Inter-municipal cooperation in Germany: The mismatch between existing necessities and suboptimal solutions

Abstract

With some 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous nation-state in Europe. Almost one-third of the population live in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Compared to other European countries, this degree of urbanisation is rather ordinary; what is peculiar is the high number of cities (83), the majority of which are located in the "old German states" (alte Bundesländer) (Städtetag 2003: 26, 30). © 2007 Springer.