You wake up in the morning, climb out of bed, walk across the room, and pull open the curtains of your apartment windows.
Outside, the world around you is already bustling and full of life.
Buses rumble past, bright yellow taxis honk their horns and pick up passengers, customers hurry in and out of the stores carrying bags.
Dozens of people walk past on the sidewalk below. Streetlights blink their directions to drivers and pedestrians, and there’s a steady stream of urban sounds. This is city life, and you’re a part of it.
ALL THESE PEOPLE, ALL THIS ACTIVITY AND ORGANIZATION—IT WASN’T ALWAYS LIKE THIS. SO HOW DID CITIES START?
IN THE BEGINNING
Your distant ancestors didn’t even have a permanent place to live. Around 8500–6500 BCE, nomads moved around, following the migration patterns of the animals they hunted for food and the growing seasons of the plants they ate.
Over time, people figured out how to settle in certain areas. They learned to grow crops and to raise animals for food. Groups of people settled together for safety, companionship, and to share the work. These were the first permanent communities—the earliest beginnings of the cities we know today.
Words to Know
pedestrian: someone traveling on foot.
urban: relating to a city or large town.
nomad: a person who moves from place to place in search of food.
migration: the movement of a large group of animals or people from one location to another.
crop: a plant grown for food or other uses.
community: all the people living in a particular area or place.
Words to Know
goods: items that can be bought, sold, or traded.
service: work done for others as a job or business, such as a doctor providing medical services.
trading center: a central place where people meet to exchange goods.
commerce: the activity of buying, selling, and trading.
LET’S TRADE!
Soon, people figured out that they could swap goods and services to get what they needed. A person who made pottery, for example, could trade with someone who made weapons. Some communities became trading centers, where people brought their goods to swap with others. As these communities grew, they began to resemble more closely the cities of today—busy areas where commerce takes place.
Why some communities became trading centers depended a lot on location. Being near a waterway helped an area get more traffic and grow faster. After all, people didn’t want to travel for days across a desert loaded down with goods. They’d much rather float their goods down a river to reach a growing community. As trade expanded to distant parts of the world, access to waterways allowed traders to send their goods on ships and receive shipments from other lands.
Once an area was established, people needed to call it something to identify it when talking with others. Today, you can often trace the name of a city back to its origins.
Words to Know
established: a custom, belief, practice, or place that is recognized after having been in existence for a long enough time.
origin: the place or moment when something comes into existence.
factory: a large place where goods are made.
• Cheektowaga, meaning “land of the crabapples,” was named by the Seneca Native Americans in western New York for the small, fruit-bearing trees that grow there.
• Detroit, Michigan, was named after the river linking Lake Huron and Lake Erie. “Detroit” is the French word for “strait,” which means a channel of water.
• Oakland, California, got its name because of a thick area of oak trees.
• New York was originally settled by the Dutch and called New Amsterdam after their city in Holland. When the English took control, they changed the name to New York in honor of the Duke of York. The “old” York is a city in England.
• Hershey, Pennsylvania, was named after the chocolate maker Milton Hershey. He opened the world’s first modern chocolate factory and built the town for its employees and their families to have a place to live, work, and play.
• Today, Mumbai, India, is called by its original name. When Britain controlled the city, it was known as Bombay.
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A source of fresh water was also important because traveling traders and their thirsty animals needed it to drink. And people who lived in these trading centers needed it to survive. But a trading community also needed to be located near intersections of major travel paths on land, so people not traveling on water could reach them.
As communities grew in size and in wealth, fewer people had to spend long hours growing crops or tending livestock. Some people were free to turn their attention to other things such as education, recreation, arts, religion, and inventions.
Words to Know
society: an organized community of people.
culture: the beliefs and way of life of a group of people.
From skilled craftsmen to laborers and great thinkers, growing towns became the focal point for people who began to transform societies and cultures. Cities were born—and they would continue to grow and influence the entire world.
KEEPING SAFE
Safety was another important consideration for the growth of a trading center. Communities built on higher ground were more protected against flooding from nearby waterways. People living there could defend themselves more easily against intruders.
There were benefits to living in growing communities. People could easily trade goods without having to travel long distances. There was safety in having a large group of people living in the same place instead of wandering across open land alone.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
CITY NAMING PROJECT
SUPPLIES
paper, cardstock, or index cards
pen or pencil
poster board
colored markers
If you’ve ever wanted to live in Sarahville or Adamsburg, here’s your chance to name your own city!
1 Imagine you are suddenly dropped in the middle of a land without any structures. Brainstorm as many features of that place as you can—these could influence the naming of a new city. Don’t stop to think too much, just write everything down. Here are some starting points:
Weather. Is it windy? A blizzard? So hot you can see the air shimmer? Maybe it’s always cloudy or rains a lot.
Landscape. What are the features of the land? What kinds of plants are in this land? Pine trees? Cactus? Is it hilly or completely flat? Maybe the river running through it is making a funny sound or perhaps there’s a saltwater bay.
Inhabitants. Do the local people speak another language? What do they call the area? What living creatures can you see around you?
Businesses. Maybe there’s a cliff filled with precious stones towering nearby. Or maybe the land is the perfect place to start a hang-gliding school. What could you turn into commerce for your new city?
Names. Naming a city after yourself can be fun—but coming up with a twist on your name can be even more interesting! Maybe you can name the city after a friend who’s helping you establish the city or an old pet!
2 Go through your brainstorm list and write down at least 10 possible names on index cards. Look them over and decide which you like best. When you’ve named your city, write it on your poster board and draw a picture of what your new city would look like and why it’s called the name you selected.
MAKE YOUR OWN
PHOTO SAFARI
SUPPLIES
pen or pencil
poster board
ruler
Internet access
camera and printer, or something to draw with
Sometimes we live in a place for so long that we don’t even really see it any more. It’s hard to imagine what it would look like to someone arriving there for the very first time. With this photo safari, you get the chance to learn a little about the place you call home, whether it’s a city or a small town, and see it from the eyes of a tourist. Always have an adult supervise while you are on the Internet.
1 At the top of your poster board, write the name of your city (or a city nearby or one you’ve always been interested in). Then, below that, use the ruler to ‘ divide the rest of the board into three vertical sections and label them “past,” “present,” and “future.”
Words to Know
tourist: a traveler who visits a place for fun.
2 Visit your local library or do some research online with a parent’s supervision. Find out some history of your chosen city. For example:
When was it settled?
What was in the area when people first came there? Why did they come?
How did they choose the name?
3 Put the information you learn under the “past” column. If you can find some old pictures from the area, see if you can copy them to put on your board, too. Or you can get creative and draw pictures!
4 Take pictures of some of the people and places in your city now (or draw them) to put on your board. Write about what’s happening today in the city—what it’s like, what you like about it, and even what you might not care for. Put as much information as you can in the “present” column.
5 Finally, think a little about what the city might be like in the future. You can make good guesses by checking out the city’s Chamber of Commerce site or going to the visitor’s center if your city has one. Ask questions of teachers and even people working at the Chamber of Commerce. Maybe you can find out if there are new developments coming, new stores, or any big changes. List everything you find out in the “future” column. You can even draw pictures of what you think things will look like in 10 or 20 years (or more!).
6 Take a look at how things in this city have changed over time and might change in the future. Is it changing in a way that you like? What would you change about it if you could?
FUTURE CITIES: REAL ATLANTIS
There are some pretty crazy ideas about the cities of the future. Like living underwater! For instance, Malaysian architect Sarly Andre Bin Sarkum designed a “seascraper.” This building would float in the water like a buoy with just the top above the water’s surface. On the roof there would be farms for food and then everybody would live below. The seascraper would even generate its own electricity through wave power! If you could invent your own city, what would it look like? How would things work? Create a travel brochure for this city using brochures you collect or find on the Internet for inspiration.
MAKE YOUR OWN
CITY NAME CHALLENGE
SUPPLIES
Internet access
paper, cardstock, or index cards
pen or pencil
In addition to a city’s proper name, many also have nicknames. Some can be pretty funny or descriptive. With this nickname game, you can challenge your friends and family to figure out which nicknames belong to which real cities. Always have an adult supervise while you are on the Internet.
1 With supervision from a parent, go online and search for the names of cities and towns around you, along with their nicknames.
2 On the front of each card, write down the real name of the city or town. On the back, write down the nickname.
3 Expand your search to well-known cities and towns, too. These can be from anywhere in the world. Here are some cities to get you started:
Los Angeles (City of Angels)
Philadelphia (City of Brotherly Love)
Seattle (Emerald City)
New York (The Big Apple)
Paris (City of Light)
Amsterdam (Venice of the North)
4 Once you have a stack of at least 20 cards, challenge your friends and family to see who does the best on your city nickname quiz. Show them the city name and have them guess the nickname—or flip it around and see if they can guess the city just from the nickname!
Try This! Here’s a fun twist: If you don’t find a nickname—and some cities don’t have one—challenge yourself, along with your friends and family, to come up with one! You can use the same brainstorming suggestions from the City Naming Project.