Technikgeschichte und Stadtentwicklung

Cities have existed on earth for nearly 10,000 years. Urban researchers have always been concerned with the question of which determinants were and are responsible for the historical periods of cities with their sometimes abrupt contrasts and breaks.
For example, the bundle of technical inventions during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century proved to be particularly influential for urban development, with its planning counter-reactions extending well into the 20th century. As another example, weaponry shapes the shape of the city from its earliest beginnings to the present, as evidenced by the medieval city wall, hypertrophic Renaissance and Baroque fortifications, defortification, and aerial warfare and reconstruction. Furthermore, transportation innovations such as railroads and mass transit promote the radial expansion of the city, and the automobile profoundly influences the entire urban development and generates its own guiding principles and spatial typologies.
In summary, this work is the first attempt to systematically contrast and link both the literature on the history of technology and that on the history of urban development and to show causal relationships.