Why the world needs more city-states

Some of the great developments in human history were incubated in city-states

New York City scene
(Image credit: Afton Almaraz/Getty Images)

If the return of religion is the biggest mega-trend of the 21st century, here's a close competitor: urbanization.

For the first time in the entire history of humanity, more than half of us live in cities, a fact that was much ballyhooed when the threshold was first crossed last year. But the trend continues apace, inviting us to explore more deeply the implications of a development that could be as significant as the invention of agriculture.

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Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is a writer and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His writing has appeared at Forbes, The Atlantic, First Things, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Quartz, and other places. He lives in Paris with his beloved wife and daughter.