Since the early twentieth century, some historians have expressed interest in the development of U.S. cities. Urban history as a distinct field within U.S. history, however, emerged relatively recently. Many of these historians believed that the answers to all questions about the histories of cities lay in the analysis of quantitative data. In the last ten to fifteen years, however, some urban historians have looked to architectural history, art history, and cultural history for their theoretical frameworks and models. They have increasingly explored the development of urban cultures instead of the development of cities.
Many urban historians rely upon theories and models from disciplines other than history.
In addition to architectural history and art history, urban history has been influenced by the academic and professional specializations of sociology, geography, and urban planning. Because urban historians have been influenced by scholarship in many other fields, many works of urban history seem to have little in common. In one sense that was accurate, but the sense was very broad indeed. Across the whole spectrum of publications in 'urban history' the only common factor seemed to be that they all dealt with some aspect of life in urban communities. Many scholars with diverse backgrounds, approaches, and interests continue to see themselves as urban historians.