Organizer: European Association for Urban History (EAUH)
Postcode: 08001
Location: Barcelona
Country: Spain
Takes place: In person
Dates: 02.09.2026 - 05.09.2026
Deadline: 20.10.2025
Website: https://www.eauhbarcelona2026.eu/sessions/#session22
We invite paper proposals for our session at the European Association for Urban History (EAUH) conference about new ways of examining urban hierarchies in Europe and addressing regional disparities and functional differences. We welcome all methodological approaches, but particularly those that go beyond the Central Place Theory.
Beyond Centrality: Reassessing Urban Networks and Regional Hierarchies in Europe, 1300–1900
This session (Session 22 of the EAUH 2026 conference) explores the formation and transformation of urban networks and hierarchies in Europe between 1300 and 1900, with a particular interest in the roles of non-economic drivers of urban development. While the legacy of Central Place Theory (CPT) remains influential in urban historiography, we invite contributions that go beyond centrality-based models to consider the impact of administrative, cultural, social, and geopolitical factors on the interaction between cities, towns, and boroughs. The session is open to a wide range of methodological approaches, including historical GIS, qualitative microstudies, and comparative long-term analyses. Key issues in this context are:
- the identification of indicators of urban functions (direct or indirect) in different periods of time and various regions;
- possible ways of investigating regionality within European polities in a longue-durée approach;
- in which cases do these differences lead to the formation of hierarchical or non-hierarchical networks;
- under which circumstances do similar development profiles lead to conflict or competition;
- how are small market towns and boroughs complement the network of cities and what was their role in regional development.
These questions have often been approached within the framework of Central Place Theory, which tends to privilege economic centrality. We aim to broaden this perspective by integrating a more diverse set of factors into the analysis of urban functions and regional connectivity. We invite contributions addressing the following questions in any regional framework and any chronological focus between 1300 and 1900:
- What was the role of administrative units, such as parishes, communes or neighbourhoods, in differentiating, organising and concentrating human and natural resources?
- What part did cultural institutions and access to learning play in establishing contacts between nodes of an urban network?
- How can one assess the role of different ethnic and religious communities and social solidarities in strengthening or weakening ties between nodes of a network?
- What was the impact of environmental factors such as natural barriers or communication corridors in the formation of urban networks?
- In the light of all the above factors, how do we assess the weight of economy in shaping urban networks?
We hope that discussing the above questions in a broad spatial and temporal frame can contribute to reassessing the relationship between urban functions and spatial organisation. Thus, the session intends to pave the way to a more nuanced understanding of European urbanisation and its networks and hierarchies.
Paper submissions
We encourage scholars with an interest in social and economic history and/or historical geography to submit abstracts for our session according to the general conference guidelines. Presentations should aim to be between 15-20 minutes, with additional space for discussion. Abstracts of max. 2000 characters can be submitted until Monday, 20 October 2025 at https://eauh2026.confnow.eu/?pagename=extpapersubmission
Kontakt
Katalin Szende, szendek@ceu.edu; Judit Majorossy, judit.majorossy@univie.ac.at; Beatrix F. Romhányi, romhanyi.beatrix@kre.hu