Hydraulic Civilizations and the Philanthropic Industrialists
1. Historical Origins
For many planners and historians the origin of ancient cities has been a source of fascination and the cause for much research and debate. One theory developed by the German-American historian Karl Wittfogel was that of ‘hydraulic civilizations’ (Minnery 2010a). Hydraulic civilizations were described as those whose agricultural system was reliant upon significant government-directed water systems for irrigation and flood management (Encyclopædia Britannica 2010). Wittfogel listed that Egypt, India, Mesopotamia, Northern China and pre-Columbian Mexico and Peru were examples of hydraulic civilizations (Minnery 2010a). This paper will focus on the theories of the Wittfogel’s hydraulic civilization and then try to draw conclusions between whether the city of Brisbane shared similar ideals.
Wittfogel’s belief in hydraulic civilizations stemmed from the idea that the civilizations stated earlier were formed unlike to those of the West (Encyclopædia Britannica 2010). It was the idea that these were all situated on floodplain prone areas and irrigative farming was developed to manage these conditions (Butzer 1976). See Figure 1 below for a satellite image of the Nile River’s floodplain. Wittfogel states, while talking about the Yellow River basin in China which sees semi-arid conditions that “in this setting agricultural man created a stable economy by manipulating water productively and protectively (for the purpose of irrigation and flood control)” (Wittfogel 1957 pp.343-344). He also suggested that it was not possible to run an effective irrigation system without the guidance and direction of the government (Wittfogel 1957). He therefore came to the conclusion that hydraulic societies are a type of agrarian society and distinguished peculiarities which rested on five major conditions (Wittfogel 1957) which is shown in the table below. While it would be natural to try to apply Wittfogel’s theories to other cities we know today, Brisbane is another
For many planners and historians the origin of ancient cities has been a source of fascination and the cause for much research and debate. One theory developed by the German-American historian Karl Wittfogel was that of ‘hydraulic civilizations’ (Minnery 2010a). Hydraulic civilizations were described as those whose agricultural system was reliant upon significant government-directed water systems for irrigation and flood management (Encyclopædia Britannica 2010). Wittfogel listed that Egypt, India, Mesopotamia, Northern China and pre-Columbian Mexico and Peru were examples of hydraulic civilizations (Minnery 2010a). This paper will focus on the theories of the Wittfogel’s hydraulic civilization and then try to draw conclusions between whether the city of Brisbane shared similar ideals.
Wittfogel’s belief in hydraulic civilizations stemmed from the idea that the civilizations stated earlier were formed unlike to those of the West (Encyclopædia Britannica 2010). It was the idea that these were all situated on floodplain prone areas and irrigative farming was developed to manage these conditions (Butzer 1976). See Figure 1 below for a satellite image of the Nile River’s floodplain. Wittfogel states, while talking about the Yellow River basin in China which sees semi-arid conditions that “in this setting agricultural man created a stable economy by manipulating water productively and protectively (for the purpose of irrigation and flood control)” (Wittfogel 1957 pp.343-344). He also suggested that it was not possible to run an effective irrigation system without the guidance and direction of the government (Wittfogel 1957). He therefore came to the conclusion that hydraulic societies are a type of agrarian society and distinguished peculiarities which rested on five major conditions (Wittfogel 1957) which is shown in the table below. While it would be natural to try to apply Wittfogel’s theories to other cities we know today, Brisbane is another