The steps that occur: Firstly, there has to be order, and a good, and respectful king, or government. The King, or Goverment need to make a connection to other civilizations, so they can buy and trade different foods, and vegetables.
Establish a government, develop some type of trade to offer to other civilizations and increasing the quality of life. A basic society is that in which every member of it is contributing to it.
With no gold rush, there is no gigantic rush to populate that region. If there aren't enough people then there aren't enough businesses and the economic network is tiny.
