It might be argued that the capital city function is not necessarily the best selection
criterion for inclusion in a study of this kind. The situation of capital cities varies so
much, and—perhaps most importantly—they also differ so greatly in size, that
comparisons might seem rather meaningless. Moreover, some capitals—in the Nordic
countries, for instance—can hardly qualify as large cities in European terms. But if one
city from every country is to be chosen for a comparative study, the capital city
nonetheless seems to be an apt choice. It is also reasonable to suppose that the capitals do
have some conditions and features in common in the way they have developed, which
justify their being treated as a single group.2 Nor is the comparison concerned primarily
with the towns as such; the emphasis is on the planning activities in the most important
cities politically speaking in their respective countries, cities which in most cases were
also the largest in the country as well as the leading centre for trade and industry.
It would have been interesting to have established a control group by choosing one
other city for comparison with the capital in each country. However, this was not possible
to realize within the frames of the present study; nor was it possible to include non-European capital cities as comparative material.
The study thus focuses on a series of major projects which appeared in the third quarter
of the nineteenth century, roughly speaking between 1850 and 1880. But it would not
have been reasonable to disregard the planning of Athens and Helsinki, which acquired
capital city status in the first half of the century, or various activities that occurred in the
other cities before 1850. Thus 1800 can be regarded as an approximate starting date for
the study.