Old Values and New Institutions in a Lebanese Arab City

The city is nothing new in human experience. The classic civilizations, from the Babylonian to the Roman, are largely known by their cities. Yet it was not until the nineteenth century that social scientists developed any systematic urban concepts. This happened at the same time that the cities of Europe and North America were changing in two very important ways. One of these was the establishment of industrial technology as the primary category of urban occupations. The other was extremely rapid city growth, involving serious problems of adaptation and adjustment, and resulting in more cities of greater size than had ever before existed.