What the collapse of ancient capitals can teach us about the cities of today

Image: At its peak in the 12th and 13th centuries, the Khmer capital of Angkor sprawled over 1,000 square kilometres. Photograph: Robert Harding World Imagery/Getty Images

theguardian.com - January 14th, 2015 - Srinath Perur

After existing for more than a thousand years, the Mayan city of Tikal collapsed in the ninth century. At about the same time, halfway around the world, the city of Angkor was being founded. It would be the grand capital of the Khmer kingdom for six centuries before itself being abandoned.

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