Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/207953 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
Position Paper of the ARL No. 114
Publisher: 
Verlag der ARL - Akademie für Raumforschung und Landesplanung, Hannover
Abstract: 
Urban studies in Germany are traditionally oriented towards large cities. The structures, meanings and functions of small towns are not sufficiently perceived and differentiated in scientific or political debates. Adequate research on small towns requires systematic, comparative, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches. Traditional attributions should be questioned critically and small towns should be examined empirically in their diversity and differentiation. This involves paying attention to external influences and heterogeneous internal structures as well as to regional functions and interdependencies. The availability and generation of statistical data, which also make small-scale analyses possible, are just as necessary as more comprehensive studies, which go beyond limited case studies. Finally, also research funding and academic teaching should address small towns more systematically than it has been the case in the past. This position paper presents recommendations for research, university teaching, official statistics and research funding in the field of small town research. The Ad-hoc Working Group focused on small town research in Germany and German- language literature, respectively.
Subjects: 
Small towns
Small town research
Urban development
Development of rural areas
Urbanstudies
Spatial research
Germany
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Research Report

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