Re-examining historical energy transitions and urban systems in Europe

This contribution questions the implication of energy use in the evolution process of urban systems and examines the role of energy systems, their evolution, socio-economic and technological factors related to them, in differentiations or regularities observed. Then, this evolutionary approach asks about future urban dynamics in an energetic crises context. This analysis is based on historical energy consumption data (Centre for History and Economics, Harvard) and on e-Geopolis database for population of urban areas 10 000 inhabitants and more. The targets are exploration and recognition of the role of energy in urban dynamics, growth and structuration in hierarchies during 200 years.