In both countries, France and Germany, there is great pressure to change and adapt towards new forms of urbanity and to conceive new strategic approaches with limited public finance and a need for economic efficiency. Not all types of urban areas are equally affected by these issues. The book aims to do justice to this situation, considering in both cases the context of the national urban systems. As it proved impossible to address all the topics relevant to the spatial development of urban and rural areas, the authors decided to concentrate on a number of important topical themes which are undoubtedly relevant in both countries, albeit in different ways, and which could be significant for a comparison. The focus is thus on issues related to metropolises, small and medium-sized towns and particularly current issues of urbanity, sustainability, Smart Cities, transport and mobility, and the role of cross-border urban development. The structure of the chapters is conceived in these terms. Besides scientific and theoretical approaches, the authors also consider the practical planning perspective and methodological aspects of the topic at hand. They mainly address three relevant factors: the differences between the two institutional systems, the development paths and historical constants, and how new challenges are addressed on both sides of the border.

Cities are not only home to around half of the global population but also major centers of economic activity and innovation. Yet, so far there has been no consensus of what a city really is. Substantial differences in the way cities, metropolitan, urban, and rural areas are defined across countries hinder robust international comparisons and an accurate monitoring of SDGs. The report Cities in the World: A New Perspective on Urbanisation addresses this void and provides new insights on urbanisation by applying for the first time two new definitions of human settlements to the entire globe: the Degree of Urbanisation and the Functional Urban Area.

Multi-Ethnic Metropolis is based on international comparative research on ethnic segre gation patterns and policy reactions at local and national level. The objective was to achieve a broader, European perspective. For the acquisition of the information on which this book is based, we relied heavily on our colleagues abroad and their network of relations, since a great deal of factual data and information on the policies pursued is usually not available in a freely accessible form and can only be obtained through persons who know their way around. Eventually, in formation was provided by about seventy people (data administrators, policymakers at local and state level, politicians, academic researchers, representatives of interest groups, etc. ). The names of all people that contributed to this study are mentioned in the list of persons who were interviewed. Without wishing to wrong all these people, we especially want to thank the key informants who acted as intermediaries for following contacts. In alphabetical order, these are the following persons: Dr. Lars-Erik Borgegard (Stockholm}, Prof. Chris Hamnett (London), Dr. Herve Vieil lard Baron (Paris}, Prof. dr. Chris Kesteloot (Brussels}, Prof. dr. Bob Murdie (Toronto}, Prof. Ceri Peach (London), Prof. Phil Rees (London and Manchester}, Prof Brian Rob son (Manchester) and Prof. GUnther Glebe (Dusseldorf and Frankfurt). Furthermore we owe thanks to Prof. Herman van der Wusten, who took care of the in terviews in 'Paris', which was an unruly case.

This book follows the evolution of the very large city across the world from its origins in Ancient times to its current dominant position in both the industrialised world and the Third World. In-depth studies are devoted to the key giant cities of human history at decisive points in their growth. The case-studies include Rome, London, Saint-Petersburg, Moscow, Bangkok and Berlin. Additional studies deal with the general characteristics of the megalopolis, stressing its implications for cultural life.

Can there be a flaneuse, and what form might she take? This is the central question of Streetwalking the Metropolis, an important contribution to ongoing debates on the city and modernity in which Deborah Parsons re-draws the gendered map of urban modernism. Assessing the cultural and literary history of the concept of the flaneur, the urban observer/writer traditionally gendered as masculine, the author advances critical space for the discussion of a female 'flaneuse', focused around a range of women writers from the 1880's to World War Two. Cutting across period boundaries, this wide-ranging study offers stimulating accounts of works by writers including Amy Levy, Dorothy Richardson, Virginia Woolf, Rosamund Lehmann, Jean Rhys, Janet Flanner, Djuna Barnes, Anais Nin, Elizabeth Bowen and Doris Lessing, highlighting women's changing relationship with the social and psychic spaces of the city, and drawing attention to the ways in which the perceptions and experiences of the street are translated into the dynamics of literary texts.