SMALL TOWNS – BIG CHALLENGES AND HIGH POTENTIALS?

Organizers

Silke Weidner, Brandenburgh Technical University Cottbus‐Senftenberg
Hélène Mainet, University Clermont‐Ferrand
Mina di Marino, Norwegian University (NMBU)

Presenters

Madeleine Wagner, Karlsruhe University
Valeria Francioli, University of Florence
Anna Growe, University Kassel
Silke Weidner, Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus‐Senftenberg
Hélène Mainet, University Clermont‐Ferrand

Small towns play an essential role in the spatial planning system. The absolute and relative number of small towns in the federal states varies ‐ also depending on the assigned population (in Germany, for example, there are 2,100 small towns from the size of 5,000‐20,000 inhabitants; and around one fifth in Europe). In research and teaching as well as in political discourse, this relevance of small towns is becoming increasingly important, as can be seen in current initiatives and studies. The much‐cited “attention gap” on small town research seems to be closing more and more. In the next step, there is now a need for structuring and thematic clustering within the diverse and insightful field of small town research. The Thematic Group “Small Towns” and in particular the Special Session would like to meet this need. A specification seems particularly necessary against the background that small towns have their own challenges and potentials in times of multiple crises. The question is: are these challenges particularly great on the one hand and are the potentials in this type of town particularly high? The presentations from different countries and on various topics and dimensions (see below) can be seen as a starting point for a discussion on this. The topics all have relevance for planning ‐ in anticipation and reaction ‐ which must be set up differently in times of crisis. Through this interdisciplinary exchange of theoretical and empirical perspectives, and drawing on a plurality of methodological approaches, the goal is to explore particularities and similarities. The role of small towns is examined from a German, French, Italian and European perspective. Here, the city types are roughly comparable in terms of size (inhabitants): the session offers insights into results of quantitativ and qualitativ reserach, on cases in central in peripheral location, into specific functions and political context. As a result, research question complexes and researchers could be further identified as network nodes in order to continue the discourse in the Thematic Group „Small Towns”.

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