Where do cities come from and are they a good thing? Ed Glaeser has, in many respects, devoted his professional career to giving a positive answer to the second part of that question. Towers of Ilium is willing to devote at least one post to answering the first part.
Human settlement that constantly grows in size is a thoroughly natural and evolutionary phenomenon. People congregate out of biological necessity, and growth is sustained by the individual's desire and not the coercion of a "strong-man" or some powerful group. Basic reproduction is a coincidental factor--in fact, the most critical economic and architectural areas of urban settlement are not child-friendly.
A place like New York or Shanghai or Jakarta creates a diverse group of opportunity pools for every person there. A beggar does better on a busy sidewalk, and the builder of a skyscraper knows that status seekers will pay the proportionally higher rents for a slightly longer elevator ride.
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