Wachstumsmotoren der Stadtentwicklung – die Entwicklung der historischen Stadtteile von Timişoara
Driving Forces of Urban Development – the Growth of the Historic Urban Districts of Timişoara

Summary/Abstract: The historic urban districts of Timişoara developed during the 18th century from independent, spatially separated settlement units. Whereas representative, military and administrative functions were concentrated in the inner city center, the suburbs in the surroundings of the fortress ring were primarily set-up because of economic reasons. At the end of 18th century the city was practically entirely built. Dwellings with some small industrial facilities for poorer social groups and ethnic minorities were founded at a greater distance, outside the fortified city. Like in other large cities, the population of Timişoara increased constantly in the process of industrialization and the suburbs grew faster. The dynamic of suburban extension reached its climax in the second half of the 19th century, in the so called “Ungarische Gründerjahre.” In the early years, a competition for urban resources and economic growth came to the fore. Whilst the walled city struggled even more with spatial limitations, the suburbs adopted the modern functional change, becoming the outrider of the urban development. The outlying districts transformed into a connected suburban area in the south of the city until the end of the century. As recently as the walls of the fortress were demolished around 1910, the inner city could finally be linked with the suburbia by a modern infrastructure and follow up the modern urban development. Even today, the centers of the historic urban districts play an important role in the current process of urban development in Timişoara, namely as initial points and nuclei of urban renewal and urban modernization, carrying the germ of change in itself.

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