Introduction

Investigating the European territory can be done in multiple ways: by considering major geographic areas such as the Baltic region or the Alps; by examining the types of territory, whether plains, mountains, coastal areas or island regions; or by looking at functional categories such as industrial or tourist areas. Understanding fundamental spatial transformations often requires a return to the more distant past, when various factors out of balance have interfered with each other at critical times. The territory is the carrier of history, of urban or rural civilization, as much as of natural and geographical features. Its present appearance cannot be fully understood until you lift the veil that hides both the reasons for and the results of past decisions that still permeate it, and the diversity of new aspirations of contemporary civilization. A separate examination of urban Europe and of European rurality is largely justified and is being used here to highlight the current forces at work.