Download or read book Aztec City state Capitals written by Michael Ernest Smith and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Aztecs ruled much of Mexico from the thirteenth century until the Spanish conquest in 1521. Outside of the imperial capital of Tenochtitlan, various urban centers ruled the numerous city-states that covered the central Mexican landscape. Aztec City-State Capitals is the first work to focus attention outside Tenochtitlan, revealing these dozens of smaller cities to have been the central hubs of political, economic, and religious life, integral to the grand infrastructure of the Aztec empire. Focusing on building styles, urban townscapes, layouts, and designs, Michael Smith combines two archaeological approaches: monumental (excavations of pyramids, palaces, and public buildings) and social (excavations of houses, workshops, and fields). As a result, he is able to integrate the urban-built environment and the lives of the Aztec peoples as reconstructed from excavations. Smith demonstrates the ways in which these city-state capitals were different from Tenochtitlan and convincingly argues that urban design is the direct result of decisions made by political leaders to legitimize their own power and political roles in the states of the Aztec empire.
Download or read book Ancient Capitals and Cities written by Xiaohong Zhang and published by . This book was released on 2023-12-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the importance of the capital in Chinese history as well as cities more generally. Beginning with the earliest capitals from thousands of years ago all the way to present-day Beijing, the various capital changes of China - including dual-capital systems and even five-capital regimes - are covered in impressive detail. The four ' great capitals of China' - Luoyang, Xi' an, Nanjing, and Beijing - receive particular attention for their central roles in the evolution of Chinese capitals. Aside from the capitals themselves, major cities and city types are also explored at length in this volume: for example, the grass market towns of the Song Dynasty, the Silk Road hubs, and the prosperous port cities that grew in tangent with the booming maritime trade industry during the Qing period, such as Shanghai. This volume covers settlement expansion and type throughout China's history. For those who wish to learn more about Chinese cities and capitals, this book is an ideal choice. We hope readers also have the opportunity to read the other three instalments in this map series.
Download or read book History of Capital Cities in China written by Zhi Dao and published by DeepLogic. This book was released on with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides highlights on the key concepts and trends of evolution in History of Capital Cities in China, as one of the series of books of “China Classified Histories”.
Download or read book American Capitals written by Christian Montès and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: State capitals are an indelible part of the American psyche, spatial representations of state power and national identity. Learning them by heart is a rite of passage in grade school, a pedagogical exercise that emphasizes the importance of committing place-names to memory. But geographers have yet to analyze state capitals in any depth. In American Capitals, Christian Montès takes us on a well-researched journey across America—from Augusta to Sacramento, Albany to Baton Rouge—shedding light along the way on the historical circumstances that led to their appointment, their success or failure, and their evolution over time. While all state capitals have a number of characteristics in common—as symbols of the state, as embodiments of political power and decision making, as public spaces with private interests—Montès does not interpret them through a single lens, in large part because of the differences in their spatial and historical evolutionary patterns. Some have remained small, while others have evolved into bustling metropolises, and Montès explores the dynamics of change and growth. All but eleven state capitals were established in the nineteenth century, thirty-five before 1861, but, rather astonishingly, only eight of the fifty states have maintained their original capitals. Despite their revered status as the most monumental and historical cities in America, capitals come from surprisingly humble beginnings, often plagued by instability, conflict, hostility, and corruption. Montès reminds us of the period in which they came about, “an era of pioneer and idealized territorial vision,” coupled with a still-evolving American citizenry and democracy.
Download or read book Tenochtitlan written by José Luis de Rojas and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2012-12-04 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec empire before the Spanish conquest, rivaled any other great city of its time. In Europe, only Paris, Venice, and Constantinople were larger. Cradled in the Valley of Mexico, the city is unique among New World capitals in that it was well-described and chronicled by the conquistadors who subsequently demolished it. This means that, though centuries of redevelopment have frustrated efforts to access the ancient city’s remains, much can be told about its urban landscape, politics, economy, and religion. While Tenochtitlan commands a great deal of attention from archaeologists and Mesoamerican scholars, very little has been written about the city for a non-technical audience in English. In this fascinating book, eminent expert José Luis de Rojas presents an accessible yet authoritative exploration of this famous city--interweaving glimpses into its inhabitants’ daily lives with the broader stories of urbanization, culture, and the rise and fall of the Aztec empire.
Download or read book The Imperial Capitals of China written by Arthur Cotterell and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2008-05-29 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This history of China’s imperial capital cities reveals “a picaresque chronicle of dynastic succession and court intrigue” across millennia (Publishers Weekly). Throughout the long history of Imperial China, emperors designed their capital cities in ways that reveal the heart of their dynasty. The ley lines of these cities reveal religious preoccupations, while the design of important buildings tells us much about the cultural influences of the period. The Shang Emperor of the third century B.C. made obsessive—and ultimately fatal—attempts to engage the Immortals with cosmologically pleasing urban planning. Meanwhile, the Tang capital at Chang'an betrays the striking creativity and cultural receptiveness that earmark the era as a literary and artistic golden age. And the Forbidden City of fifteenth century Beijing still stands as testament to Ming dynasty architectural virtuosity. Arthur Cotterell provides an inside view of the rich array of characters, political and ideological tensions, and technological genius that defined the imperial cities of China, as each in turn is uncovered, explored, and celebrated. The oldest continuous civilization in existence today stands to become the most influential.
Download or read book Capital Cities around the World written by Roman Adrian Cybriwsky and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2013-05-23 with total page 758 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This informative resource is a fascinating compilation of the history, politics, and culture of every capital city from around the world, making this the only singular reference on the subject of its kind. Every country, even the world's youngest nations, has a capital city—a centralized location which houses the seat of government and acts as the hub of culture and history. But, what role do capital cities play in the global arena? Which factors have influenced the selection of a municipal center for each nation? This interesting encyclopedia explores the topic in great depth, providing an overview of each country's capital—its history and early inhabitants, ascension to prominence, infrastructure within the government, and influence on the world around them. The author considers the culture and society of the area, discussing the ethnic and religious groups among those who live there, the major issues the residents face, and other interesting cultural facts. Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture features the capital cities of 200 countries across the globe. Organized in alphabetical order by country, each profile combines social studies, geography, anthropology, world history, and political science to offer a fascinating survey of each location.
Download or read book Capital Cities of Arab Islam written by Philip Khuri Hitti and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 1973-01-01 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book American Capitals written by Christian Montès and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: State capitals are an indelible part of the American psyche, spatial representations of state power and national identity. Learning them by heart is a rite of passage in grade school, a pedagogical exercise that emphasizes the importance of committing place-names to memory. But geographers have yet to analyze state capitals in any depth. In American Capitals, Christian Montès takes us on a well-researched journey across America—from Augusta to Sacramento, Albany to Baton Rouge—shedding light along the way on the historical circumstances that led to their appointment, their success or failure, and their evolution over time. While all state capitals have a number of characteristics in common—as symbols of the state, as embodiments of political power and decision making, as public spaces with private interests—Montès does not interpret them through a single lens, in large part because of the differences in their spatial and historical evolutionary patterns. Some have remained small, while others have evolved into bustling metropolises, and Montès explores the dynamics of change and growth. All but eleven state capitals were established in the nineteenth century, thirty-five before 1861, but, rather astonishingly, only eight of the fifty states have maintained their original capitals. Despite their revered status as the most monumental and historical cities in America, capitals come from surprisingly humble beginnings, often plagued by instability, conflict, hostility, and corruption. Montès reminds us of the period in which they came about, “an era of pioneer and idealized territorial vision,” coupled with a still-evolving American citizenry and democracy.
Download or read book Political Landscapes of Capital Cities written by Jessica Joyce Christie and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2016-08-08 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political Landscapes of Capital Cities investigates the processes of transformation of the natural landscape into the culturally constructed and ideologically defined political environments of capital cities. In this spatially inclusive, socially dynamic interpretation, an interdisciplinary group of authors including archaeologists, anthropologists, and art historians uses the methodology put forth in Adam T. Smith’s The Political Landscape: Constellations of Authority in Early Complex Polities to expose the intimate associations between human-made environments and the natural landscape that accommodate the sociopolitical needs of governmental authority. Political Landscapes of Capital Cities blends the historical, political, and cultural narratives of capital cities such as Bangkok, Cusco, Rome, and Tehran with a careful visual analysis, hinging on the methodological tools of not only architectural and urban design but also cultural, historiographical, and anthropological studies. The collection provides further ways to conceive of how processes of urbanization, monumentalization, ritualization, naturalization, and unification affected capitals differently without losing grasp of local distinctive architectural and spatial features. The essays also articulate the many complex political and ideological agendas of a diverse set of sovereign entities that planned, constructed, displayed, and performed their societal ideals in the spaces of their capitals, ultimately confirming that political authority is profoundly spatial. Contributors: Jelena Bogdanović, Jessica Joyce Christie, Talinn Grigor, Eulogio Guzmán, Gregor Kalas, Stephanie Pilat, Melody Rod-ari, Anne Toxey, Alexei Vranich
Download or read book The Foundation of Australia s Capital Cities written by Anthony Webster and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-03-02 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Foundation of Australia’s Capital Cities is the story of how the places chosen for Australia’s seven colonial capitals came to shape their unique urban character and built environments. Tony Webster traces the effects of each city’s geologically diverse coastal or riverine landform and the local natural materials that were available for construction, highlighting how the geology and original landforms resulted in development patterns that have persisted today.
Download or read book Capital Cities Varieties and Patterns of Development and Relocation written by Vadim Rossman and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2018-03-12 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The issue of capital city relocation is a topic of debate for more than forty countries across the world. In this first book to discuss the issue, Vadim Rossman offers an in-depth analysis of the subject, highlighting the global trends and the key factors that motivate different countries to consider such projects, analyzing the outcomes and drawing lessons from recent capital city transfers worldwide for governments and policy-makers. Capital Cities studies the approaches and the methodologies that inform such decisions and debates. Special attention is given to the study of the universal patterns of relocation and patterns specific to particular continents and mega-regions and particular political regimes. The study emphasizes the role of capital city transfers in the context of nation- and state-building and offers a new framework for thinking about capital cities, identifying six strategies that drive these decisions, representing the economic, political, geographic, cultural and security considerations. Confronting the popular hyper-critical attitudes towards new designed capital cities, Vadim Rossman shows the complex motives that underlie the proposals and the important role that new capitals might play in conflict resolution in the context of ethnic, religious and regional rivalries and federalist transformations of the state, and is seeking to identify the success and failure factors and more efficient implementation strategies. Drawing upon the insights from spatial economics, comparative federalist studies, urban planning and architectural criticism, the book also traces the evolution of the concept of the capital city, showing that the design, iconography and the location of the capital city play a critical role in the success and the viability of the state.
Download or read book Ancient Capitals of Thailand written by Elizabeth H. Moore and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between the 13th and the 18th centuries, the land that was once Siam, and is now the heart of Thailand, saw the rise and fall of some of the most beautiful city states to grace the mainland of Southeast Asia. The remains of these cities constitute a large part of the Thai nation's cultural inheritance, and all are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. This book presents an accessible yet scholarly account of these city states, their art and architecture, accompanied by the gorgeous photography of Michael Freeman.
Download or read book Chocolate City written by Chris Myers Asch and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monumental in scope and vividly detailed, Chocolate City tells the tumultuous, four-century story of race and democracy in our nation's capital. Emblematic of the ongoing tensions between America's expansive democratic promises and its enduring racial realities, Washington often has served as a national battleground for contentious issues, including slavery, segregation, civil rights, the drug war, and gentrification. But D.C. is more than just a seat of government, and authors Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove also highlight the city's rich history of local activism as Washingtonians of all races have struggled to make their voices heard in an undemocratic city where residents lack full political rights. Tracing D.C.'s massive transformations--from a sparsely inhabited plantation society into a diverse metropolis, from a center of the slave trade to the nation's first black-majority city, from "Chocolate City" to "Latte City--Asch and Musgrove offer an engaging narrative peppered with unforgettable characters, a history of deep racial division but also one of hope, resilience, and interracial cooperation.
Download or read book Dynamic Interpretation of Early Cities in Ancient China written by Hong Xu and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-06-14 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers an archaeological study on China’s ancient capitals. Using abundant illustrations of ancient capital sites, it verifies the archaeological discoveries with documentary records. The author introduces the dynamical interpretation of each ancient capital to the interpretation of the entire development history of China's ancient capitals. The book points out that for most of the almost 2000 years from the earliest Erlitou (二里头)to the Ye city (邺城), there was an era where ancient capitals didn’t have outer enclosures due to factors such as the strong national power, the military and diplomatic advantage, the complexity of the residents, and the natural conditions. Thus an era of “the huge ancient capitals without guards” lasting for over 1000 years formed. The concept that “China’s ancient capitals don’t have outer enclosures” presented in the book questions the traditional view that “every settlement has walled enclosures”. Combining science with theory, it offers researchers of history a clear understanding of the development process of China’s ancient capitals.
Download or read book Kyoto written by Matthew Stavros and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2014-10-31 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kyoto was Japan’s political and cultural capital for more than a millennium before the dawn of the modern era. Until about the fifteenth century, it was also among the world’s largest cities and, as the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, it was a place where the political, artistic, and religious currents of Asia coalesced and flourished. Despite these and many other traits that make Kyoto a place of both Japanese and world historical significance, the physical appearance of the premodern city remains largely unknown. Through a synthesis of textual, pictorial, and archeological sources, this work attempts to shed light on Kyoto’s premodern urban landscape with the aim of opening up new ways of thinking about key aspects of premodern Japanese history. The book begins with an examination of Kyoto’s highly idealized urban plan (adapted from Chinese models in the eighth century) and the reasons behind its eventual failure. The formation of the suburbs of Kamigyō and Shimogyō is compared to the creation of large exurban temple-palace complexes by retired emperors from the late eleventh century. Each, it is argued, was a material manifestation of the advancement of privatized power that inspired a medieval discourse aimed at excluding “outsiders.” By examining this discourse, a case is made that medieval power holders, despite growing autonomy, continued to see the emperor and classical state system as the ultimate sources of political legitimacy. This sentiment was shared by the leaders of the Ashikaga shogunate, who established their headquarters in Kyoto in 1336. The narrative examines how these warrior leaders interacted with the capital’s urban landscape, revealing a surprising degree of deference to classical building protocols and urban codes. Remaining chapters look at the dramatic changes that took place during the Age of Warring States (1467–1580s) and Kyoto’s postwar revitalization under the leadership of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Nobunaga’s construction of Nijō Castle in 1569 transformed Kyoto’s fundamental character and, as Japan’s first castle town, it set an example soon replicated throughout the archipelago. In closing, the book explores how Hideyoshi—like so many before him, yet with much greater zeal—used monumentalism to co-opt and leverage the authority of Kyoto’s traditional institutions. Richly illustrated with original maps and diagrams, Kyoto is a panoramic examination of space and architecture spanning eight centuries. It narrates a history of Japan’s premodern capital relevant to the fields of institutional history, material culture, art and architectural history, religion, and urban planning. Students and scholars of Japan will be introduced to new ways of thinking about old historical problems while readers interested in the cities and architecture of East Asia and beyond will benefit from a novel approach that synthesizes a wide variety of sources. For more on Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan’s Premodern Capital, visit www.kyotohistory.com.
Download or read book Planning Europe s Capital Cities written by Thomas Hall and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-12-16 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the nineteenth century many of Europe's capital cities were subject to major expansion and improvement schemes. From Vienna's Ringstrasse to the boulevards of Paris, the townscapes which emerged still shape today's cities and are an inalienable part of European cultural heritage. In Planning Europe's Capital Cities, Thomas Hall examines the planning process in fifteen of those cities and addresses the following questions: when and why did planning begin, and what problems was it meant to solve? who developed the projects, and how, and who made the decisions? what urban ideas are expressed in the projects? what were the legal consequences of the plans, and how did they actually affect subsequent urban development in the individual cities? what similarities or differences can be identified between the various schemes? how have such schemes affected the development of urban planning in general? His detailed analysis shows us that the capital city projects of the nineteenth century were central to the evolution of modern planning and of far greater impact and importance than the urban theories and experiments of the Utopians.
