【摘要】The interest of this book to the agricultural economist is mainly in the first few chapters where the thesis is put forward that cities do not arise as is often assumed, out of the surplus of rural development, but that rather cities as trading centres develop first and are a source of rural innovation which radiates out from them. The need to feed a concentrated group of traders leads to the development of more intensive agriculture around city boundaries; the presence of a concentration of skilled crafts throws up innovations, such as metal tools, and chemical fertilizers which can be used in agriculture. These innovations gradually spread outward along trade routes from cities and modernize agriculture. Urbanization thus is a pre-requisite of development rather than a consequence of it.

【文献来源】Jacobs J. The Economy of Cities. New York: Vintage, 1969.