ABSTRACT
In this chapter four tasks are attempted in increasing order of difficulty, or as some might say impossibility. First, for the recent past — defined as the period 1950–80 — the chapter tries to identify the main features of urban-regional change, setting Europe within a broad international context. It then asks how far these trends can be attributed to technological developments that were occurring within the same period, relating these to parallel changes in economy, society, lifestyles and values. Thirdly it asks how far any of these factors might be expected to change in the immediate future — defined as the period 1980–2010. Finally it considers the impact of such changes, again, on the pattern of urban-regional change.
