城市是人类文明发展的产物,也是人类文明进步的一个重要标志。不过,有关中国城市史的研究起步相对较晚。在很长时期,中国并没有出现严格学科意义上的独立的城市学及城市史学。城市史作为中国史学的一个分支,实际上是在我国进入改革开放新时期中才逐渐发展起来,“成为枝繁叶茂的新兴学科”。① The city is a product of the development of human civilization and an important symbol of the progress of human civilization. However, the study of Chinese city history started relatively late. For a long time, China did not have an independent urban science and urban historiography in the strict disciplinary sense. Urban history, as a branch of Chinese historiography, is actually gradually developed in the new era of reform and opening up in our country. “It has become a new branch of flourishing science.” ①