city

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Jericho , oldest and deepest city

A city (from Old High German  stat , location ',' place '; etymologically one with place, place; cf. on the other hand state ) is a larger, centralized and delimited settlement at the intersection of larger traffic routes with its own administrative and supply structure. This means that almost every city is also a central location .

From a cultural-scientific perspective, cities are the ideal case of a densification of cultural areas and, from a sociological point of view, comparatively dense and densely populated, firmly delimited settlements ( communities ) with unifying constitutional or local law features such as their own market sovereignty , their own government , their own cult and socially strongly differentiated population. The latter distinguishes them from camps such as labor camps, penal camps, winter quarters for armies, the former, for example, from the village .

The science that deals with the exploration of the city in all its facets is urban studies .

Form and developments

Alley in Hum, the smallest town in the world

City size and type

A distinction is made depending on the size, importance, association or function of a city

Definition by population

While in Denmark, for example, the lower limit of the population for an urban settlement is 200, in Germany and France it is 2000, in Austria 5000, in Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Great Britain 10,000 and in Japan 50,000.

The term city is not clearly defined legally, and so there are counterexamples: The smallest city in Germany with 278 inhabitants (2014) is Arnis . It was named a town in 1934 because the place name Flecken in Schleswig-Holstein was abolished. The smallest town with an old town charter (granted in 1326) is Neumark in Thuringia with 453 inhabitants (2014). On the other hand, Haßloch with over 20,000 and Seevetal with over 40,000 inhabitants have no town charter. Pro forma, Hum in Croatia is a city with only about 30 inhabitants.

Urban planning, urban development

Urban planning and urban development deal with the planning of cities. Urban and traffic planning are essential for the functioning of a city . Development and land use plans deal with the optimal coordination of privately, commercially and publicly used areas, buildings and facilities. Urban development plans indicate the direction of urban development and can minimize the negative effects of current problems and trends such as urbanization and suburbanization through clever planning for the future.

City and urbanization

The number of cities is increasing; this can be done through the establishment of new cities or the award of the city title. Typical founding phases are the High Middle Ages , Baroque ( residential / fortress cities ) and the industrial age ( Wolfsburg , Eisenhüttenstadt ). Around 1800 only about 25% of the German population lived in cities and 75% in rural areas, in 2005 85% of the population lived in cities. A similar trend can be observed in all industrialized nations, where in 2005 between 61%, as in Ireland , and 97%, as in Belgium , of citizens lived in the city. Further information (as of 2005): Japan : 66%, Austria : 66%, Italy : 68%, Russia : 73%, Switzerland : 75%, France : 77%, United States : 81%, United Kingdom : 90%.

The proportion of the urban population is extremely low in some developing countries . Here, too, some data (2005): Afghanistan : 23%, Ethiopia : 16%, Bangladesh : 25%, Eritrea : 19%, Kenya : 21%, Democratic Republic of the Congo : 32%, Laos 25%, Niger 17%, Rwanda 19 %, Sri Lanka 15%, Tanzania : 24%, Uganda : 13%, Vietnam : 28%.

The following percentages of the urban population and, in comparison, the following gross national income (GNI) in US $ per capita were recorded in the world regions in 2004:

World regions Population in% GNI in US $
Africa south of the Sahara 36 601
Middle East and North Africa 56 1971
South East Asia 28 594
East Asia and the Pacific 41 1416
Latin America 77 3576
Europe and Central Asia 64 3295
Underdeveloped world 27 333
world 49 6329

The main reason for urbanization is the changing share of value added in the individual economic sectors and thus of the people who work for them (see table). The following selected countries in comparison:

Economic sector United States Germany India Tanzania
I. Primary: Agriculture 1.6% 2.3% 59% 80%
II. Secondary: industry, mining 22% 30% 22% 9%
III. Tertiary: service, trade 77% 68% 19% 11%
Urbanization in Europe 2010

In Germany, significantly more people live in cities than the global average. The list of cities in Germany contains a complete listing of all 2059 cities in Germany. In 2004 there were 25.3 million inhabitants (= 30%) in 82 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The eleven agglomeration areas with more than one million inhabitants (including three with more than three million inhabitants) alone have around 25.6 million people.

In 2004 there were over 200 cities in Austria, including five large cities including Vienna , which has almost two million inhabitants as an agglomeration , and 72 cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants (see list of cities in Austria ).

In 2010 there were around 230 cities in Switzerland, including six large cities and 139 cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants (see list of cities in Switzerland ). The major cities in Switzerland include Basel , Bern , Geneva , Lausanne , Winterthur and Zurich .

In Europe (up to the Urals ) there were (2004) around 17 agglomerations with more than three million inhabitants and around 35 cities with more than one million inhabitants (see list of the largest cities in the European Union ).

Worldwide there are (2006) over 134 agglomerations with more than three million inhabitants, more than 62 cities with more than 3 million inhabitants and over 310 cities with more than one million inhabitants. Since 2006, more than half of the world's population has lived in cities, while in 1950 70% lived in rural areas. According to UN forecasts , the global share of the urban population will rise to over 60% by 2030 (see list of the world's largest metropolitan regions ). Their population is often ethnically, linguistically, socially, culturally and religiously very diverse.

City law

Main market in Trier with market cross; Trier received market rights in 958.

The historical concept of the city, which is derived from medieval city law in Europe, had the market law , the right to self-government , the freedom of city citizens, the right to taxation, the right to jurisdiction, the abolition of serfdom, the customs law , the right to Enclosure and defense as well as the right to coin .

In today's German-speaking area there is no longer any city law in the true sense of the word. H. Self-government in the cities is regulated by state principles and state laws. The municipal ordinances in Germany are state laws that are passed by the parliament of a federal state. The community order is the "constitution" of a community. The term city is a title.

A titular town is the name of a regional authority that formally bears the title of town and is usually an independent municipality, which, however, lacks several elements of a town. Titular town is occasionally mentioned - in disagreement with the historical meaning - a place which has lost its town charter in the course of a local reorganization, e.g. B. in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt . In individual cases, the addition is used as part of the name for historical reasons or to differentiate it from other places.

Even today, exceeding a certain number of inhabitants is not automatically linked to the city survey in most countries, but requires an express decision by a higher-ranking regional authority - in Germany and Austria this is the respective federal state. In the federal state of Upper Austria, since 2002 the only criterion required is a population of over 4,500. In Germany there is an organization of its own with the German Association of Cities ; in Austria, the statutory city also defines an administrative function.

In the USA, city rights are acquired through the recognition of an independent city administration by the next higher administrative organization. A community founds itself and registers the self-government as a municipal corporation .

City status

In Germany one differentiates legally

  • Cities belonging to the district, which, like other municipalities, are responsible for local self-government. The tasks and rights and competencies of cities belonging to a district do not differ from those of municipalities without city rights. The city in whose seat the district administration (Landratsamt) is located is also known as the district town . In some federal states there are district towns and municipalities with certain special rights ( special status city , large district town , large district town or independent municipality ). The towns and municipalities belonging to the district are organized in the German Association of Towns and Municipalities .

All together, including the independent cities, are municipalities.

  • Independent cities are cities that do not belong to a district . They form a circle of their own, so to speak. In contrast to urban districts, urban districts have additional tasks. Among other things, they are the lower state supervisory authority or responsible for local public transport. In the case of municipalities (and thus also cities belonging to the district), these tasks are performed by the districts.

Cities are labeled in capital letters on official topographic maps of Germany . This convention was widely adopted by manufacturers of street atlases, but no longer continued in the digital map offerings.

In Austria a distinction is made between cities with their own statute (are municipalities that also take on the tasks of a district) and other cities (are municipalities that belong to a district). A city with its own statute is usually also the seat of the district authority of the surrounding district, which is also called that in most cases (for example Innsbruck-Stadt and Innsbruck-Land). Today every city with more than 20,000 inhabitants can request its own statute. Hardegg in Lower Austria is one of the smallest towns ever : with all the incorporated towns it has 1,384 inhabitants, but the actual original town only 78. The actually smallest town in Austria is Rattenberg with 405 inhabitants.

In Switzerland, localities are considered to be cities if they either have more than 10,000 inhabitants (city in the statistical sense) or if they were granted city rights in the Middle Ages (city in the historical sense). The term city has no administrative legal meaning in Switzerland.

In the Netherlands, the concept of a town is not linked to municipal status. Centers of large cities and incorporated places are often still referred to as cities for historical reasons.

In the United Kingdom there is a distinction between city and town . A place may only be designated as a city if the queen or king designates it as such. As a rule, the monarch only gives this title if the settlement has a cathedral. For example, the metropolis Stockport is not a city, but a town, whereas the city of Sunderland is a city. The county Greater London is not a city, but within that authority, there is the City of London and the City of Westminster .

In Sweden , the 1971 municipal reform took a different approach. The terms city (stad) and minor city (köping) have been deleted from the administrative terminology and replaced by locality ( tatort ) . In common parlance, the term stad still exists for larger settlements.

Settlement structure

The term settlement structure describes the structure of human settlements. This includes the distribution of the population in the area, the type and density of buildings, uses, infrastructure and central facilities.

A fundamental theory for the distribution of central uses in space comes from Walter Christaller . On the basis of studies in southern Germany, he developed the central location theory in 1933 . “Central places” have an excess of meaning: They are the location of offers (for example shopping facilities) that are not only used by their own residents, but also regularly by residents of neighboring communities. Christaller developed a hierarchical system of central locations with ten levels. Places of higher hierarchy level have other such facilities: A large city not only has shopping facilities, but often also a university and specialized clinics that provide additional services. The system of central locations used today by regional planning and regional planning has four to five levels (depending on the federal state).

The settlement structure is planned on several levels in accordance with the federal state structure in Germany:

  • Regional planning (at the federal level in particular through the Regional Planning Act ROG)
  • State planning (include the federal state, are decided by the state parliament)
  • Regional planning (in North Rhine-Westphalia parts of the government districts, in southern Germany several districts, decided by the regional assembly)
  • Land use plans (cover the total area of ​​a municipality, are decided by the city or local council).

Urban structure

The structures of a city consist of structural elements and networks. They must be adapted to the expansion and changes in the city's capacity requirements through additions, completions or corrections. Location, population changes, buildings, traffic structure, networks and history determine and shape urban development and the character of the city.

The structural elements of an urban structure are:

The city as part of networks:

  • Spatially: surrounding area , other cities, regions , country and countries, possibly also Europe or the world.
  • Functional: economy, finance, trade, politics, social, culture, sport, etc.
  • Politically: District or district advisory board, possibly district council, city council, district, possibly administrative district, country, state, European Union.
  • Population-specific: descent and language, religion, social class, age.

The development of the city (international)

Urban development and history

Cities developed the more surpluses their inhabitants generated through their work. This led to more and more labor-sharing specialization of its residents and the development of typical urban activities, such as trade and handicrafts . By exchanging the goods or services offered by others for those of others, an urban economy emerged that differed considerably in its complexity from the rural one.

The urban functions, such as trade with other regions or the function as a central location for a rural area, require the city to be integrated into its surroundings as cheaply as possible. That is why most of the cities were founded in carefully selected locations, for example at the crossings of existing trade routes, at river crossings or in storm-protected bays. In addition to the transport and economic importance of the location, it was often military, for example to be able to control the traffic on an important route.

New factories around 1860

The most important change in urban development was industrialization . With the construction of the railways , the centrality of transport in cities was redefined. Cities that were previously more remote and could attract many railway lines became important centers, while other cities took the opposite route. The industrial revolution placed the respective urban economies on completely new foundations. Cities that opened up to the settlement of industry grew rapidly due to the factories' labor demands; Cities that closed themselves to development lagged behind in their growth. The urban development went beyond the narrow limits of the pre-industrial city, making it necessary to set up inner-city transport systems.

This process was replaced in the 20th century by a development that continues to this day: suburbanization , the previously compact city is losing potential to the surrounding area. The prerequisite for this was the emergence of a broad middle class, who built their own homes or terraced houses outside the city, as well as mass motorization and a better rail network to cover greater distances between home and work. The ongoing suburbanization has economic, ecological and social consequences, such as the sprawl of previously undeveloped areas, the ongoing growth in car traffic and also causes a social segregation of the population.

The process of suburbanization was countered through the development of urban renewal with politically and structurally strengthened decentralized or sub-central city districts or city districts. The city is regaining its population and strength.

City plan, road network and city center

Irregular morphology ( Algiers )
Regular morphology ( Krefeld )

The differences in development history determine the difference in the external shape of cities and their respective social and functional structure. Since the beginning of urban settlement development (urbanization) eight thousand years ago, the structural ground plan and elevation (or view and cityscape, see below) of cities have been characterized by constant development and change. The settlement-related planning and design activities of the people are expressed in the respective specific city layout and cityscape, which at the same time also represent the respective technological feasibility.

Right-angled street grids and city plans (for example old Chinese cities, partly old American cities) emerged very early in the direction of north-south or east-west. Likewise, circular (e.g. Baghdad), but also cities with an irregular outline that adapts to the terrain (e.g. ancient Greek and organically grown German medieval cities) are formed. According to biblical tradition, Jericho (from 9000 BC) was obviously one of the first cities with city walls. In contrast, the cities of ancient Crete had no city fortifications and were built around 2000 BC. Victims of invading warbands during the migrations.

In the course of history, regular street grids and irregular street layouts in a city have been graded into main and secondary streets and separated into pedestrian and moving traffic. Furthermore, central squares and, especially from the 19th century, building blocks for generally public parks are being created in the street network. If, for example, the city is heavily dependent on a mighty ruler's building, a towering cultic building (for example a temple) or a dominant economic function (for example a port), this is where the main square emerges, to which at least all main, sometimes also side streets and all Align development. The entire street network and the entire urban development then run towards this city center in a star shape, for example towards the baroque palace as in Karlsruhe. In port cities, the city center shifts from the city center to the port, such as in Alexandria (Egypt) and Hamburg (Germany).

The dream of an ideal city as an urban planning conception of a city that can be designed under uniform aspects such as economic, social and political organization was and is a social and aesthetic utopia . The rule is: "The city is alive!"

For the Central European region, historically up to the 18th century, four common types of city layouts can be distinguished, minus such mostly topographically based special forms such as the Ville enveloppéé :

These types of city layouts can also occur in combination in a city. Hildesheim is a well-known example of such a combination of several floor plan types in terms of building history .

Cityscape, building height and building material

In the cityscape, in elevation or in height, cities stand out, first because of their towers (ziggurat, such as the Tower of Babel, Babylon, or the medieval church towers), but especially from the 19th century onwards. H. industrialization, the invention of the elevator and the beginning of high-rise construction, such as Chicago and New York from 1870–1880 and today Shanghai or Frankfurt (Main). Clay, stone and wood have been used as building materials since prehistory and early history, as well as concrete, steel and plastics today. Important buildings are mostly located on the prominent places (hills, central squares), are made of the more durable materials (for example stone, while the simple houses are made of clay or wood) and are artistically most sophisticated.

City district and social structure

City districts are formed hierarchically, i. H. The upper class lives spaciously in the naturally favorable urban areas (with a lot of space on stable and healthy building sites and a pleasant urban climate ), lower sections of the population close together in the less favorable urban areas (with little living space on possibly swampy ground and poorly ventilated surroundings, for example in the tenements and backyards of Berlin, the most densely populated city in the world around 1900, Manhattan's Lower East Side until World War I or in Hong Kong after World War II). Or city districts are created separately according to occupations and functions, such as certain craftsmen's districts, business districts, industrial districts, port districts, etc. Also city districts are formed according to the origin of their residents, for example in Jerusalem, Armenian, Christian, Muslim quarters, or in New York China Town , Harlem or Spanish Harlem.

Historically important cities (up to around 1500)

Jericho: excavation site
City (Iraq)
Uruk
Uruk
Babylon
Babylon
Baghdad
Baghdad
Ur
Ur
Babylon, Ur and Uruk on the map of Iraq
Athens: Acropolis
Lübeck: city center (old town)
Florence
Xi'an: Crown of the city wall

The historically important and at the same time often oldest cities correspond to the metropolises of the important epochs of human history and are archaeologically or traditionally verifiable there. Some of these cities already had tens of thousands to around a million inhabitants and were the largest of their epoch. All of these cities have more or less the characteristics described above with regard to the urban layout and cityscape, city district and social structure, but in special forms that are described individually in further literature. However, this is not discussed here.

Historically significant epochs of mankind are: the younger or ending Stone Age in Asia Minor and the Middle East (Turkey or Israel and Palestine, from around 9000 BC); Mesopotamia (from around 5000 BC); Ancient Near East (from around 3000 BC); Ancient Egypt (from around 2500 BC); Phenicia (from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC); Ancient Iran (from around 1000 BC); Ancient Greece (from around 1000 BC); Hellenism (from around 400 BC); Roman Empire (from around 200 BC); Byzantine Empire (from around 600); the medieval Hanseatic League (from around 1200); Renaissance (from around 1400); the Islamic expansion (from around 650); Ancient India (from around 4000 BC); Indian Middle Ages (from around 600); Old Southeast Asia (from around 500); Ancient China (from around 1000 BC); Mongolian Empires (from 1190); Ancient Japan (from around 300 BC); Ancient America (from around 300 BC). Examples of historically important cities according to the mentioned epochs are:

  • Younger or late Stone Age in Asia Minor and the Middle East (from around 9000 BC)
    • Jericho (from around 9000 BC, now in Palestine)
    • Çatalhöyük (from around 7000 BC, today in Turkey)
  • Mesopotamia (from around 5000 BC)
    • Susa (from around 4000 BC, now in Iran)
    • Eridu (from around 4500 BC, now in Iraq)
    • Uruk (from around 3500 BC, now in Iraq)
    • Akkad (late 3rd millennium BC, now in Iraq)
    • Ur (from around 2500 BC, today in Iraq)
    • Aššur (from 3rd millennium BC, today in Iraq)
    • Babylon (from around 1800 BC, now in Iraq)
  • Ancient Near East (from around 3000 BC)
    • Troy (from around 3000 BC, today in Turkey)
    • Miletus (from 3rd millennium BC, today in Turkey)
    • Hattusha (from the 17th century BC, today in Turkey)
    • Byblos (from 3rd millennium BC, today in Lebanon)
    • Jerusalem (from around 1850 BC, today in Israel)
  • Ancient Egypt (from around 2500 BC)
    • Memphis (Old Kingdom, from around 2500 BC)
    • Thebes (the "hundred-gate Thebes", from around 1500 BC)
  • Phenicia (from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC)
    • Tire (from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, today in Lebanon)
    • Carthage (from the 9th / 8th century BC, today in Tunisia)
  • Ancient Iran (from around 1000 BC)
  • Ancient Greece (from around 1000 BC)
    • Corinth (from the 10th century BC)
    • Athens (from the 7th century BC, flowering from around 500 BC)
  • Hellenism (from around 400 BC)
  • Roman Empire (from around 200 BC)
    • Byzantium (from the 7th century BC) / Constantinople (from 337, today in Turkey)
    • Rome (from 753 [?] - possibly from the 7th century BC, today in Italy)
    • Trier (from around 30 BC, today in Germany)
    • Colonia Claudia Ara Agripinensum / Cologne (from 50 AD, today in Germany)
  • Byzantine Empire (from around 600)
    • Constantinople (flowering from around 600, later Ottoman Empire: Istanbul , today in Turkey)
    • Thessaloniki (from 315 BC, flourished from around 600 as a second seat of government next to Constantinople, today in Greece)
  • European Middle Ages (from around 500)
    • Prague (from around 1230, today in the Czech Republic)
    • Cologne (largest German city around 1180, had the title Sancta in its name alongside Jerusalem, Constantinople and Rome)
    • Lübeck (capital of the Hanseatic League from 1227)
    • Ghent (from the 11th century, now in Belgium)
    • Paris (from 12th century)
    • Milan (capital of the Lombard Confederation, from 1167, now in Italy)
    • Venice (from 998, today in Italy)
  • Renaissance (from 15th century)
    • Venice (especially from 1402, today in Italy)
    • Florence (from the 15th century, today in Italy)
  • Islamic expansion (from around 650)
    • Córdoba (from 756, today in Spain)
    • Kairouan (from around 670, now in Tunisia)
    • Cairo (from 969, now in Egypt)
    • Timbuktu (from around 1400, now in Mali)
    • Baghdad (from around 750, now in Iraq)
    • Isfahan (from 1051, now in Iran)
    • Delhi (from 1206, now in India)
  • Ancient India (from around 4000 BC)
  • Indian Middle Ages (from 7th century)
  • Old Southeast Asia (from around 500)
  • Ancient China (from around 1000 BC)
  • Mongolian Empires (from 1190)
    • Dadu (from 1215) / Beijing (from 1408, today in China)
    • Karakoram (from 1235)
    • Sarai (from 1242, now in Russia)
    • Samarqand (from 1369, now in Uzbekistan)
  • Ancient Korea (from around 2300 BC)
  • Ancient Japan (from around 300 BC)
  • Ancient America (from around 300 BC)

The modern largest cities and urban regions (from around 1500)

Paris: Satellite Image
Londinium: antique map
Madrid around 1888
Tokyo
Calcutta: center
Cairo: center
New York: Midtown and Lower Manhattan
Santiago de Chile: city center
Sydney: Opera House

Mankind is not evenly distributed over the earth, but is concentrated in temperate or coastal regions of the earth, historically based on the favorable natural areas such as river valleys, coasts rich in bays, climatically pleasant plateaus in the tropics and subtropics. The population density has always been an important expression of general and particularly economic productivity. It is noticeable, however, that most of the more than ten million cities are in emerging countries, but those with above-average economic growth rates such as China and India. The cities listed below are the largest modern (from around 1500) and current cities or most densely populated urban regions. In our present day they often have well over ten million inhabitants, represent the most important centers of global growth and often account for fifty percent or more of the total resources (population, energy, etc.) and the economy of the state in which they are located; z. B. Mexico City (about sixty percent of Mexico's resources and economy), Buenos Aires (about 50% of Argentina's resources and economy) or Seoul (South Korea).

Especially since the 1990s, with so-called globalization, the population of these urban regions rapidly exceeded the ten million mark. Other giant cities may follow, with China (similar to India), despite its degree of urbanization of only thirty percent, but with already more than twenty cities with more than five million inhabitants, which are rapidly approaching the ten million mark, going beyond any previous dimensions. Asia has most of the over ten million cities, but most of the people in cities live in Latin America. The largest global urban regions are:

The development of the city in Europe

Greek and Phoenician colonization

The antique

The occidental city has its roots in the Greco-Roman culture of antiquity .

Greek and Phoenician colonization

The culture of the polis in ancient Greece , 800–338 BC BC (Sparta, Corinth, Athens), spread to Asia Minor (Miletus, Ephesus) and to the Crimea, to Megale Hellas ("Greater Greece"), d. H. Sicily (Syracuse) and Lower Italy (Taranto), further to southern France (Marseille), to North Africa (Cyrene) and later in Hellenism throughout the Orient.

As part of the Greek colonization, there were usually ritual and political ties between the new foundation and the mother city, for example from Syracuse to the mother city of Corinth (cf. here, for example, Timoleon ). Similar developments went through non-Greek (Phoenician, Etruscan, Latin) city-states ; typical examples are Carthage , Veii or Rome .

Roman empire

Ancient Rome

In the Imperium Romanum there was a surge in urbanization , particularly in Western Europe, but also in the Roman province of Africa and the Balkans (the eastern Mediterranean was already heavily urbanized). The heyday of the ancient city can be seen in the 1st to 3rd centuries, many ancient ruins date from this time. At this time Rome had a differentiated urban structure with almost 1,000,000 inhabitants.

A city can be determined by its main function, constitutional and religious role, as well as by the way in which the city found access to the Roman world. Furthermore, places can be distinguished by whether they were founded ritually or not. With ritual foundation are Oppidum and Colonia (Rome) . Vicus and Municipium are without ritual foundation .

Roman cities in Germany mainly arose on the Rhine and Danube, mainly from legionary camps: Castra Regina ( Regensburg ), Augusta Vindelicorum ( Augsburg ), Confluentes ( Koblenz ), Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium ( Cologne ), Augusta Treverorum ( Trier ), Mogontiacum ( Mainz ) , Sorviodurum ( Straubing ) and Colonia Ulpia Traiana ( Xanten ). In Austria many Roman cities emerged from legionary camps on the Danube Limes , but also in the interior: Vindobona ( Vienna ) and Carnuntum near Vienna, Iuvavum ( Salzburg ), Lauriacum in the urban area of Enns , Virunum near Klagenfurt , Teurnia near Spittal an der Drau and Flavia Solva near Leibnitz . The following Roman cities have been identified in Switzerland: Augusta Raurica (Kaiseraugst), Aventicum (Avenches), Iulia Equestris / Noviodunum (Nyon) and Forum Claudii Vallensium (Martigny).

The earliest residential buildings in the Germanic provinces were wooden buildings with plastered walls, but were replaced by buildings with stone foundations from the middle of the 1st century AD.

The structure of this Roman city was highly developed and was determined in the course of the founding of the city during the limitation (surveying) . A characteristic feature was the “checkerboard pattern” as a planned city , which resulted from the streets intersecting at right angles, which were mostly enclosed by a city wall. In the case of Municipia, Civitas capitals or Vici, the “checkerboard pattern” of the streets was not generally used. The regularity of the street scene resulted from the layout of the streets at right angles to the main thoroughfare.

Roman city

The center of a Roman city was the intersection of the main street (decumanus maximus) running from east to west and the north-south axis (cardo maximus) . This is where the forum was located , where most of the political, religious and economic life took place. Furthermore, the jurisdiction was exercised there. Most of the time, the forum was followed by the basilica , where public assemblies were held. In addition, the Capitol (the main temple) and buildings important for public life, such as theaters and thermal baths, were built near the forum . Around this center were the residential quarters (insulae) , which initially consisted mostly of single-storey houses. Multi-storey apartment buildings were later added in the poorer parts of the city. Other buildings lay between them, such as the circus, a racetrack flanked by rows of seats, or imperial or administrative palaces.

For the ritual re-establishment of a city, the ritus etruscus , modeled on the founding of Rome, was used. First the augurium ( Augur ) was brought in and the location was determined. Then the “navel of the city”, the mundus , a sacrificial pit, was dug and filled with offerings. Next, the pomerium was drawn as the outer boundary of the city with ritual significance. The pomerium was pulled by a bronze plow harnessed with a white bull and a white cow. The clods of earth fall inwards and symbolize the murus, the furrow symbolizes the ditch. The plow was dropped at the gate and carried across so that the road would not violate the sacred border. Then the survey of the city, the Limitatio, was carried out and the two main axes of the city, the decumanus maximus in west-east orientation and the cardo maximus in north-south orientation, were determined. The city was last consecrated.

The Roman aqueduct in Segovia

The cities of antiquity were also progressive in terms of sanitation: the water supply was ensured by above and below ground water pipes as well as by aqueducts (bridge-like overhead lines). In the cities, the water was distributed with pressure pipes . Among other things, these were used to supply such elaborate buildings as the thermal baths, some of which could accommodate thousands of people. These represented a social focus not only with their magnificent furnishings, such as the floor heating, the warm water and the columned halls, but above all with their reading rooms, libraries and sports facilities. In order to be able to build these stone buildings, mortar was invented at that time. This also enabled the construction of public buildings, such as sports arenas, impressive round buildings and free-standing triumphal arches , which symbolized the power of Rome.

The Arch of Titus in Rome

During the early imperial era, there was a solid layer of local elites in the Roman cities who were responsible for political leadership at the municipal level. The most stable element in the social structure was the decurion class (ordo decurionum), which had a decisive influence on social and political life in the cities. The social origins of this group differed in the provinces. This included knights who returned to the communes after long service or, as in Lower Germany, local elites (military, colonists) or, as in Gallic provinces, the old tribal nobility. Essentially, however, the money regulated access to honorary positions (honorary posts). A minimum wealth had to be proven. The local elites were mostly landlords of neighboring estates. Most of the decurions were granted Roman citizenship as recognition. Since the country could only be administered from central locations, a land-owning aristocracy developed , which politically assumed all decisive functions.

The relatively simply structured political system at the municipal level consisted of two political organs:

  • The council usually had 100 members appointed for life. It acted as an advisory assembly and decided on the services to be raised for the city.
  • The magistrate consisted of four to six officials (only accessible to the decurions). It was led by the two "mayors" (duoviri) . She was responsible for the administration of justice, the administration of the treasuries, the police and the implementation of the cults. The remaining layers expected their financially strong upper class to secure the food and water supply, to finance expensive buildings and games, and to represent the city. They were required to collect the taxes they were responsible for observing.

The fact that the functioning of the city was based on the decurion also led to the decline of the cities in various parts of the empire. Earlier research believed that the cost of the military and bureaucracy ruined the upper classes in late antiquity . They could no longer provide for the city and they were also obliged to provide services that they had previously provided voluntarily. Massive changes in the social and political structure were the result. Social climbers, such as traders and craftsmen, had access to the offices. A system of compulsory membership was finally introduced, according to which everyone had to become a decurion who possessed the required minimum wealth.

According to more recent research, most of the cities of late antiquity evidently continued to flourish into the late 5th and early 6th centuries. Only because of wars (for example the Islamic expansion ) or, in the west, also because of the extensive collapse of the Roman administrative system and a decline in the cultural level, then there was a regionally differently pronounced "decline" of urban centers and the decline of the poleis ( see Kastron ).

Urban development in the Middle Ages

Medieval city foundations

Representation of a late medieval council meeting, the citizens are with arms shown

With the great migration, the cities in Central Europe largely fell into disrepair. Beginning with the Alemanni invasion of 260, the Limes towns on the right bank of the Rhine were gradually destroyed. By the 5th century, the Germanic tribes also conquered the Roman cities on the Rhine. Only in a few cities were small Gallo-Roman populations able to survive. The Teutons themselves avoided the cities and the rubble fields they left over as settlement areas. The important Roman cities were retained (for example Trier , Cologne , Regensburg , Bonn , Augsburg ), even if not in terms of the building fabric. Many of the old city centers were abandoned in the early Middle Ages and new foundations were established on the outskirts of the former centers. New city fortifications replaced the old, much too big walls. The most important element of continuity was the functions as bishopric. These cities remained religious and cultural centers that continued the late Roman Christian tradition. Initially, bishops took over many of the functions of the former Roman administrative officials.

Nevertheless, in the course of the early Middle Ages there was an almost complete extinction of urban life. The new Merovingian rulers appointed counts as administrative officials, especially in the cities that were not bishoprics, who were supposed to control the surrounding territory and often resorted to the Roman legal traditions that still existed in the cities. The urban self-government disappeared visibly under the counts. Only in the episcopal cities were the traditional Roman civil liberties partially preserved by the Merovingians in order to continue to benefit from the taxes of the city population. Nevertheless, in the early Middle Ages, more residents emigrated, while there was hardly any immigration from the Germanic surrounding area. This resulted in desertification, in some cases up to a stand in which arable farming was carried out in the formerly built-up urban area.

Imperial Palace Goslar

In the Carolingian period from the 8th century onwards, monasteries emerged in the cities, which became new economic focal points without, however, becoming a continuation of old trading traditions. The Roman city citizenship and self-government disappeared completely during this time. Even the bishops no longer ruled out of Roman tradition, but rather by virtue of the rights conferred on them by the king. In the further course of the Carolingian epoch, first bishop's castles, then increasingly also royal courts and palaces in the cities were built. In addition, there were a few new foundations in the Carolingian heartland between the Seine and the Rhine as well as on river banks and trade routes to the north, for example Ghent , Antwerp , Duisburg , Soest , Wik and Haithabu .

Magdeburg: View of the cathedral in the Elbe valley

A modest wave of new foundations began among the Ottonians in the 10th century. Traders settled around centers of rulership, mostly Saxon counts 'seats, Palatinates already established under the Carolingians or newly founded bishops' seats like Magdeburg , who supplied the upper class with goods and began to organize themselves in guilds . Such episcopal or castle settlements were usually divided into two parts with their own fortifications: the urbs with the manor and the suburbium with the merchant population. Examples of this structure are Frankfurt , Würzburg , Fritzlar and Erfurt .

Old Town (Freiburg im Breisgau)
Braunschweig: old town hall with old town market fountain
The wheelhouse, town hall and large guild of the formerly free imperial city of Memmingen

The number of cities in Central Europe remained very small until 1100 with a few hundred, often with an organically grown city plan, in which there were often large open spaces on which cattle were kept. Stone houses only began to emerge in cities from this time on. There was hardly any city wall either, mostly just a wall with a moat. By far the largest part arose in the course of a general economic boom and after the attacks from the outskirts of the empire had ended in the following 250 years. At the same time, the Western European population doubled or tripled, new cultivation areas were opened up, new agricultural methods were applied, and the monetary economy and trade expanded. The late cities founded under these framework conditions are referred to as founding cities , which were usually created through a foundation act and were expanded according to a plan. The oldest city of this type is Freiburg im Breisgau , which was founded in 1118 and received progressive city rights in 1120. Further examples of important foundations during this period are Leipzig (1150) and Lübeck (1158). The centers of the new urban boom were in Italy (promoted by the oriental trade in the context of the Crusades) and in Flanders , where an emerging cloth industry developed.

From the Staufer period onwards, city foundations increasingly began to have a strategic component. The kings, like the sovereigns, tried to improve their own income with cities, to lure people away from competing territories and to secure territories acquired through land development or conquests. Especially in the context of the conquest of Slavic territories in the east in the 14th century, there was a veritable wave of city foundation in the places of former Slavic settlements.

Around 1500, at the beginning of modern times, there are important cities, including the Free Imperial Cities and Hanseatic Cities :

The medieval founding city is by far the most common type of city in Central Europe. The wave of city foundation subsided in the second half of the 14th century due to the plague waves and the resulting population decline. In the period that followed, only a few new cities were founded.

Social structure of the medieval city

City seal from 1286 of the former free imperial city of Memmingen

From the 11th century onwards, the urban landowners and long-distance traders began to develop into a so-called "Meliorat", then the medieval patriciate . The patriciate formed a group that was increasingly isolated from social advancement, and in many cities there was once again a leadership group of “advisable” families. Mandate holders were only allowed to recruit themselves from their ranks. Later also Ministeriale , who had initially been appointed by the city lords as administrative officials, as well as knights from the surrounding area were accepted into the patriciate.

In the 13th century, heightened conflicts within the cities began. The front lines were drawn between the patriciate, who demanded greater political self-determination, and the city lords, and between the patriciate and the urban lower classes. In the 14th and 15th centuries, almost all cities were affected by such conflicts, including violent ones. Most of these struggles did not end with a fundamental change in the city constitution, but with the advancement of the rebellious groups into the patriciate and within the patriciate into the advisable classes. Outwardly, the cities increasingly began to join forces in order to gain more political and military weight.

Overall, in the late Middle Ages there was an increase in the urban lower classes, who often lived outside the city walls. Lower workers also formed guilds during this time and received a reduced "petty bourgeois right" that did not include political participation rights.

Economic structure of the medieval city

Old stock exchange in Bruges ( Marcus Gerards the Elder , 1562)

According to the sociologist Max Weber , the “occidental city” is primarily a market for long-distance trade (see also urban sociology ) .

Unlike today, the city and the surrounding area were clearly separated from each other. The spatial separation also corresponded to the economic separation. The surrounding area supplied the city with food and raw materials (primary sector) and the city supplied the surrounding area with handicrafts and services (secondary and tertiary sectors).

The " market system " was important for the emergence and development of cities . Settlements at which a market took place were often pre-forms for the formation of cities, since traders and craftsmen settled there and the legal system was expanded with the need for rules for trading transactions. This market law was a source for the development of specific city law. Weekly markets were more important as continuous traders' meeting points than annual markets, which were usually located in bishopric cities for the patronage festival. However, not every market settlement developed into a city. In the area on the left bank of the Rhine, these markets were initially primarily located where traders had already met in Roman times. Markets were much rarer in the east, mostly only arose in the early or high Middle Ages and resulted in the establishment of cities far more often than in the west.

Roman markets were generally continued under the Merovingians and Carolingians, but only a few new ones were founded. However, the Carolingians began to regulate the market by reforming the coinage system, beginning to grant market rights and appointing the counts to be overseers of the markets and the associated tariffs . In addition, there was mainly food trade outside the cities and markets, which were operated by individual landlords without express royal permission. Under the Carolingians, the market began to expand to the east, particularly in the slave trade with Avars and Slavs . Saxon castles and ports became more important as trading centers.

The royal market shelf began to assert itself under Ottonen and Saliern. At the end of the Ottonian era, trade that went beyond food was practically no longer possible outside of royally approved markets. Under Otto the Great , market law, especially market peace, began to become a personal property right for dealers and customers who were on their way to a market. Among the Ottonians, the number of market rights granted skyrocketed. At first it was mainly monasteries, from the 12th century sovereigns also founded markets and received royal approval for this. Many towns had staple rights , a privilege that forced long-distance traders to put their wares up for sale, and directed long-distance trade routes through their town.

The urban “ handicrafts ” were organized in small businesses with a master craftsman and one or two journeymen, much less often with five or more journeymen. Craftsmen often also ran agriculture. In addition, not all of them worked exclusively for the free market. Many, especially in the early Middle Ages, were tied to a noble household for which they produced. The craft guilds regulated economic activity by limiting the number of craftsmen and thus competition, forbidding new production methods, and stipulating the supply of raw materials, manufacturing and sales conditions and prices. They also had military, religious and social functions. In the late Middle Ages, however, a transition to mass production based on the division of labor developed, into which new technologies also found their way.

The law in the medieval city

Oldest printed view of Nuremberg, Schedelsche Weltchronik 1493

The legal position of the medieval city was shaped by its status as a free imperial city or princely city, although the exact status could be very different. In general, the cities endeavored to free themselves from the rule of the city lords, the bishops and castle bailiffs residing in them (cf. Imperial City of Nuremberg ), which they succeeded more or less successfully. In the case of the founding cities, these freedoms, for which older cities often fought for a long time, were already anchored in the founding city ​​law . Many cities became very rich through trade and handicrafts and were therefore able to assert themselves for a long time against the city lords, who wanted to bring cities under their control for economic and military reasons. The medieval city was thus in sharp competition with the secular and spiritual territorial rulers. In areas with strong territorial rule, the cities found it difficult to assert themselves, so in the Bavarian home country, Regensburg, there was only one imperial city that had to fight for its status. In the territorially divided Franconia and Upper Swabia, powerful imperial cities such as Nuremberg , Rothenburg , Augsburg and Reutlingen emerged and in the north the Hanseatic cities such as Lübeck , Bremen , Hamburg and Rostock were strong economic locations.

Urban peace was the basis of the internal legal structure of medieval cities . This state of guaranteed non-violence developed in older cities from the peace law of the urban nucleus, the market or castle peace . When city foundations were planned in the High and Late Middle Ages, city peace was usually enshrined when the city was founded. Originally the guarantee of this peace was the most important legal function of the city lord. With the increasing importance of the citizenry as an independent power with political structures, it became the bearer of peace, which was a prerequisite for emancipation from the city lords. The breach of peace was understood as a breach of the citizen's oath and accordingly severely punished, even if, for example, the injuries as a result of an attack were only minor. Citizens were also urged to prosecute crimes. There were usually additional peace districts with stricter regulations around important buildings such as the town hall. Often no night exit bans or restrictions were issued. In the late Middle Ages, the urban order of peace and jurisdiction began to expand into the surrounding area. The cities were also important bearers of the peace movement of the 12th century.

The second legal principle was urban freedom. Serfs or hearing , which were included in the urban community, acquired the personal freedom . This right was originally granted by the city lords to strengthen immigration to the cities and their function as economic centers. Similar freedoms were also granted in regions where land was to be reclaimed and farmers were to be attracted. However, many cities set up hurdles for acceptance into their community in order to reduce the conflicts with the surrounding rulers because of the enticement of subjects. The urban freedom right also included the equality of all citizens in court. By no means all residents of a city enjoyed full citizenship and thus full urban freedom. The city itself could have servants in its surroundings.

City walls of Mayen

Especially in the course of the emancipation from the city lords, cities also organized their own guard and defense systems. The central element was the city ​​wall , which the citizens were obliged to maintain and permanently occupy. In the event of war, all men of the population who were fit for work were obliged to do defense. The weapons were paid for themselves. In return, the city had to release captured fighters from its own side. The upper class provided the cavalry , the urban rifle corps was increasingly used as a police force. Arms were stored in arsenals for poor residents . Allied nobles, servants of the city and mercenaries also participated in the defense. From the 14th century on, wealthy citizens increasingly evaded their duty to defend themselves by providing substitutes. Increasingly paid guards and city servants were employed.

The internal legal structure of the cities differed considerably from that of the surrounding areas. It comprised the granted rights and freedoms, for example market privileges, coinage rights, customs, tax or defense sovereignty , and was supplemented and changed in the course of development by various customary laws.

The municipal law was written down in statutes. These collections of laws were often called "arbitrariness": rights that were not traditional, but were chosen from a conscious act of will, that is, "chosen". Whoever took the citizen's oath also submitted to the arbitrariness.

Especially in the waves of new foundations in the late Middle Ages, “city rights families” were formed. When new cities were founded, the legal systems of existing cities were adopted. For example, German law was adopted in the cities of Central and Eastern Europe as

City-States or City Republics

Hanseatic City of Lübeck: Holsten Gate

In the Middle Ages, more or less dependent city-states or city republics developed, cities that had acquired the status of a free imperial city in the Holy Roman Empire or were independent states in Italy. In contrast to an area-wide state, a city-state is a state that only covers the area of ​​a city and its immediate vicinity. It can be a sovereign state or a member state within a federal state based on the federal principle.

In the Holy Roman Empire, free imperial cities were those communes that were not subordinate to any imperial prince but directly to the emperor and also some episcopal cities that had acquired a certain autonomy.

In the Middle Ages there were 107 to possibly 115 imperial cities. In the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Metz , Tull ( Toul ), Wirten ( Verdun ) and the federal cities of Basel , Bern , Lucerne , Mulhouse , Schaffhausen , Solothurn , Zug and Zurich lost this status. Bisanz ( Besançon ), Colmar , Hagenau , Kaisersberg ( Kaysersberg ), Landau in der Pfalz , Münster ( Munster ), Oberehnheim ( Obernai ), Rosheim , Schlettstadt ( Sélestat ), Türkheim ( Turckheim ), Weißenburg ( Wissembourg ) and Strasbourg annexed by France and lost their status. Up until the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 there were still 51 imperial cities, after that only six cities: Augsburg, Bremen, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Lübeck and Nuremberg .

From 1815 four cities remained in the German Confederation and the German Reich, namely Bremen, Frankfurt am Main (until 1866), Hamburg and Lübeck (until 1937) independent city republics and from 1866 independent states of the German Reich. In the Federal Republic of Germany, Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg are independent states as city states.

Venice: emblem and emblem of the Serenissima: The lion of St. Markus (painting detail by Vittore Carpaccio , 1516)

In Italy, the city republics of Venice (713 / 16–1797), Florence (12th century – 1531), and Genoa (11th century – 1797) were of particular importance. Mention should also be made of Brescia , Como , Grosseto , Lucca , Massa Marittima , Pisa and Verona , among others . In 1354 Rome was only a city republic for a short time.

In Switzerland, many Swiss cantons emerged from city-states that were previously imperial cities. The former imperial city of Basel became a city-state as a half-canton in 1833 . The former imperial city of Zurich was until 1798 as a city-state a "Free Republic" in the Confederation. Geneva became the Geneva republic in 1536 and a city republic in 1814 until it was expanded in 1815 to include former French territories to form a rural canton with 45 municipalities.

Other city republics included Novgorod (1136–1478) and Pskow (13th – 15th centuries) in Russia, as well as Dubrovnik ( Republic of Ragusa : 14th century – 1808) and the Republic of Krakow (1815–1846). Gdansk was also referred to as a Free City when the city was under the sovereignty of the League of Nations from 1920 to 1939 .

Politics in the medieval city

Initially, the cities were ruled directly by the respective city lords and their officials. In the 12th century, following the example of the cities of Lombardy, these officials began to become increasingly independent; the officials came from the families of the patriciate. By the 13th century there were city councils in almost every city. At the same time, a process of transferring rights from the city lord to the city council began. These rights were no longer claimed on behalf of the city lords, but increasingly from the city council's own claim to power, which was fed by the citizenship united in the citizen oath. After the class struggles of the 13th century, this process was largely completed in the 14th century and the city councils had established themselves as government of the cities under their own power. In the 15th century, specialized council committees were formed. In addition to political decisions, the city council also regulated the city's economy and set prices for goods. The lower jurisdiction passed from the authorized mayor of the city lord to the council. This development also followed a little more slowly and not everywhere for blood jurisdiction , which was occasionally passed on to the city judge or mayor personally.

The elections for the city council were very different. Initially, the council was elected by the citizens for short periods. The terms of office expanded more and more, sometimes up to the election for life. The council usually consisted of 12, 24 or 36 members, but this number increased especially in the late Middle Ages, in extreme cases up to 300 members. From the end of the 15th century, the former honorary council office was paid.

In addition to participating in council meetings in which political decisions were made, individual council members were also given offices, diplomatic or military tasks. These offices were mostly distributed annually among the council members. Only in the 15th century did longer terms of office arise. In addition, there were official positions whose owners were not councilors and were paid by the city. With the increase in correspondence and the need to represent the city's legal position internally and externally, council offices were set up, in which mostly clerics initially worked, later also lawyers as legal advisers (see Stadtschreiber (head of the office) ).

Features of the medieval city

Carcassonne : city wall
Stralsund : town hall, Nikolaikirche
  • External demarcation by city ​​wall and associated moat / moat , sometimes created as a body of water.
  • Compact form of settlement with center, market places, town hall , town houses, churches, politically often in opposition to the sovereign castle with castle church or bishop's district.
  • Social and professional differentiation of the urban population in urban districts.
  • Special legal position: self-administration and own jurisdiction, civil rights privilege.
  • Economic function: market sovereignty (cf. Roland ), long-distance trade , stacking rights , production of goods based on the division of labor, arable citizen .
  • Inside, the legal position of the residents of a city was strictly divided into citizens and residents , patricians , craftsmen organized in guilds , and the clergy.
  • Demographically, it was dependent on constant immigration from the countryside. The influx was assured, as their residents were more likely to be exempted from the wishes of the respective rulers by jurisprudence and guild constitutions, which was expressed in the proverb " City air makes free ".
  • The houses were arranged in lots.
  • Business and living was housed under one roof.
  • The same trade settled in the same neighborhoods and streets.
  • The construction activity of the citizens was controlled by the city, for example the city prescribed the distance between the houses for fire protection.

Modern times to the present

In the period after the Middle Ages, only a few new cities were founded that can be assigned to one of the following types.

Mannheim: Rheinschanze and Citadel (1620)
Friedrichstadt: The house brand shows the city coat of arms of Amsterdam
Orsoy fortress (around 1650)

Renaissance

Matthäus Merian: Güstrow (1653) with renaissance castle

The renaissance redefined the urban layout and cityscape , but a number of urban designs remained unrealized. The realized ones are often referred to as ideal cities, the built reality ideally aligned, especially in geometrical terms. They orient the city plan centrally to the main square in the city center, to which the main streets run in a star shape. The important buildings of the city are concentrated around it as individual, simple geometric structures (cubes, cylinders, etc.) based on the rediscovered antiquity, which are highlighted in this way in the cityscape. This contrasts with the previously organically grown or planned medieval cities that were adapted to the natural terrain.

Baroque

Karlsruhe cityscape, 1721, copper engraving by Heinrich Schwarz

In the baroque era , the princes firmly anchored their seat with and in the renaissance cities that were previously ruled by the early bourgeoisie, put their castle on the main square in the city center in place of the previous Renaissance buildings and ensured uniform urban development in terms of construction, height and color towards the princely castle. The result is cities that are completely permeated by the Baroque, such as Vienna (through Maria Theresa in the 18th century) or Karlsruhe, but also Rome with its squares and Paris and Versailles are examples here. The far-reaching structural, legal and urban sanitation decrees of the baroque princes prepared the management and administration of the much more extensive mass phenomena of the impending industrialization in the cities.

Classicism and industrial beginnings

The new group of experienced administrative experts tried to tackle social barriers such as serfdom , guilds and privileges, as well as slums or a lack of urban sanitation , as early as Classicism (late 18th and early 19th centuries) and industrial beginnings . This is how mass residential buildings are being built in Paris that are being imitated by other cities (for example, later Berlin, “tenements”). Mainly through the classical England and especially London impulses are given to include nature again in the narrow dark cities. As a result, city parks are created in recessed building blocks or in place of removed city fortifications ("razing"), or formerly princely palace parks are opened to city residents. Movements for green and hygienic residential areas are increasingly gaining ground, but their realization will not begin until the end of the 19th century.

City sizes in the 19th century

New York around 1888
Lima around 1888
City map of Munich 1858

Due to the industrial movement, urbanization increased significantly in the capitals and industrial locations at that time. The following population figures (in thousands) are recorded from 1800 to 1900 (arranged according to the status from 1900; to compare the population of the city (not the agglomeration) from 2005): It can be seen that cities such as Istanbul, Lima, Krakow , Prague and Rome have grown disproportionately in the last century, Leipzig and Magdeburg, however, stagnated.

city 1800 1850 1880 1900 2005
New York City 88 696 1912 3437 8143
Berlin 172 419 1122 1889 3395
Chicago 0.1 30th 503 1699 2842
Vienna 247 444 726 1675 1626
Istanbul 500 700 800 940 8803
Budapest 54 178 371 732 1719
Hamburg 130 132 290 706 1744
Naples 350 449 494 690 995
Cairo 200 250 370 580 10,834
Boston ? 137 363 551 2017
Milan 170 242 322 540 1299
Rome 153 175 300 500 2553
Munich 30th 110 230 500 1260
Leipzig 32 63 149 456 503
Wroclaw 60 114 273 423 636
Dresden 62 96 221 396 495
Lima 60 80 102 104 8049
Cologne 50 97 145 373 983
Frankfurt am Main 48 65 137 289 652
Nuremberg 30th 54 100 261 499
Graz 31 66 100 170 255
Magdeburg 36 72 98 230 229
Prague 75 118 162 202 1182
Bremen 40 55 112 161 547
Krakow 24 50 66 91 757

The development in Germany after 1850

Industrialization

View over the city of Greiz , most of the buildings date from the time of the German Empire

The industrialization , mainly characterized in that the steam engine replaces the manual mode and takes place in the railway use, begins in England as early as the 18th, in Belgium, France, USA and Germany in the 19th century and in Japan from the beginning of 20th century. Other countries follow, some to this day.

The industrial age in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century brought urbanization to an urbanized society with it. In the 19th century, numerous basic technical inventions and their further developments emerged. This created new industrial jobs in cities within a few years. The demand for labor, especially in the textile and coal and steel industries, could no longer be met with the local labor supply. Many industrial companies settled in cities in order to be able to employ enough workers. This was favored by innovations in transport technology, such as the railroad and the steamship, which meant that the processing industry was no longer tied to the location of the raw material deposits. Likewise, many workers moved from the countryside to the cities in order to be able to work there. This interdependence drove industrial growth and the rapid increase in the number of inhabitants in cities.

After the old towns had densified in the first phase, it then came to spatial expansion. With the help of mass transport (horse-drawn tram, tram, bicycle) from around 1880 to 1900, external growth increased. Factories and working-class quarters with tenements emerged near the old towns. In Germany, new cities were founded, such as Bremerhaven 1827, Oberhausen 1862, Ludwigshafen 1863, Wilhelmshaven 1873 and Wolfsburg 1938. The existing cities grew and changed into urban areas, especially in mining areas such as the Ruhr area, Upper Silesia or the Saar area.

In order to counteract this, attempts at reform were made from around 1900 and building zone regulations were issued. Attempts are made to loosen up the strict, monotonously rectangular street layouts with more squares, winding streets and greenery. At the same time, the first projects for the renovation of the medieval town centers begin. In some cities these have become completely overbuilt, overpopulated and hygienically unsustainable. By demolishing entire quarters and rebuilding them, for example in Stuttgart or breaking through new streets, for example in Strasbourg or Hamburg, attempts were made to remedy the deficiency. The garden city movement at the beginning of the 20th century was an even more far-reaching reform approach to the problems of the industrialized city, which was only implemented to a very limited extent by the First World War.

Between World War I and World War II

1918 to 1933 - new urban development. The Weimar Republic , like the Republic of Austria, developed new concepts of social housing, especially in cities with great growth such as Altona , Berlin and Hamburg . Communal or cooperative housing construction in semi-open and open construction was promoted, for example the row construction ; the functional reconstruction of the city was also shaped by the Bauhaus . The garden city was also an important topic starting in England. Further tasks were city extensions based on the model of the British planned city (New Towns) around London. New cities for industrial production emerged in Germany, for example in Salzgitter .

1933 to 1945 - National Socialist urban ideology . The National Socialist urban ideology was against urban “degeneration” and in favor of small settlements attached to the ground. They had plans for agriculturalization and the dissolution of cities. On the other hand, a monumental redesign of the cities was planned. In many large cities, extensive incorporations of the surrounding area or amalgamation of cities such as Sulzbach-Rosenberg take place against the will of the population . The Greater Hamburg Law of 1938 is still largely based on plans made during the Weimar Republic . In 1938 Wolfsburg was founded as a working-class town for the Volkswagen building. The realization of larger plans was prevented by the Second World War .

Effects of World War II

Cologne 1945

Area bombardment and other effects of the war destroyed around 3.5 million apartments and many other buildings in what is now Germany. Big cities like Cologne (70%), Dortmund (66%), Duisburg (65%), Kassel (64%), Dresden (60%), Kiel (58%), Ludwigshafen (55%), Hamburg (54%), Mainz (54%), Bochum, Braunschweig, Bremen, Hanover, Gelsenkirchen, Magdeburg, Düsseldorf and Essen as well as 26 other cities with 50 to 150 thousand inhabitants lost more than 50% of their housing stock. A stream of refugees of eleven to twelve million people also populated the areas of today's Federal Republic.

Reconstruction after 1945

Berlin: Frankfurter Tor and Karl-Marx-Allee

Federal Republic of Germany

In the Federal Republic of Germany and, despite central government control, also in the GDR, different spatial patterns of the reconstruction of the inner cities can be recognized:

  • Reorganization of the city center with reallocation and partially new road network, such as in Pforzheim , Wesel , Hanover or Chemnitz .
  • Partial reorganization with partial reallocation and breakthrough of traffic axes such as in Duisburg, Essen , Dortmund , Düsseldorf , Kassel , Cologne, Hamburg, Dresden , Magdeburg .
  • Extensive restoration of the medieval structure despite severe destruction as in Nuremberg, Augsburg, Munich , Hildesheim , Lübeck, Rostock : the area and cubature of the buildings were preserved, but modern architecture shaped the new buildings.
  • Reconstruction of the vacant lots without major reorganization in less destroyed cities like Wuppertal .
  • Newly created cities and districts for refugees, bombed out and those looking for accommodation, as well as for new industrial settlements such as Espelkamp , Bielefeld- Sennestadt , Eisenhüttenstadt .

Initial considerations to rebuild some heavily damaged cities elsewhere were not implemented anywhere, as the valuable infrastructure (roads, sewerage, pipeline network) was preserved.

Essen: aisle through the Ruhr Expressway

German Democratic Republic

In the GDR, the first reconstruction projects followed Soviet models. In 1949 so-called “ principles of urban development ” were specifically defined by the central government , according to which, from around 1953, in some selected development cities (including Berlin, Rostock and Dresden) (in “national tradition”), partly monumental and richly decorated ( confectioners style ) inner-city housing for workers was operated. Organizationally, the new socialist land order with the abolition of the free land market and the extensive right of expropriation was useful for state planning to carry out district planning, regardless of the historical city layout. The urban planning principles based on the Soviet model included large main roads and parade areas in the inner cities (example Stalinallee / Karl-Marx-Allee in East Berlin). Cities were understood as an expression of the new social order: the focus was not on commerce and banks, but on public buildings and apartments.

Large housing estates

From around 1955 to around 1975, many large housing estates were built in West Germany and until 1990 in the GDR . In the GDR alone, 169 large housing estates with more than 2500 apartments each (a total of 1.1 million apartments) and around 517 larger new housing estates with 500 to 2500 apartments each (a total of around 0.6 million apartments) were built, significantly more than in the Federal Republic Germany.

Reconstruction after 1960

Berlin, Märkisches Viertel: Senftenberger Ring
Nuremberg: Langwasser

Federal Republic of Germany : Large urban development and urban expansion projects, seemingly limitless growth in demands on apartment size and quality: construction of satellite settlements, for example Märkisches Viertel (Berlin), Langwasser (Nuremberg), Garath (Düsseldorf), Chorweiler (Cologne), Neuperlach (Munich) ) and from satellite cities for example Wulfen, Erkrath-Hochdahl , Meckenheim-Merl . The not very varied development, among other things, leads to low attractiveness, the consequence is high vacancy rates, etc. The car is pushing the construction of inner-city expressways, for example in high and low areas such as in Essen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne. Outside areas: satellite settlements and suburbanization. The model was the car-friendly city center, in which all people who drive to work, to go shopping etc. would use the new means of transport, the car. While space was created for rolling traffic by expanding the streets, the approach ultimately failed because of the space required for stationary traffic. The construction of parking lots could not keep up with the demand. With this knowledge, the planning of new subway and S-Bahn projects began, for example in Stuttgart (construction began in 1971) as well as the modernization of the old trams , which were moved underground in the core areas such as in Hanover. Cars were pushed out of the city centers by converting the main shopping streets into pedestrian zones .

In the 1970s, many amalgamations took place , whereby in the course of regional reforms in the federal states, several municipalities were merged into new administrative units with a larger area and population. The aim was to make administration more effective. If one of the previous locations already bore the title "city", this was also transferred to the new regional authority; in other cases, the newly created municipality was often given the title “city” because of its size, so that the overall degree of urbanization in Germany was increased through these administrative acts. Some of these new cities lacked a center of their own in a polycentric urban system. The cities of Lahn as a merger of Gießen and Wetzlar (dissolved again in 1979), Filderstadt and Leinfelden-Echterdingen are great examples of this .

In the GDR , the reconstruction of the inner cities from the 1950s was replaced by the so-called center planning in the late 1960s (example: Leipzig university high-rise). In the 1960s and 1970s, however, the main focus was on large-scale urban expansions in large-block or industrial slab construction (open, five- to ten-storey row construction) in initially only a few standard types. The socialist residential complex was a newly built district with around 10,000–30,000 inhabitants, green, open rows of high-rise buildings, a center, public facilities such as schools, sports facilities, an outpatient clinic, as well as a department store , restaurant and government service building.

Urban renewal after 1970

Celle: old town

After the development of the cities for a good decade was mainly characterized by extensive urban expansions on the outskirts on the one hand and radical urban redevelopments with displacement of the residential population in the inner cities on the other hand, it was now necessary to focus more on the redevelopment of residential areas. In the awareness of the planner, this had to be done carefully. The redevelopment of the cities was started in model cities from 1969 and nationwide from 1971, and a legal and funding system was introduced with the resolution of the City Development Promotion Act 1971. However, for some years and the renovation with surface breaks and construction remained the norm until the European monument year 1975 marked a turning point: the return to the history of architecture , cultural heritage, both in West and East Germany. The urban renewal should enable the preservation and modernization of buildings, the revitalization of the centers and secondary centers and the improvement of the residential environment in the affected areas. By 1990 the historic city centers in West Germany had been largely renovated.

After the unification in Germany, urban development funding was mainly concentrated on the cities in the new federal states, where the backlog was still immense despite certain efforts in the 1980s. The federal government and the new federal states also created a new funding program for the protection of urban monuments in order to better combine urban development and the protection of monuments. The often inadequate means of inner-city renewal of urban districts with industrial construction (inner-city prefabricated building ) have been replaced by contemporary methods of largely preserving renewal.

New city tasks after 2000

The tasks of the city have changed. As before, areas must be made available for residential and commercial use, but other tasks are becoming increasingly important. In the Aalborg Commitments of 2004 it says:

"We have the vision of integrative, prosperous, creative and sustainable cities and communities that offer all residents a high quality of life and give them the opportunity to actively participate in all aspects of urban life." At the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st Century the following problems and tasks for the city and its planners:

Surrounding area problem

Due to the demand, more residential and terraced houses were built. Since the cities are unable to provide the space required for this, small-scale growth occurred in the surrounding areas of the cities (suburbanization). The migration of population and businesses from the cities exacerbated the problems in the metropolitan areas . Considerable land consumption was recorded in the surrounding area . The rural structures were affected. Since the expansion of local public transport was unable to keep pace with external growth and is in principle at a disadvantage in loose settlement structures, the volume of traffic increased due to individual transport.

This development also caused shopping centers and smaller businesses to settle on the outskirts with cheap building land; Purchasing power and jobs shifted. As a result, so-called "bacon belts" arose in the surrounding area with affluent surrounding communities with trade and commerce and a well-off population. The central city had to continue to pay for the supra-regional infrastructure and social costs despite falling tax revenues . An adjustment of the system of tax and duty distribution between the federal states (city-state problems) and in the federal states (municipal financial equalization) did not take place, or was insufficient or delayed.

In many cities, a return and resettlement to the city has recently been recorded.

Shrinking city

Emigration and general population decline have shaped urban development in eastern Germany since around 1995. This development must also be expected in western German and western European cities by 2020 at the latest. It can be observed that the East German cities are not shrinking evenly in terms of area, but that there is a strong shift in population between individual districts. For example, the population in the old town of Erfurt increased by 27% between 1998 and 2008, while the Plattenbau district of Roter Berg decreased by 43% in the same period. For Erfurt and other large east German cities, this means that inner-city areas in particular are experiencing renewed densification, while large settlements located on the periphery could disappear completely.

Elsewhere, cities and urban districts are becoming increasingly sparsely populated. New fallow areas due to the demolition of residential buildings are either used for other purposes or green areas again. The “perforated city”, “the intermediate city” ( Thomas Sieverts ) are fears or perspectives of this urban development. One answer to the shrinking city is urban redevelopment.

Urban redevelopment

Dealing with existing urban quarters is becoming increasingly important in urban planning, as the existing settlement structures no longer meet today's requirements and require planning measures. Urban redevelopment was and is already a concrete task due to the high vacancy rates in large housing estates ( prefabricated housing estates ) in East German cities, which has been expanded nationwide through funding programs for “Urban Redevelopment East” and, since 2005, “Urban Redevelopment West”. The urban redevelopment aims to upgrade and demolish the affected districts.

Social city

As early as 1999, the federal government and the federal states launched a funding program for “districts with special development needs” under the program title “The Social City”. The aim of this program is to counteract the worsening social and spatial divisions in cities. The focus is on the orientation of urban development to the neighborhood level and the inclusion of the affected population groups and the local actors in the city districts (see neighborhood management ). The aim is to achieve an even more holistic planning approach in the form of integrative urban development concepts (ISEK) that go beyond purely structural and design measures.

Family policy

Local family policy is becoming one of the key tasks of cities. In view of demographic change , the intergenerational balance is at risk. The family friendliness of a city is therefore of great importance for securing the next generation and options for the future. In doing so, it must meet the requirements of people in different life situations and ways of life. In a representative survey of mayors in 2007, “family, youth and children” turned out to be the most important area of ​​local politics.

Urban space as an urban experience space

The cities continue to improve their mostly historical city centers and increasingly also the district centers (see also urban development funding ) in order to attract city residents and visitors (city tourism). The competition between cities and regions as locations is increasing. They compete as, for example, cultural capital , sports city, wine town, half-timbered town , residential town , seaside town, theater town etc. Through city (sub) management, street furniture, covered streets, promenades on the water, city (sub) festivals, sports and cultural festivals, etc. A revitalization of the city and secondary centers is sought. This development will continue in an increasing leisure society.

Traffic in the mobile leisure society

Even in the computer age, the mobility of city dwellers is increasing. The transport network is therefore being expanded further. Ecological and economic reasons lead to a further shift of traffic movements to public transport ( local public transport (ÖPNV) and rail). Especially on the outskirts of the city, towards the surrounding communities, the rail network of light rail , underground and S-Bahn is being expanded. Terminus stations received through connections (such as Munich Central Station , Stuttgart 21 ) and new developed through stations (like Frankfurt (Main) south station , Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe station ) as well as new station outputs (such as Bremen Hauptbahnhof , Hanover Central , Rostock central station originated) and arise.

Topic 2017/18: Consolidation of municipalities "Oberzent"

the third largest city in Hesse in terms of area: Oberzent , created on January 1, 2018 through the merger of four municipalities

The city Oberzent in Odenwaldkreis in Hesse is an example of an attempt by community merger of problems such. B. the "rural exodus" to counter. “With around ten thousand inhabitants, Oberzent is not a big city, but its area covers 165 square kilometers and is thus becoming the third largest city in the country - after Frankfurt / Main and Wiesbaden. Obviously, Oberzent is not an artificial name, but referred to the judicial district in the region as early as the Middle Ages ... "

Cities in other regions and countries

North America

Chicago : The skyscrapers in downtown stand out clearly

In the fast-growing cities of North America, there are only a few historical city centers with typical features (except for example Boston and other cities in the northeast). They are characterized by a strong suburbanization , by a checkerboard road network, an increasing segmentation of the population and externally by the typical skyline . They are seldom aligned with a center point. The uniform street system of the colonial cities can be found in the southwest, among other things, in Santa Fe , in the south among other things New Orleans and in the northeast among other things in New Haven . The basic pattern of downtown , transition zone and surrounding area emerged from the middle of the 19th century. From around 1880 onwards, high land prices and the lack of space led to the construction of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers .

The US has an urbanization rate of 77% and Canada one of about 79%. Both states are now among the most urbanized nations on earth.

Latin America

The Inca fortress Machu Picchu
Buenos Aires, 1536

Before the colonial era, advanced cultures such as the Aztecs , Maya , Olmecs , Zapotecs and Inca populated today's Latin America. In the center of their now largely uninhabited cities were temples , pyramids , palaces , ceremonial centers, the observatory , ball game venues, etc., around main squares and main routes , so the dwellings are mostly quite disordered: see, among others: Tenochtitlan (Aztecs, Mexico ), Chichén Itzá (Maya , Mexico), Copan (Maya, Honduras ) Palenque (Maya, Mexico), Monte Alban in Oaxaca (Zapotecs, Mexico) and a deck, stairs and way system as in Machupicchu (Inca, Peru ) and the Inca terraces at Písac (Peru).

The Spanish settlers mostly settled in the continental center of the countries. As in Spain, the center of the city was the main square, the Plaza Mayor, with the cathedral , town hall and seat of government, surrounded by residential quarters in a checkerboard pattern in square blocks (so-called manzanas ) of 120 m × 120 m.

In the Portuguese-speaking countries, the cities were mostly founded on the coast, originally surrounded by fortifications. There were no geometrical arrangements.

In the 20th century, the cities on the main arteries grew. Rings of informal settlements and slums are often placed around the designated residential areas .

Orient

Constantinople / Istanbul around 1910

The model of the oriental - Islamic city ​​is one of the more recent city ​​models in urban research . According to the Kulturerdteil concept, cultural area-specific differences in the development of cities can be identified in urban development. Oriental cities have more than 5,000 years of history, making them one of the oldest cities in the world. As a result of the political, cultural and social expansion of Islam from the sixth century onwards, the oriental city was increasingly shaped by Islam . In the 19th century, the western influence led to another change in the cityscape. A distinction is therefore first made between the model of the oriental-Islamic city and the model of the oriental city under Western influence.

The ideal scheme of the Islamic city had as characteristic elements of the main mosque , next to the Suq as a business center, residential area with strict ethnic segregation and smaller sub-centers with its own mosque and Souk, the city walls and located at the city wall Palace facilities and cemeteries .

Australia

Melbourne and Yarra River
Brisbane

The largest and most famous cities are the capital Canberra (321,300 inhabitants), a planned capital, Sydney (4.2 million inhabitants), Melbourne (3.6 million inhabitants), Brisbane (1.8 million inhabitants), Perth (1 , 4 million inhabitants) and Adelaide (1.1 million inhabitants).

In Australia , city status is formally applied in only a few states. Most states make a distinction between cities and towns. A town is a city that is not a center of the population, while a city ​​is almost always a center of the population. The creation and delimitation of Local Government Areas (Native State Areas) is the task of the respective state or the territorial government. In each state and the Northern Territory , each registered area has an official status. The various LGA statuses are currently:

  • New South Wales : Cities (C) and Areas (A; areas)
  • Victoria : Citys (C), Rural Citys (RC; country towns), Boroughs (B; villages) and Shires (S; county)
  • Queensland : Citys (C), Shires (S), Towns (T) and Island Councils (IC; Island Councils)
  • South Australia : Citys (C), Rural Citys (RC), Municipalitys (M; parishes), District Councils (DC; district councils), Regional Councils (RegC; regional councils) and Aboriginal councils (AC; local councils)
  • Western Australia : Citys (C), Towns (T) and Shires (S)
  • Tasmania : Citys (C) and Municipalitys (M)
  • Northern Territory : Citys (C), Towns (T), Community Government Councils (CGC) and Shires (S)

Excursus on the city and urban development

Historical-philosophical consideration

In the 17th century agriculture was still the main source of taxation to alleviate the financial distress of the French king, for example. Triggered by the early onset of industrialization in England, English philosophers turned to non-agricultural areas of production. Influenced by this on the eve and in the course of the French Revolution as well as their own beginnings of industrialization, French and then German scholars now increasingly focus their attention on the city as a place of impending industrial and social change.

Karl Marx interpreted the city as a place of industry, workers and the fulcrum of social upheaval. He uses this to illustrate how the urban economy initially developed in a very limited space in increasing contradiction to its own narrowness, how this narrowness is broken and leads to a more spacious urban economy. This in turn contains - on a large-scale level - the contradiction of narrowness, which again steers towards demolition and expansion to a larger urban economy up to expansion to global megacities. With this territorial principle, Marx also developed his view of contradiction and its solution as the driving force behind human developments.

Overall, the trends of the 19th century give rise to very different considerations on the improvement of the sprawling cities, including ideas from various architects and town planners. So far, the ideas have only been realized within certain limits, since it is not the philosophers and sociologists and also not the town planners who significantly influence the development of cities, but the people who settle in a region that enables them to work, pay, eat and stay . That led and leads again and again to only being able to react and to doubts in the search for generally applicable procedures for a city worth living in.

Defects in the analysis

The traditional too Eurocentric approach could have serious flaws. An assumption that cities in the world could be compared to the development of European cities did not always correspond to reality. There was no real explanation as to when or why changes were made. A view of cities that is separate from society as a whole is problematic. It implies that neither the history of a city nor the culture or connections to other places have any influence on the city. It is unclear why one place is called a city and another is not. Looking too closely at urban development from the perspective of the city's history no longer corresponds to the more recent knowledge of the city with its different social stratifications, of poor and rich, of traditional and new city dwellers. This point underlines the multidimensional view of modern approaches.

Cities in networks

A city's connections could explain the unique character of each city. Cities could be seen as parts of networks: cultural, economic, regional networks. Such networks are concentrated in cities and also overlap there. This concentration of connections means that a city is experienced differently than a village. A city's networks connect it not only with other cities, but also with the surrounding area, without which it could not exist.

With networks it is possible to explain the functional development of cities. Different networks gain in importance over time, check each other and correct errors. An example: Before the arrival of the Spanish colonial power in Mexico , connections with Tenochtitlán (Mexico City) were most important, afterwards connections with Spain and Madrid were more advantageous.

The concentration of networks in cities also helps explain urbanization. It is access to the workplace and to certain networks that attracts people. Since the most diverse networks meet in a city, people gather there. At the same time, the concentration of people means the introduction of more networks, of social connections with the places from which the migrants came. The concentration of people also increases the possibility that new connections will be made, for he will encounter a much larger number of others who are the same or who are different. The openness of cities in an “open society” ( Karl Popper ) makes cities attractive, but also difficult to understand.

Another aspect of current approaches is a look at internal diversification in cities. The internal differences in a city are linked to the external networks. Cities are places where stories meet, where something new is created from different cultures and connections. Every connection between a city and other places works in both directions, it is taken and given.

Neither the internal differences nor the external connections of a place alone make a city. The internal differences are influenced by external networks. At the same time, the many networks enable connections to the outside and thus space for creating differences from within. Divisions and connections in cities are therefore inseparable, and only when both are considered together is it possible to understand a city. Immigration serves as an example of how divisions and associations are inseparable. Migrants bring their own story with them when they settle in a city. They also bring their networks with them in the form of contacts in other countries or religions. These networks can also strengthen existing networks and influence their importance. The story that the migrants bring with them also serves to identify with others or to exclude others. This leads to segregation as well as to diversification of the population in cities.

See also

Portal: Planning  - Overview of Wikipedia content on planning
Portal: Architecture and Construction  - Overview of Wikipedia content on architecture and construction

City-themed lists (selection)

literature

  • Hans Paul Bahrdt : The modern city; Sociological considerations on urban planning. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1961 (= rowohlts deutsche enzyklopädie , volume 127 DNB 450210693 ).
  • Leonardo Benevolo: The History of the City. 7th edition. Campus, Frankfurt am Main 1993, ISBN 3-593-34906-X .
  • Raimund Blödt, Frid Bühler, Faruk Murat, Jörg Seifert: Beyond Metropolis. An examination of the urbanized landscape. Sulgen, Zurich 2006, ISBN 3-7212-0583-9 .
  • Rainer Danielzyk u. a. (Ed.): Perspective City . Klartext, Essen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8375-0256-5 .
  • Ernst Egli: History of Urban Development, Volume 1–3. 1959-1967, DNB 456511733 .
  • Evamaria Engel: The German city in the Middle Ages. Beck, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-406-37187-6 .
  • Edith Ennen : The European city of the Middle Ages. Göttingen 1972; 3rd edition ibid 1979.
  • Michael Gehler (Ed.): The power of cities. From antiquity to the present , Hildesheim 2010.
  • Jean-Claude Golvin: Metropolises of Antiquity. Konrad Theiss, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1941-9 .
  • Carl Haase (Ed.): The city of the Middle Ages. I – III, Darmstadt 1969, 1972 and 1973 (= ways of research , 243–245)
  • Matthias Hardinghaus: On the American development of the city. Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-631-52529-X .
  • Jürgen Hotzan: dtv-Atlas Stadt, From the first foundations to modern urban planning. 3. Edition. dtv, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-423-03231-6 .
  • Le Corbusier : Entretien avec les étudiants des écoles d'architecture. Éditions de Minuit, Paris 1957.
    • German by Hugo Seinfeld: To the students - The " Charte d 'Athènes " . (= rowohlts deutsche enzyklopädie volume 141), Reinbek near Hamburg 1962, DNB 452741882 .
  • Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani: The City in the 20th Century. Visions, drafts, things built. Wagenbach, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-8031-3633-6 . (2 volumes)
  • Alexander Mitscherlich : The inhospitable nature of our cities. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1965, DNB 453395082 .
  • Wolfgang Müller: Urban planning. 4th edition. Teubner, Stuttgart / Leipzig 1999, ISBN 3-519-35001-7 .
  • Lewis Mumford: The City, History and Outlook. (The city in history) Volume 1 and 2, dtv, Munich 1979, 1980, ISBN 3-423-04326-1 .

Other titles: see discussion page

Popular media

Web links

Commons : Cities  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: City  - Quotes
Wiktionary: City  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. Joachim Maschke: The importance of cultural tourism for urban destinations. In: Cultural Tourism. Basics, trends and case studies. R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich / Vienna 1999, pp. 83-104, on p. 83.
  2. ^ Walter Marquardt: Harburg - city and country. Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2012, p. 25.
  3. The Fischer World Almanac. 2007, pp. 525 and 537.
  4. The Fischer World Almanac. 2008, p. 688.
  5. Local Constitutional Law and Local Election Law of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, p. 12 f. (PDF 682 kB) mi.sachsen-anhalt.de, accessed September 10, 2016.
  6. see The member cities of the German Association of Cities
  7. Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning
  8. State planning law of the federal states
  9. ^ ROG, BauGB
  10. See this list: Jürgen Holtzan: dtv-Atlas zur Stadt. From the first foundations to modern urban planning. Munich 1994, ISBN 3-423-03231-6 , pp. 30/31.
  11. Michel Tarpin: M. Tarpin, Colonia, Municipium, Vicus: Institutions and urban forms, dans N. Hanel, C. Schucany (éd), Colonia, municipium, vicus. Structure and development of urban settlements in Noricum, Raetia and Upper Germany, Colloque, Vienna, May 21-23, 1997, BAR International Series, 783, Oxford, 1999, 1-10. ( academia.edu [accessed July 1, 2017]).
  12. ^ RE: Pomerium - Wikisource. Retrieved July 1, 2017 .
  13. See in summary Jens Uwe Krause, Christian Witschel (ed.): The city in late antiquity. Decline or change? Files from the international colloquium in Munich on May 30 and 31, 2003. Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-515-08810-5 .
  14. ^ Ploetz: Space and Population in World History. Ploetz-Verlag, Würzburg 1965.
  15. ^ The aerial warfare over Germany, 1939–1945. dtv documents, 1963.
  16. ^ Bayerischer Schulbuchverlag : Great historical atlas, third part. P. 89.
  17. ^ Ploetz: Space and Population. 1965, p. 186 ff.
  18. See Müller / Rietdorf, 2000, p. 57.
  19. On urban renewal in the GDR and the conflicts over preservation vs. Demolition in the cities of the GDR (examples Rostock and Halle ) cf. Frank Betker: “Insight into the Necessity!” Municipal town planning in the GDR and after the fall of the Wall (1945–1994). Stuttgart 2005, pp. 311-340. A good overview of urban development in the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany from 1945 to the 1990s can be found in Thomas Topfstedt: Housing and Urban Development in the GDR. In: Ingeborg flag (ed.): History of living. Volume 5, Stuttgart 1999, pp. 419-562 and Tilman Harlander : Housing and urban development in the Federal Republic. In: Ingeborg flag (ed.): History of living. Volume 5, Stuttgart 1999, pp. 233-418.
  20. ^ Extract from the Aalborg Commitments 2004.
  21. ^ Bertelsmann Stiftung, German Association of Cities, German Association of Cities and Towns: Profession of mayor. An inventory for Germany. 2008, p. 52.
  22. ^ Ludger Fittkau: A new city in Hessen - The fight against rural exodus . In: Deutschlandfunk . December 10, 2017 ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed January 26, 2018]).
  23. Wolf Renschke: Make one out of four. Oberzent, the new town in the Odenwald . In: Deutschlandfunk . January 27, 2018 ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed January 26, 2018]).