The phenomenon of the city in the contemporary discourse of urban history

Abstract

The current approach to presenting the history of urban planning is biased by old narratives about understanding the nature of city development as a unique object with a thousand-year history. As Ukraine reconstructs and restores war-torn places, it is necessary to identify specific signs and develop an understanding of this kind of phenomenon according to the challenges of the present. Considering them globally will help develop ideas based on Ukrainian cultural values and continue to establish a national identity in architecture and urban planning. The purpose of the research is to comprehend the processes of city design over five thousand years and to highlight those aspects that are evidence of a phenomenal breakthrough in the development of mankind. The research methodology is based on the principles and methods within the framework of logical and epistemological and philosophical approaches. The research resulted in the identification of the characteristics of the material and spatial content of the ancient cities of the world that have survived a thousand-year history, specific to a particular era and culture, and the qualities that have become decisive for assessing their development. The focus is on the development of Homo sapiens and the emergence of writing, without which the existence of cities would be impossible. A comparative description of ancient cities is presented on the example of such settlements as Carnacus, Babylon, Athens, Venice, Jerusalem, and the Roman Empire, which had a stable urban planning framework for several centuries. These settlements occupy a particular place in history, as they represent specific evolutionary approaches to the establishment and development of the material and spatial environment of human activity. The changes in their formal states varied, but each time they resulted in qualitative transformations. Therefore, the authors propose to delve deeper into understanding the development of ancient cities through the categories of linearity, progressiveness, and regressiveness, and to emphasise the deepening of the usual approaches to the city’s study