Introduction

The goal was to connect within a European perspective three thematic fields which each possess specific national research traditions and which have enjoyed close study in the twentieth century: research on the city and especially on the metropolis, on youth and youth policy, as well as on public space and social communication. According to our thesis, connecting these research strands should enable a new class of inquiry and open a new field of investigation, which would also bear particular relevance upon social developments of recent decades.