4th Hesse Conference on 22/23 March 2012 in Fulda at the Fulda University of Applied Sciences

Although the majority of Germans and also Hessians live in medium-sized and small towns, urban research is nevertheless predominantly research on large cities. The age of "urbanisation" and the medium-sized city as an "in-between city" has repeatedly led to studies of individual medium-sized and small cities, but there is still a lack of systematic consideration. Along with this research gap, the central question of future and thus development perspectives of this type of city receives comparatively little attention.

In the 4th Hessen Conference on CITY RESEARCH, we took a closer look at the medium-sized city from both a scientific and a practice-oriented perspective. The aim was to highlight the existing knowledge on medium-sized cities and to generate research that can be a basis for the development of medium-sized cities. Central questions were, among others: What is the relationship between political-administrative planning strategies and economic market processes that influence the existence, growth or shrinking processes of medium-sized cities? Which quality potentials and location advantages are of use in each case? To what extent can planning strategies be used to influence the design of living spaces in medium-sized cities?