L., M.A.P., K.A.C., N.G., and A.C.H. analyzed data; and M.E.S., J.L., M.A.P., A.M.Y., B.W.S., K.A.C., N.G., and A.C.H. wrote the paper.