Journal of Urban History 2016, Vol. 42(1) 121–144 © 2015 SAGE Publications Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0096144214566969 juh.sagepub.com Article Service Access in Premodern Cities: An Exploratory Comparison of Spatial Equity Benjamin W. Stanley 1 , Timothy J. Dennehy 2 , Michael E. Smith 2 , Barbara L. Stark 2 , Abigail M. York 2 , George L. Cowgill 2 , Juliana Novic 2 , and Jerald Ek 3 Abstract Spatial equity studies measuring urban service access have been conducted in variety of modern settings, but this research has not been extended to premodern cities. This article presents an exploratory, transdisciplinary pilot study of service access in six premodern urban environments to better understand the historical origins of inequality. Using archaeological and historical spatial data, neighborhood and household access to three types of service facility is studied across different urban traditions. Findings reveal that the size, shape, and spatial structure of cities may influence service accessibility as much as political influence over facility siting or residential choice. Most cities display a spatially concentric pattern of accessibility, and denser cities tend to display more equitable service access. Elite groups possess consistently better service access than nonelite groups. Although this exploratory study must be expanded to produce firmer results, it indicates the importance of interpreting modern urban inequalities from a long-term perspective, and points to the efficacy of comparative, spatially oriented, urban historical research for generating new insights into urban processes. Keywords spatial equity, urban services, urban history, comparative urbanism, service access For decades, “socially relevant spatial science” has been probing the existence and drivers of socio-spatial inequity in the urban distribution of amenities and harms. 1 Many studies have found that social disparities and differential access to essential services among neighborhoods are com- monplace in contemporary world cities. The historical origins of such patterns lie beyond the gaze of most urban scholars, however, and there have been no comprehensive efforts to deter- mine whether intraurban inequality has been universal or to seek the historical drivers of dispari- ties among neighborhoods. 1 School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA 2 School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA 3 Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, USA Corresponding Author: Benjamin W. Stanley, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, PO Box 875502, Tempe, AZ 85287-5502, USA. Email: bwstanley@asu.edu 566969JUH XX X 10.1177/0096144214566969Journal of Urban HistoryStanley et al. research-article 2015 at ARIZONA STATE UNIV on December 20, 2015 juh.sagepub.com Downloaded from