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University of Cambridge

Urban Planning in Strasbourg and Sarajevo, 1848-1918

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The emergence of the modern city is one of the most defining phenomena of the modern world. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Europe’s urban centres underwent profound planned transformations. Among their most striking examples are capital cities such as Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Brussels, Rome, Madrid, and Budapest. We know a lot, consequently, about urban planning in the centres of political power. We know much less, by contrast, about urban planning in geographical and political peripheries. This thesis explores how urban planning unfolded in Strasbourg and Sarajevo, two cities that were at once peripheral to, and politically dependent on, their respective imperial capitals. From the 1870s, both cities were conquered, occupied, and, eventually, annexed by a central European empire. They became capitals of their respective regions, subject first to military, and, later, imperial administration. The two cities’ imperial predicament crucially shaped their physical development. But with time, the influence of empire diminished. This thesis shows that lateral networks of bourgeois citizens, local politicians, architects and planners had an increasing impact on the development of Strasbourg and Sarajevo. Their influence soon eclipsed the initial dominance of military and imperial hierarchies. By the eve of the First World War, the two cities had become active parts in an international planning discourse, a discourse that transcended regional and imperial boundaries and that connected Strasbourg and Sarajevo more closely to each other, and to other European cities, than at any previous point in their history.

Degree

thesis:*
Name dc:type.qualificationname
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Level dc:type.qualificationlevel
Doctoral
Grantor dc:publisher.institution
University of Cambridge
Year dc:date.issued
2022

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Heckmann-Umhau, Philipp
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Clark, Christopher

Subjects

dc:subject × 10

Rights

dc:rights
Language dc:language
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
DOI dc:identifier.doi
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.96457
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/349186

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Cambridge University
Base URL
api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Heckmann-Umhau, Philipp. Urban Planning in Strasbourg and Sarajevo, 1848-1918. Doctoral thesis, University of Cambridge, 2022. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.96457