Can Small Urban Communities Survive?

This title was first published in 2001. Throughout the post-war period, there has been much activity in the conservation and renewal of old town centres throughout Europe. A considerable body of knowledge has been built up on the technical side of rehabilitation over a period of 40 years, but little attention has been paid to related societal and cultural aspects. More often than not this results in a degree of failure in the rehabilitation process. This is an exploration of how the planning and design of urban areas might be improved by the incorporation of culturological analysis within the town planning process. European practice in residential rehabilitation and conservation is renewed in order to gauge what progress has been made, with particular emphasis on solutions and remedies associated with cultural, ethnicity and minority issues.