Topics for master theses

Danish Centre for Urban History suggests the following topics for master theses.

Chronological and thematic topics

• The town as a cartographic project
  Buzzwords: Who has measured the town and why? Realism or symbolism?
• The town as a cartographic project - descriptions and publications 
  Buzzwords: Who has described the town and why? What was emphasized?
• Local patriotism or state control?
• The exhibited city
  Buzzwords: The permanent exhibition of the city. Ideologies, elite culture, folk culture, self-understanding and understanding of museums.
• The metabolism of the city: energy system and ressources. 
  Buzzwords: The city as metabolism. Ressources and energy consumption. How much, how and where from?

The medieval town

• The market square and public areas after the Reformation 
  Buzzwords: The conquest of the former clergy areas in the town: which functions and buildings arose when the monasteries moved out of the towns?

The pre-industrial city

• The business and functions of the industrial and commercial citizens
  Buzzwords: Charity, self-understanding, elite culture
• The development of the public in the cities 1800-1900
  Buzzwords: Local politics, associations, democracy, news papers
• A year in the public life of the city, 1780-1800-1830-1850-1870
  Buzzwords: News papers, public culture, elite culture, folk culture
• Pre-industrial public investments 
  Buzzwords: Buildings and squares in the city
• A fair price - the use of rates and price agreements
  Buzzwords: Market listings, prices at market trade, moral economy,  

The industrial city

• The ressources of the city
  Buzzwords: CO², environmental politics
• Trade in the cities and hinterlands: new mechanisms
  Buzzwords: banks, savings banks, shops
• The architecture of the city
  Buzzwords: headquaters (banks, savings banks, credit unions), the representative buildings (theatres, city halls, stations)
• Urban patterns and community growth 1950-1970
  Buzzwords: Planning, growth, industry 

Deindustrialization

• Regional patterns in the deindustrialization of the cities 
  Buzzwords: Industry, business, trade, globalization
• Social consequences of the deindustrialization of the cities
  Buzzwords: Exclusion and inclusion, gentricification, affiliation, immigration
• City branding 
  Buzzwords: Branding, exhibitions