In Max Weber's brief book The City, the author studies the emergence of cities in terms of the idea that they develop from populous settlements that are also fortified centers of trade and commerce. These centers eventually take on semi-autonomous existence as urban communities. The notion of urban community was the distinguishing feature that Weber felt made the difference between the true city and mere accumulations of large numbers of people. Martindale outlines the levels of social interaction inherent in Weber's conception of the community (Martindale, 1958, p. 54). These levels were: social actions (meaningful human interaction); social relations (arrangements of the elements of social actions); and social institutions (the abstract notion of social relations as a network of social actions). These institutions were a number of non-exclusive patterns of behaviors to which individuals adhered to varying degrees. Thus the community concept rested on the idea of a system of institutions operating as a whole. Weber accepted the basic idea of a city as, predominantly, a center of trade and commerce separate from feudal or other rural arrangements (i.e., the definition of a population that was not primarily responsible for its own food production). But in addition to this basis, a settlement also had to possess several other features in order to be a true city. These elements were: a fortification; a market; a court that could apply at least partially independent laws; a related form of association; and at least partial autonomy and autocephaly (i.e., authorities in whose election the burghers participated) (Weber, 1958, p. 81).
This conception of the city describes only the emergence of Western cities since, with occasional exceptions in the Near East, Weber did not find such a pattern in other parts of the world. After setting out the basis of his theory Weber addressed the development of the city in comparative terms ...