Within a few hundred years, the world had been effectively shrunk by the growing sophistication of the trade network. Silk even became an international currency.
As China began to expand its horizons, the trade in horses, silk, bamboo, rice and wine was vigorous and often used in diplomacy to guarantee peace between empires and cities. One important lesson to be drawn from the early waves of urbanisation and the long distance activities of cities is that prized assets and luxury possessions have often been drivers of interconnection and collaboration. With their deep-rooted cultures and external orientation, they exhibited many of the hallmarks of what are now considered to be global cities.
These cities formed the epicentre of a vast trade network based on a common cultural and linguistic community, and built infrastructure to provide good standards of living for residents.
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