Convergence and Divergence of urban structures and living conditions in Italian and German Cities, 1950-1989

Research question/goal: 

The study has two major goals: (1) development of a system of indicators linking urban structures with living conditions in cities by using official statistics data; (2) description and analysis of spatial differences based on a set of key indicators. The study focuses on local government units with more than 100,000 inhabitants, possessing an independent status ('Kreisfreie Städte' in Germany and 'capoluoghi' in Italy). Comparing Germany and Italy in this respect is particularly interesting because, on the one hand, local government structures are fairly similar in both countries while the socio-economic and political contexts vary considerably between the two countries. In a first step, a system of indicators is constructed taking into account the availability of statistical information; in a second step, a database is established; and, in third step, spatial statistical analyses are carried out to explain divergences and convergences in living conditions.

Fact sheet

Funding: 
DFG
Duration: 
1994 to 1997
Status: 
completed
Data Sources: 
Aggregate Data (time series data based on regional social in
Geographic Space: 
Italy, Germany

Publications

Book Chapters

Nuvolati, Giampaolo (1995): Lo Studio della qualità della vita: indicatori, archivi informatizzati e osservatori. Pp. 229-257 in: Enrico Ercole, Guido Martinotti (Eds.) Bisogni informativi, banche dati e territorio. Mailand: CNR, Università degli Studi di Milano. more