The Mid-size City as a European Urban Condition and Strategy

Abstract

OASE 89 is dedicated to the image of the mid-size city. Not just the way this is interpreted, but also how it is produced by urban designers and architects. The urbanism discourse has long focused on phenomena such as the generic city. OASE 89, on the other hand, also devotes attention to the typically European condition characterized by its vast number of small and mid-size cities. In contrast with the (Asian) generic city, typified by its massive scale and loss of (historical) identity and public domain, there is the European mid-size city: a city with historical and geographical identity. This makes the model of this European generic city a resilient model, one with staying power in light of today’s urban challenges.