Preindustrial cities segregated outsiders by lodging rather than by restricting movement
Evidence
In some cities, visiting foreigners might be required to lodge in quarters specifically reserved for persons of their type. Thus, in tenth and eleventh century Constantinople, Christian pilgrims stayed at the Hospice of Samson, while Russian merchants were shuttled out to “specially reserved houses in the suburb of Saint Mamas” (Runciman, … 1952:62). In Canton, China, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, foreign merchants were barred from the city but were given permission to stay in “reservations” across the river and were allowed to conduct their business through specially designated mediators (Comhaire and Cahnman, 1962: 115). This Cantonese arrangement seems extreme and untypical. More commonly in preindustrial cities, tourists, pilgrims, and businessmen were expected only to sleep in the visitors’ quarters. During the day, they presumably were free to roam the city. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 266
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- XREF: Connects to Lofland’s central thesis that modern strangers are categorized by appearance because spatial segregation collapsed — here preindustrial cities contained strangers by physical lodging assignments instead.
Related
- Preindustrial cities spatially managed unknown foreigners by type. (similarity 0.91)
- Preindustrial cities relied primarily on appearance with spatial segregation as a secondary cue (similarity 0.83)
- Modern cities segregate activities spatially far more than preindustrial ones did (similarity 0.81)
- Preindustrial cities’ density limited class-residential segregation (similarity 0.81)
- Preindustrial cities segregated activities far less spatially than modern cities (similarity 0.81)
- Preindustrial public space only looks disordered because its ordering principle differs from ours (similarity 0.80)
- Preindustrial cities mixed rich and poor dwellings within single quarters (similarity 0.80)
- Preindustrial urban diversity looks like disorder only because its ordering principle differs (similarity 0.79)
- Preindustrial Constantinople’s streets exposed residents to many distinct nationalities daily. (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Preindustrial city manners were category-bound and sanctioned by elites
#expands(0.55) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 644 - Urban spatial reordering co-occurred within industrialization’s broad convulsive changes
#expands(0.50) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 303