660 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1912. 



The site plays a r61e not less important than the general geographical 

 position. You can consider this from a triple point of view: From 

 topographical location, situation in relation to means of communica- 

 tion, and geological composition. The topographical point of view 

 is sometimes of great importance, as when the city must first of all 

 think of means of defense; it is preferable to look for heights. What 

 is of chief importance to-day is facility for construction and for expan- 

 sion ; land flat and solid, and extended enough. We will return now to 

 a study of the plan of cities. The general situation certainly precedes 

 the local site. The locating of manufacturing establishments is depend- 

 ent on the locating of means of communication. The great cities are 

 situated on the banks of rivers, of lakes, or seas;^ they have sprung 

 up along railway lines ; their development is dependent on the impor- 

 tance of the circulation; when that is turned aside the city is ruined 

 (Le Cap). According to its geological constitution, a city exerts its 

 influence either through the presence of fertile soU, suited to agricul- 

 ture, or by the presence of mineral wealth, coal or rnetallic ores, 

 which have promoted the creation of great industrial cities. 



(b) Human Factors. 



Urbanism is a phenomenon of great complexity which can be sim- 

 plified only at the expense of very close study. An examination of 

 geographical conditions is necessary but will not alone suffice. Human 

 factors play a considerable role not only in the past, as we have already 

 seen, but even more in the present. Very large cities arose during 

 the nineteenth century. In 1801 there were in Europe, according to 

 M. Paul Meuriot,^ only 21 centers with more than 100,000 inhabitants; 

 22, perhaps, with Constantinople. 



POPULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF EUROPE IN 1801. 



Great Britain and Ireland: London, 958,000; Dublin, 140,000; Edinburgh, 85,000; 

 Liverpool, 82,000; Manchester, 76,000; Birmingham, 70,000; Bristol, 61,000; Leeds, 

 53,000. 



France: Paris, 548,000; Marseille, 111,000; Lyon, 109,000; Bordeaux, 91,000; Rouen, 

 87,000; Nantes, 73,000; Lille, 54,000; Toulouse, 50,000. 



Belgium: Brussels, 66,000; Antwerp, 62,000; Gand, 56,000; Liege, 50,000. 



Holland: Amsterdam, 215,000; Rotterdam, 50,000; The Hague, 38,000. 



Germany: Berlin, 172,000; Hamburg, 100,000; Dresden, Breslau, and Konigsberg, 

 60,000; Cologne, 50,000. 



Austria and Hungary: Vienna, 231,000; Prague, 70,000; Budapest, 54,000; Lemberg, 

 48,000. 



Italy: Naples, 350,000; Rome, 170,000; Milan, 170,000; Venice, 150,000; Palermo, 

 120,000. 



• Of 28 cities of over 100,000 inhabitants according to the census of 1891, 14 are ports. 



* Paul Meuriot. Des agglomerations urbaines dans I'Europe contemporaine. Essai sur les causes, les 

 conditions, les consequences de leur d^veloppement. Paris, Berlin, 1897. 



