Scholarship on provincial towns and cities has thus far overlooked their role as centres of painting in the early modern era, leaving the false impression that painting, and art itself, remained the preserve of London. Chester proves a vibrant centre for such activities in the era 1590–1640. This article shows how and why the distinctive characteristics of Chester and its wider hinterland encouraged and shaped its production of portraiture. It also places Chester in the wider context of painting activity in other such provincial centres.

This article examines the origins of a red-light district in a French provincial city before the implementation of official regulation. It aims at redefining the role of prostitutes, police and society in the development of ‘reserved districts’. Based on the study of judicial archives over a 60-year period, the mapping of the spatial distribution of prostitutes in Nantes reveals the spread of prostitution in most of the city's districts. However, the migrations and movement of prostitutes within the city show a gradual clustering over two districts: this was motivated by economic rationales and was initiated by the prostitutes and, only later in the century, encouraged by the police and community.

While historical interest in the seaside has grown appreciably in recent times, much of the literature remains preoccupied with issues specific to resort towns. This article examines the social dynamics of the seaside town more broadly, through a study of Southend residents in the 1870s and 1880s. It analyses their discussions of working-class tourists and the industries which catered for them, before examining attempts to regulate the use of public space in the town. This is a study of rapid urbanization in a small town, and how social perceptions and relations were reconfigured in this context.

This article examines the development and marketing of suburbia through a case-study of the suburb of Ilford, Essex, between 1880 and 1914. It discusses how Ilford positioned itself, the white-collar clerical workers it targeted, its principal developers and the marketing and development strategies it pursued. It is argued that Ilford achieved success through a comprehensive and integrated marketing strategy which involved a policy of clear positioning, alignment with its target market, close co-operation between its principal stakeholders and the implementation of long-term, sustainable policies.

Cairo has often been seen as a ‘dual city’ divided between a ‘modern’ European city and a historic ‘traditional’ core. This article challenges this view through a historical exploration of suburban Cairo, a subject neglected by mainstream urban historians. A comparative examination of Ismailiyah, Garden City, Zamalek, Maadi, Helwan and Heliopolis illustrates that these suburbs took very different forms and reflected a wide range of historical and contemporary architectural tastes and design perspectives. Not all suburban developments were products of modern technical innovations and by 1922 no suburb had a majority of European residents. The use of the term ‘modern’ to characterize Cairo's suburbs therefore has the tendency to privilege western concepts of the modern and obscure the complexities of suburban social and economic development.

This article explores the importance that accessing urban life assumed for British soldiers stationed in France during World War I. Many who fought on the Western Front had never visited a foreign country before sailing to France. Drawing on contemporary letters and diaries and later memoirs, it considers how men responded to the new experiences they found in French towns and cities behind the lines. Through exploring activities from shopping and dining to cinema and prostitution, it argues that urban outings became critical to sustaining morale by offering opportunities to engage with civilian life on a reasonably regular basis.

This article makes use of memoirs, autobiographies and oral interviews in order to consider the relations between the Catholic, Jewish and Protestant communities in the Gorbals. While there was considerable variation in individual experience, there were also particular occasions where inter-ethnic relations were all too predictable, almost following a ‘calendar of conflict’. The article shows that, while there was a degree of anti-Semitism in the area, integration between the Jewish and non-Jewish residents of the district was facilitated by a number of factors. Ultimately, anti-Semitism was mediated through the sectarian rivalry, which was the dominant religious conflict in the city.

Over the last century, cultural and scholarly depictions of middle-class suburbia have created a stereotype that suggests detachment, indifference and the decline of community engagement. Yet, such accounts oversimplify the middle-class experience and the evolving nature of the urban/suburban relationship. Offering a review of existing literature, this article seeks to challenge existing stereotypes by revaluating the social networks constructed by middle-class ‘suburbans’. Far from detached and disengaged, the spatial analysis of associational membership in post-war Leicester reveals the need for a much wider revision of the British suburban narrative.