Conclusion
In this chapter, we have explored the complex relationship between agriculture and urbanism, from its central role enabling the development of larger and denser settlements over time, to varying strategies and choices in agricultural practice.
These are based in diverse sociopolitical systems, where power and authority dynamics influence the relations between the city and agriculture, with many urban centres in constant negotiation as to the degree of central or dispersed control in agricultural decisions. These varying systems expose the problems with concepts of urban-rural and urban-hinterland division, but remind us of the dynamism of ancient urban societies throughout the globe. These modern understandings of the relationship between urbanism and agriculture continue to erode long-held beliefs - the standard narrative - that urban zones were highly centralized systems abstracted from their hinterland, which provided agricultural products for the city under despotic control.
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