Weber believed that in the late Middle Ages, Europe developed the ideal urban community. "For Weber, urban community consisted of three elements: a fusion of the fortress and the marketplace where trade and commercial relations predominated, a legal court of its own that had the authority to settle local disputes, and partial political autonomy that allowed residents to elect authorities who could administer daily affairs."

According to Weber, in order to be a full urban community, the city had to possess its own laws and its own judicial administration. Whereas Asian cities had only the market and the fortress,the occidental cities also had a separate urban law and a separate legal status for its citizens. Urban law specified that the property is alienable and that individuals are free .

It should be pointed out that the condition that a city has its own body of laws is more important than the content of the law. It also maintains military autonomy . They have a garrison and if it is extensive enough like in the case of Sparta, they will not need a wall.¹