&gt;but wasn&#x27;t it basically the industrial revolution that made the city important<p>Not really. Cities were important since basically the transition from hunter-gatherers to agriculture going back to Babylon and Nineveh.<p>&gt;The only thing that I can see that you still really need a big city for is an interesting social life, and admittedly, that is important.<p>Which isn&#x27;t to everyone&#x27;s tastes but there does appear to be real and perceived value in concentrating specific industries.  As others have remarked many times, it&#x27;s ironic that the industry that should be among the most amenable to being distributed has instead so concentrated in specific places like the Bay area. (With the result that so many people have convinced themselves their life is over if they can&#x27;t work there that they&#x27;ll put most of their income into a crappy apartment.)