The spatial growth of German cities in the years of upheaval in the nineteenth century has been, and remains, the subject of intense historical research. However, the origins of the socio-economic processes underlying these transformations actually predate the epochal transition into the modern era. This article deals critically with the popular conception of a ‘town–country dichotomy’ by comparing, on an empirical basis, urban, semi-urban and rural settlements in a sub-region of the north-west of Germany in the mid-eighteenth century. With the aid of a Geographical Information System (GIS), the cartographic and serial material of the ‘Brunswick Land Survey’ is evaluated in terms of its relevance to a socio-topographic comparison of the spatial micro-structures of the three respective settlement segments. The comparison focuses on the general morphology of the settlement segments, the conditions accompanying the growth of the settlements and the spatial structures of the agricultural activities pursued. In addition, it identifies the factors which led to the erosion of differences between town and country.

中文翻译：

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城乡连续体？18 世纪中叶德国北部的空间比较

德国城市在 19 世纪动荡时期的空间发展一直是并且仍然是激烈的历史研究的主题。然而，这些转变背后的社会经济过程的起源实际上早于时代过渡到现代时代。本文通过对 18 世纪中叶德国西北部次区域的城市、半城市和农村定居点进行实证比较，批判性地探讨了流行的“城乡二分法”概念。 . 在地理信息系统 (GIS) 的帮助下，“不伦瑞克土地调查”的制图和系列材料根据其与三个各自定居点空间微观结构的社会地形比较的相关性进行了评估。比较的重点是聚落段的一般形态、伴随聚落发展的条件以及所从事的农业活动的空间结构。此外，它还确定了导致城乡差异消失的因素。