Posted by Alan Mayne <amayne@ariel.unimelb.edu.au>
Following on from the information circulated last week about the Centre for
Urban History at the University of Leicester, I now provide a brief
overview of the EUROCIT programme with which the Centre for Urban History
is involved.
EUROCIT is an important international and interdisciplinary programme on
European urban history, which is sponsored by the European Union Human
Capital and Mobility programme. The emphasis of the programme is on the
development of pan-European perspectives and methodologies in urban
history. This can only be achieved in a collaborative framework. Seven
centres from seven countries participate in the programme, which commenced
in April 1993. The principal partners are the Centre for Urban History at
the University of Leicester, Le Centre de Recherches Historiques Sur la
Ville at Strasbourg University, and the Department of Economic and Social
History at Leiden University. Other major projects are organized by teams
of scholars working in the Department of Geography, University College,
Dublin; the Centro de Documentacion Historica de Madrid, in the Universidad
Autonoma de Madrid; the Gabinete de Analise Economica, Universidade Nova de
Lisbao (Lisbon); and the Vakgroep Middeleeuwen,Universiteit Gent.
LABORATORY PROJECTS
Leicester, Strasbourg, and Leiden participate in the Laboratory projects of
the EUROCIT programme, which seek to develop major pan-European databases
of urban historical data. The three centres are collecting data on
population and urban functionality, occupational structure, and social
mobility.
A. POPULATION TRENDS IN EUROPEAN CITIES, 1800-1950
Professor Peter Clark (Centre for Urban History, the University of
Leicester) is research director of this project. Phase one, which is
nearing completion, has involved the collection of data relating to
population size for European cities and towns with a population over 3,000
c. 1800. It is expected that the final database will contain data relating
to up to 10,000 towns and cities. Phase two will involve the collection of
material relating to the functionality of towns: their major industries,
political, religious and cultural functions. Initial work will concentrate
on the UK.
B. SOCIAL AND OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY IN EUROPEAN CITIES
Professor Jean-Luc Pinol (Centre de Recherches Historiques Sur la Ville at
Strasbourg University) is research director of this project. The initial
work has concentrated on France, examining the occupational and social
mobility of citizens in Strasbourg from 1870 to 1939. It is intended to
compile a database consisting of the age, origin, profession, marital
status, fertility, mortality, intra-city mobility, and time spent in the
town of 15,000 persons (being a 1.3% sample of the total population).
C. DATABASE OF URBAN OCCUPATIONS
Dr Herman Diederiks (Department of Economic and Social History at Leiden
University) is the research director of this project, which aims to build a
database on urban occupations from approximately the 16th to the 20th
century. In the first phase of the project, data is being collected from
towns in the northern Netherlands, in particular Amsterdam, Leiden, and the
Hague. Data have been extracted from censuses, tax registers, criminal
sentences, lists of migrants, and billeting registers. In the second phase
of the project, it is intended to collect occupational data from other EC
countries.
OTHER PROJECTS
A. Urban Renewal and Social Differentiation in the 18th & 20th Centuries.
For information, contact Professor Anngret Simms, Department of Geography,
University College Dublin, Belfield Dublin 4, Ireland
B. The Impact of the Court on the Spanish Interior, 16th to 19th Centuries.
For information, contact Jose Miguel Lopez Garcia, Centro de Documentacion
Historica de Madrid, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Edifico Rectorado,
Campus Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
C. Crime and Criminal Justice, 18th to 20th Centuries
For information, contact Dr Herman Diederiks, Department of Economic and
Social History, Leiden University, Doelensteeg 16, P.O. Box 9515, 2300 RA
Leiden, Netherlands
D. De-urbanization and its impact on the demographic, economic and social
structure of European towns, 16th to 20th Centuries.
For information, contact Peter Stabel, Universiteit Gent, Vakgroep
Middeleeuwen, Blandijnberg 2, Gent 9000, Belgium
E. Labour Merket Participation in European Cities, 19th & 20th Centuries.
For information, contact Professor Pedro Pereira, Gabinete de Analise
Economica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Trav. Estevao Pinto Campolide,
Lisboa 1000, Portugal
F. Migration, Ethnicity & Community in 20th Century European Cities.
For information, contact Henrietta O'Connor, Centre for Urban History, the
University of Leicester.
G. Infant & Child Mortality in European Cities, 1880-1902.
For information, contact Centre de Recherches Historiques Sur la Ville,
Universite des Sciences Humaines, Strasbourg, 32 Rue de L'Ail, 67000
Strasbourg, France.
This posting was prepared from material submitted by Dr J.P. Lorente, a
research fellow at the Centre for Urban History, and a subscriber to
H-URBAN. He can be contacted at:
jpl2@leicester.ac.uk
Alan Mayne
H-Urban Co-Editor
H-Urban@uicvm.uic.edu