Course description
This course connects and bridges between worlds: between the world of archaeology, which deals with what was here thousands of years ago, and the world of what is happening here, now and might happen here tomorrow. It links the walled cities of the ancient past with the borderless cities of today; it links modern nationalism with postmodern urbanism, the world of exact sciences, and the hermeneutic world of humanities and society.

At the center of this course stands the city, a human creation encompassing social, economic, political, cultural, and material aspects. Since its first appearance around 5,500 (or some argue 8,000) years ago, the city has survived the test of time. Throughout these millennia, various civilizations, kingdoms, empires, and other forms of existence and settlements, such as tribes or clans, rose, thrived, declined, and disappeared or were pushed to the peripheries. And the city? Not only does it still exist, but it is growing stronger to the point where some call the current reality "The Age of Cities"

This course does not tell the entire story of the city, from its first emergence until today. Instead, it focuses on two events in its history, on two urban revolutions: the first, which occurred some 5,500 years ago when the city and urbanism first emerged, and the second, which I argue we are currently experiencing, is a revolution in two senses. Quantitatively, it marks the first time in human history that the majority of the world's population resides in urban settlements, signifying the intensification of urbanization. Qualitatively, it represents a shift where urban life and urbanism are becoming the driving force behind human existence and human consciousness.

Some 3000 years ago, following the first urban revolution, the Israeli social and cultural identity was first created in a process in which the tribes of Israel underwent an urban revolution – from a tribal society to an urban society. And today, at the beginning of the 21st century, we are experiencing a second urban revolution in which urbanism in our region is challenging nationalism as the generative order of society.

The purpose of this course is to create a dialogue between the two urban revolutions: the first part will focus on the first urban revolution. The third part on the second urban revolution, while the second part, titled "In Between," will focus on the processes that characterize both revolutions.

Syllabus

In line with the above, the 14 lectures of the course are planned to develop in three sequential parts, when the last two meetings are devoted to students' presentations:

Part I: The first urban revolution

1. General introduction
2. The first urban revolution
3. Darwin, Neo-Darwinism and the urban revolution
4. Complexity, self-organization and the urban revolution

Part II: In between

5. What is a city?
6. The two cultures of cities
7. Nationalism, self-identity and the city
8. Urban theory
9. CTC

Part III The second urban revolution

10. Signs of revolution
11. Lefevre and his critiques on the threshold of the second urban revolution
12. Complexity, self-organization and the second urban revolution 13-14 Students' presentation

Evaluation criteria

• 10% Attendance and participation
• 10% Individual out of class discussion with professor 10% Oral presentations in class
• 70% Written final research paper

References *

Batty, M. (2013). The new Science of Cities. MIT Cambridge Mass.

Bettencourt L.M.A (2021). Introduction to Urban Science: Evidence and Theory of Cities as Complex Systems. MIT Cambridge Mass.

Portugali J. Ed. (2021). Handbook on Cities and Complexity. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-cities-and-complexity-9781789900118.html

Portugali J. (2025). The Second Urban Revolution: Complexity, cognition and the view from the Israeli-Palestinian periphery. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/the-second-urban-revolution-9781035350117.htmlhttps://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/the-second-urban-revolution-9781035350117.html

Haken H, Portugali J. (2021). Synergetic cities: Information, Steady state and phase transition: Implications to urban scaling, smart cities and planning. Springer nature. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-030-63457-5

* More detailed bibliography can be found in the above books.

Course duration: 40 hours of tuition
Credits equivalence: 6 ECTS

Last updated: August 7, 2026