Outer Districts Research Articles

The Popular Roots of the Argentine Tango

The Argentine tango, as a dance and as an irresistible musical form that later became paramount in Argentine popular taste during its legendary 'golden age' between 1920 and 1950, first acquired world-wide fame in the years after 1913 - the moment of its spectacular triumphs in high-society Europe. As a social craze, especially but not exclusively among the European upper and middle classes, it had few equals in the period just before the First World War. The tango's popularity on the dance-floors of Europe and North America held until at least the end of the 1930s. Its history was by no means over in 1913 - indeed, from a musical viewpoint it was only just starting. Yet it is also true that the frenzied episodes of 'tangomania' in Europe during 'the tango year' (as H. G. Wells called it soon afterwards) marked the culmination of a story whose opening was far removed from the elegant salons and hotels of Paris and London. Whatever it may have become, the tango had roots that were quintessentially popular. When, where and how did it originate? None of these questions can be answered with absolute precision. Pieces are missing from the jigsaw and are unlikely to be found at this stage. When? The date conventionally given, 1880, can be no more than approximate. The tango's genesis was not instantaneous: its development into anything like a recognizable form (a form undergoing several significant modifications thereafter) occurred over a number of years, the critical phase almost certainly falling between 1880 and the middle 1890s. But no exact chronology of the tango's 'foundational era' can be established easily. Where? We can be rather more definite on this score. There is no real doubt that the port-city of Buenos Aires was the birthplace of the dance. The city's arrabales (poor outer districts) were probably the key location. It must also be noted, however, that the tango also took root very early on in Montevideo, the other River Plate capital. This explains the claims (which certainly cannot be dismissed too readily) of a parallel development having taken place on both sides of the great

Urban renewal under National Socialism: Practical policy and political objectives in Hitler's Germany

Shortly after the National Socialists came to power in 1933, a number of German towns and cities had already embarked on urban renewal programmes. Most made use of existing plans. These had not previously been carried out because the municipalities had given priority in the 1920s to building new housing in their outer districts, and because after 1930 they did not have the resources to apply slum clearance and renewal techniques to arrest the growing decay of unmodernised city centres at a time of national financial crisis. This article uses a sample of cities (Braunschweig, Breslau and Frankfurt) to show in detail how, and how far, the post‐1933 renewal programme harmonised in economic and ideological terms with National Socialist policy.

Le logement social à Bruxelles depuis 1919.

Traces the emergence of schemes to provide social housing, especially following critical legislation in 1919 which enabled special housing societies to come into existence. Examines phases of construction, initially in districts surrounding the 19th century core of Brussels and latterly in outer suburban districts such as Anderlecht and Wolume-Saint-Lambert. Summarises varieties of style, ranging from garden suburb estates to blocks of tenements. -H.Clout

Deglaciation of western Central Norway

The glacier movements and corresponding ice margins in Central Norway during Younger Dryas and Preboreal are reconstructed. Scattered, older marginal deposits are difficult to correlate. Raised beach features indicate that the deep fjords became ice‐free at an early stage due to calving. In Møre og Romsdal county the glacier front lay at the fjord heads during Younger Dryas, with extensive local glaciation in the intervening mountain areas, and a limit of glaciation 500–600 m lower than the present. In certain places local moraines older than Younger Dryas have been preserved. Autochthonous block fields are widespread in the mountains of Møre og Romsdal. The lower limit of block fields lies at c. 500 m above sea level on the outermost coast and rises to c. 1500 m above sea level in the interior fjord country. No erratics, striation or lateral moraines from the inland ice have been found above this limit. Its gradient, which in outer fjord districts is about 1%, seems to indicate the ice surface at the last maximum of Weichsel glaciation.

The Distribution of Population Density and Dwelling Area per Person

In Sendai, the macroscopic distribution of population density from the city center to the suburbs was approximated by a function of the distance from the city center in the pre-World War II period, as given by the Newling Model. But, after World War II with the establishment of new residential districts beyond the former non-residential districts (ex. temples, graveyards, factories, etc.) which were at the periphery of Old Sendai, the population density from the city center to the suburbs developed two maxima in the old and new sites (Fig. 3).Therefore, the spatial pattern shows a double-donut structure (Fig. 1). Both the inner and outer districts of high population density show two incomplete circles. Also, when considering the course of its isopleths, the spatial pattern of population density does not show a concentric ring pattern. As a matter of fact, it shows a irregular star-shaped pattern which reflects the spatial pattern of topography and transportation routes.In general, the dwelling area per person is closely related to the urban structure which is composed of various types and intensities of land use. But, the dwelling area per person is not distributed in accordance with a function of the distance from the city center in Sendai. Also, the distribution of dwelling area per person does not show a concentric ring pattern, but it shows a biased and complex pattern (Fig. 2). For instance, in the CBD of Sendai, where the land use is highly productive and efficient, the dwelling area per person has a high value in the office district and a low value in the central shopping street (Fig. 4). In the outer zone of Sendai, where the population density and house density are low, the dwelling area per person varies over a wide range, according to the residential environment and the socio-economic hierarchy of the dwellers. Namely, there is a strong correlation between the dwelling area per person and the socio-economic hierarchy of the dwellers.Finally, the distribution of the dwelling area per person is determined not only by the types and the intensity of land use, but also by the socio-economic hierarchy of the dwellers, the historical process of the development of Sendai and the natural environment.