Municipal Functions, a Study of the Development, Scope and Tendency of Muncicipal Socialism

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1899. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER II. THE CITY OF TO-DAY. The term city is frequently used to denote two entirely different concepts. At one time it signifies an urban center--the economic city--without any reference to corporate existence. At another time it denotes a municipal corporation. To avoid endless discussion and constant disagreement regarding the origin, character and functions of the city, it is necessary to differentiate the economic city--the urban center--from the political city--the municipality.1 THE ECONOMIC CITY. The Causes of Urban Growth.--The urban center3 is primarily an economic phenomenon. So long as agriculture has not so far developed that one person can produce food and clothing for several, and so long as bodily wants are the chief wants, the building of large cities is impossible. When wants diversify, when division of labor specializes industry, concentration of population is made possible and advantageous. It is not, however, until convenient and quick means of transportation are invented that urban centers grow most rapidly. The development of the factory system, and of national and international economy, gives a further impetus. As productive capacity increases, artificial wants multiply. Those who supply these wants drift to the city, as the concentration of population enables them to find a larger market for their services. The manufacturer also finds that the city has a larger 1 So keen a student of municipal government as Mr. Godkin commits the error of using city in two different meanings in consecutive paragraphs. In his recent work Unforeseen Tendeneiesin Democracy (p.145-6), he says: No European city can be said to have owed its growth to the care or authority of the central power. American cities, on the contrary, are without excep...