Book Description

This book is based on the proceedings of the Institute of European Population Studies’ first International Seminar. It offers an up-to-date review of key aspects of urban population change in several Western European countries, together with an introductory chapter on nineteenth-century urbanization and its significance for demographic change in modern Europe. In addition to its value as a source of comparative information on the nature and course of urban population development in Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Prussia, Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Spain and Italy, the several contributors offer different perspectives on patterns of urban growth, the role of natural increase and mobility in urban populations, the nature and impact of the migration process, and the impact of rapid growth on the population structure of cities and their role in national growth. A large number of statistical tables and specially drawn maps of features of population change are included. The book is written from an inter-disciplinary perspective by contributors from a variety of subjects – geography, economic and social history and historical demography – but emphasizing the historical population context of urbanization.