The chapters in this book are revised versions of papers initially presented at a confer ence on Universities and their cities held in Amsterdam on March 27-29 1996. There were about one hundred participants and 45 written contributions from Europe, the US, Canada and Australia. People with different disciplinary backgrounds, geographers, historians, sociologists, economists and planners among them, attended, as did a few university administrators and local government officials. The intricate relationships between universities and their cities were intensively debated from the perspective of possible contributions by the university to city life as well as from the angle of the city as a milieu that affects the university's functioning. There were theoretical and historical papers, and a series of case studies, some of them comparative, as well as proposals and descriptions of efforts to improve city-university relations. It was a fruitful occasion for many on account of the diversity of experience brought together for the purpose of a debate on a matter of common interest. The vari ous university settings within Amsterdam were visited during a guided tour that pro vided food for thought on the matters under discussion by means of a living example.

Zusammenfassung
The intricate relationships between universities and their cities were intensively debated from the perspective of possible contributions by the university to city life as well as from the angle of the city as a milieu that affects the university's functioning.

Inhalt
1 A Warehouse of Precious Goods: The University in its Urban Context.- I - Roots.- 2 Scholarship, Local Life, and the Necessity of Worldliness.- 3 Politics and the University.- 4 The World of Arts and the University.- II - Locations.- 5 The Hebrew University of Jerusalem: Earthly Planning in a Heavenly City.- 6 Louvain-Ia-Neuve: A New City for an Old University.- 7 Rome: Three Universities in Search of Actors: A Capital City Case.- 8 Amsterdam, Utrecht, Groningen: Universities' Locational Interests and Urban Politics.- III - Roles.- 9 A Shared Space in a Divided Society: The Queen's University of Belfast.- 10 Corrupt Capital, Reformed Academy: Beijing and the Identity of Beijing University, 18981919.- 11 Developing and Sustaining an Urban Mission: Concordia University in Montreal.- 12 The University and the City Council: The Political Interface in Portsmouth UK.- 13 Urban Change and Institutional Adaptation: The Geographical Identity of the University of Miami.