The production of economic surplus, or “prosperity,” was fundamental to financing the rise of pristine civilizations. Yet, prosperity attracts predation, which discourages the investments required for civilization. To the extent that the economic footing of civilization creates existential security threats, civilization is paradoxical. We claim that, in addition to surplus production, civilizations require surplus protection, or “security.” Drawing from archaeology and history, we model the trade-offs facing a society on its path to civilization. We emphasize preinstitutional forces, especially the geographical environment, that shape growth and defense capabilities and derive the conditions under which these capabilities help escape the civilizational paradox. We provide qualitative illustration of the model by analyzing the rise of the first two civilizations, Sumer and Egypt.

The rise of civilizations involved the dual emergence of economies that could produce surplus ("prosperity") and states that could protect surplus ("security"). But the joint achievement of security and prosperity had to escape a paradox: prosperity attracts predation, and higher insecurity discourages the investments that create prosperity. We study the trade-offs facing a proto-state on its path to civilization through a formal model informed by the anthropological and historical literatures on the origin of civilizations. We emphasize pre-institutional forces, such as physical aspects of the geographical environment, that shape productive and defense capabilities. The solution of the civilizational paradox relies on high defense capabilities, natural or manmade. We show that higher initial productivity and investments that yield prosperity exacerbate conflict when defense capability is fixed, but may allow for security and prosperity when defense capability is endogenous. Some economic shocks and military innovations deliver security and prosperity while others force societies back into a trap of conflict and stagnation. We illustrate the model by analyzing the rise of civilization in Sumeria and Egypt, the first two historical cases, and the civilizational collapse at the end of the Bronze Age.

El diseño de los campus universitarios en Chile, originados durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX, incluyó a varios de los principios del urbanismo funcional. No obstante, su organización también respondió a las necesidades de participación social en el espacio público, un tema clave que el urbanismo de posguerrra denominó "el corazón de la ciudad", cuestión tratada en el VIII CIAM, Hoddesdon, en 1951. En Chile, su acondicionamiento espacial estuvo determinado por aspiraciones colectivistas que demandaban lugares abiertos, jerárquicos, de encuentro y reunión acordes a las demandas universitarias del momento.

In Chile and Latin America, the State has built the city. Thus, from buildings and public spaces, institutional, school, housing, hospital, industrial, and transportation architectures, to the most diverse spheres, the State’s action in the production of public architecture is undeniable. At different times, this fact has been more or less valued or recognized. For example, during the presidency of José Manuel Balmaceda (1886-1891), his administration undertook numerous public works that sought to spread modernization throughout the country through buildings and infrastructure. Likewise, during the 1940s, with the boost of the Popular Front governments, there was a sustained institutionalization action that resulted in the construction of numerous buildings, that spread the benefits of modern architecture for public architecture and working-class housing. With the application of a capitalist economic-social model, which privileges market fluctuations, from the 1970s to the present, the private sector has been favored, so that the State’s action in the production of the city has been curtailed and, on many occasions, muted or vilified.

Se presenta el proyecto Identidad, patrimonio y desarrollo territorial en la provincia de Arauco, Chile, proyecto desarrollado el año 2012 por un equipo de arquitectos/as de la Universidad del Bío-Bío en Concepción-Chile, en convenio con la Asociación de Municipalidades de la Provincia de Arauco-Chile. El proyecto tuvo como objetivo la investigación, reconocimiento y valoración de los espacios públicos de valor patrimonial de la Provincia de Arauco-Chile, haciendo una propuesta de diseño a nivel de imagen objetivo para 40 espacios públicos deteriorados pero de gran valor patrimonial en las localidades involucradas. Se trabajó con lugares degradados y/o poco consolidados pero de una gran potencialidad urbana, con el propósito de desarrollar propuestas de recuperación que valoren el patrimonio cultural, urbano, arquitectónico y paisajístico de 6 pequeñas localidades del sur de Chile. We present the project Identity, heritage and territorial development in Arauco province, Chile, a project developed in 2012by a team of architects of the University of Bío-Bío in Concepción, Chile, in agreement with the Association of Municipalities in the Province of Arauco, Chile. The project aims to research, recognition and appreciation of the public spaces of the equity value of Arauco Province, Chile, with a design proposal in terms of image target damaged 40 public spaces but of great historical value in the localities involved. Worked with degraded sites or poorly consolidated but a large urban potential, in order develop proposals for recovery that value cultural heritage, urban, architectural and landscape of six small towns in southern Chile.