[fredophile]

Why are these things transported further to get to cities than rural areas? I could see the argument if most of these things came from most rural areas but that largely isn't the case. Many manufactured goods are imported from other countries. Very few rural areas grow all the food they need. Instead they will specialize in a few areas, sell there surplus and buy goods from other areas. For historic reasons many large cities are located at places where these types of trade goods had to go through already to get from one rural area to another.