Especially in the time of globalisation, cities in Germany cannot be dealt with separately. Due to new technologies - e.g., the Internet - and a new international division of labour, cities from different parts of the world seem to move closer together. They are influenced by developments from all over the world. Often one can observe a homogenisation of the Western world that leads to seemingly interchangeable cities. On the other hand, one can see a fragmentation within the cities. Sub-markets and market niches with different structures, functions, and also problems are developing within each town.
Despite these recent, profound changes, cities are still confronted with the cultural heritage of former times. Shuttered steel mills stand next to modern office buildings, medieval streets [1] cover new data highways that provide a rapid flow of information. The old facilities are witnesses of former times which cannot be overcome easily. Both, new and old parts, shape the image of a town. This dualism [2] characterises towns especially in Europe since urban hierarchies and urban systems there contain a much longer tradition than in North America. Even though one can observe industrial change also in North America, structures are much more flexible there. In Germany, in contrast, spatial continuities cannot be replaced as easily because they are preserved by a strict planning policy. Therefore, North American and German towns typically evolved in different manners.
One of the most striking phenomenon of post-industrial times is the process of deindustrialisation. For cities all over the Western world that means a re-development of old harbours [3] and industrial sites [4]. Often, new uses include cultural facilities, modern office buildings or shopping centres [5]. In the course of this change, Germany changed from an old-industrialised country into a modern service society with old buildings from the industrial era shining in new glamour (e.g., historic train stations [6]). Besides dealing with the consequences of de-industrialisation, the growing traffic is one of the biggest challenges in urban agglomerations. The burden and dangers of motorised traffic [7] have increased as much as the traffic volumes since the 1960s: Congested downtown and traffic jams on the highways belong to the daily life of urban agglomerations. In order to prevent a collapse of the traffic system, it is necessary to think about a new traffic policy.
Another challenge for today's cities is to deal with the consequences of globalisation. The signs of globalisation are multi-facetted [8]. They include an extreme growth of advanced producer services, a strong concentration of big multinational firms, the adoption of American trends in retailing, and the mixture of different cultures (also known as "creolisation"). On a world-wide scale, a new urban hierarchy has developed that is led by a few global or world cities. There, companies and financial institutions of global importance are concentrated. They are the most important decision makers of the world economy and therefore dominate the capitalist world. In Germany, the town of Frankfurt is regarded as a second-tier world city.
The process of homogenisation is especially apparent in German inner cities. For many centuries they served as the most important centres of towns. Places that once were trading posts for cattle and vegetables and later became locations for political actions, are dominated today by private shopping malls. Mall security is watching for any disruptive actions. Through this kind of festivalisation or "disneyfication" of our cities, a privatisation of public places is taking place. One major actor of this development is the retail sector that is characterised by a high number of chain stores in Germany. Besides all these activities, the number of visitors to downtown is constantly decreasing. Due to a rising supply of retail and recreational facilities at suburban locations, downtown business is losing its attractiveness. Reasons for the strong competition are lower land rents at the suburbs, an easy accessibility by car and the provision of sufficient free parking at the so-called "green meadow". This process of spatial growth of cities is called suburbanisation. It not only includes a spatial expansion of cities but also a change of life-styles from rural to urban. It is the most important characteristic of North American urban development, but also in Germany it has become an ubiquitous phenomenon since the '70s.
While suburban growth leads to increasing homogeneity, the development of inner-city spaces is characterised by social as well as spatial polarisation. On the one hand, a new urban elite has developed in the course of urban restructuring since the '70s. They are called "Yuppies [9]" or "Dinkies" and used to live in the privileged residential areas. In the last years, however, they are taking over formerly run-down neighbourhoods with historic buildings that they start renovating on their own. This upgrading of houses is known as a process called "gentrification" which means that neighbourhoods are changing over time from run-down locations to upper class neighbourhoods. Gentrification changes the image of cities in North America as well as in Germany tremendously. On the other hand, however, the number of low-income people in cities is increasing. Experts are forecasting a new wave of poverty in Germany that is apparent especially in urban agglomerations. This causes many social and economic problems.
As the previous comments have shown, this phase of urban development is confronted with many challenges. Due to world-wide structural changes new concepts are necessary to deal with old structures and new challenges. Key words for such ideas are the concept of substantial urban development as well as new possibilities of the information and communication technology (telematic city). As big as the expectations of new technologies are, as careful their dangers have to be taken into account. Many functions that were traditionally concentrated in the town - such as the supply of goods, communication, or culture - are already taken care of in the virtual worlds. If people will just use the Internet in order to shop, chat or communicate, the public space of towns will die.
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