Vom Leben in unseren Städten

the long version

This thesis proposes that the European metropolis is no longer the place of inhumanity and isolation as it was the notion of modernity when nervousness and degenaration of the urban citizen was stressed. European capitals have become attractive for people from all over the world, who even would risk their lives for a new start in European cities. In the first part I examine the nature of multicultural societies, looking at anthropological structures, such as the self, mentality, ethnicity. In the second part I analyse socio-cultural concepts of urban planning and public space. Together with recent studies of biographies and lifestyles from London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt and Munic I show what impact migration and foreign labour force have on local communities. My own field research about everyday life in Innsbruck shows detailed information that I got from a questionnaire and biographical interviews. Findings are: inner cities as former centres of urban productivity and cultural expression have become backdrops for tourists and the young urban professionals due to gentrification and suburbanization. Town-planning authorities and city management support cultural and urban programmes designed for a multicultural society and a global market place. Urban private life has become more individual, children grow up between broken families, couples are living together as DINKs, LATs, or homosexuals. As long as they earn enough money and their job is interesting, they are happy. The cosmopolitan life encompasses many faiths and languages; cultural diversity is conceived as an enriching asset to everyday life.