ABSTRACT
Urbanism is the key term in this article. It concerns the built form, the societal conditions that have made this form possible, the processes in which different actors with different interests and resources have participated, and the use of this form. Urbanism is always also a medium of socio-political messages, a promise of a better city, an expression of power, and a demonstration of the inclusion and exclusion of certain population groups.
In this context, dictatorship is related to urbanism. The special conditions of urban production in dictatorships are examined. Institutions, people, laws and regulations, and financial programs for urban development play a decisive role here, such as the elimination of municipal autonomy, but also the state’s access to private property and land or resources in general. It is not intended to equalize states that are considered dictatorial.
The European perspective on the urbanism of dictatorships concerns different levels: the international professional exchange in urbanism; the urbanism competition between the individual states, primarily between the three hegemonic dictatorships of the interwar period, the Soviet Union, Fascist Italy, and National-Socialist Germany; and a reflected synopsis of the programs and practices of urbanism of dictatorships, which serves to clarify the characteristics of the respective dictatorship and its peculiarities.
