In the year 1500, the share of Western Europe's population living in urban areas was just six percent, but this rose to 31 percent by the end of the 19th century. Despite this drastic change, development was quite slow between 1500 and 1800, and it was not until the industrial revolution when there was a spike in urbanization. As Britain was the first region to undergo the industrial revolution, from around the 1760s until the 1840s, these areas were the most urbanized in Europe by 1890. The Low Countries Prior to the 19th century, Belgium and the Netherlands had been the most urbanized regions due to the legacy of their proto-industrial areas in the medieval period, and then the growth of their port cities during the Netherlands' empirical expansion (Belgium was a part of the Netherlands until the 1830s). Belgium was also quick to industrialize in the 1800s, and saw faster development than its larger, more economically powerful neighbors, France and Germany. Least-urban areas Ireland was the only Western European region with virtually no urbanization in the 16th and 17th century, but the industrial growth of Belfast and Dublin (then major port cities of the British Empire) saw this change by the late-1800s. The region of Scandinavia was the least-urbanized area in Western Europe by 1890, but it saw rapid economic growth in Europe during the first half of the following century.

In 1800, the present-day region of Mexico had a population of just over six million people. Mexico gained its independence from the Spanish crown in 1821, and population growth remained steady for the next 85 years. Growth then halted with with the Panic of 1907, an American financial crisis whose ripple effects in Mexico would set the stage for the Mexican Revolution in 1910. This revolution would see population flatline at just over fifteen million between 1910 and 1920, as widespread conflict and result in the death of between 1.7 to 2.7 million over the decade, and the coinciding 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic would see the loss of another 300,000 in this time period. Following the end of both the Mexican Revolution and the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1920, the population of Mexico would begin to increase rapidly as modernization would see mortality rates fall and standards of living rise throughout the country. This growth has continued steadily into the 21st century, and in 2020, Mexico is estimated to have a population of just under 129 million.

In 1800, the population of Japan was just over 30 million, a figure which would grow by just two million in the first half of the 19th century. However, with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of the emperor in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan would begin transforming from an isolated feudal island, to a modernized empire built on Western models. The Meiji period would see a rapid rise in the population of Japan, as industrialization and advancements in healthcare lead to a significant reduction in child mortality rates, while the creation overseas colonies would lead to a strong economic boom. However, this growth would slow beginning in 1937, as Japan entered a prolonged war with the Republic of China, which later grew into a major theater of the Second World War. The war was eventually brought to Japan's home front, with the escalation of Allied air raids on Japanese urban centers from 1944 onwards (Tokyo was the most-bombed city of the Second World War). By the war's end in 1945 and the subsequent occupation of the island by the Allied military, Japan had suffered over two and a half million military fatalities, and over one million civilian deaths.

The population figures of Japan were quick to recover, as the post-war “economic miracle” would see an unprecedented expansion of the Japanese economy, and would lead to the country becoming one of the first fully industrialized nations in East Asia. As living standards rose, the population of Japan would increase from 77 million in 1945, to over 127 million by the end of the century. However, growth would begin to slow in the late 1980s, as birth rates and migration rates fell, and Japan eventually grew to have one of the oldest populations in the world. The population would peak in 2008 at just over 128 million, but has consistently fallen each year since then, as the fertility rate of the country remains below replacement level (despite government initiatives to counter this) and the country's immigrant population remains relatively stable. The population of Japan is expected to continue its decline in the coming years, and in 2020, it is estimated that approximately 126 million people inhabit the island country.

“In the context of general urban research and also in historical investigations problems of housing provision and housing policies in the period of advanced industrialization play an important role. Those questions are most of the times related with the consequences of industrialization and urbanization because besides the necessary infrastructure services like the expansion of public transport, canalization, water and energy provision and facilities for health care, problems related to an adequate housing provision were more and more emphasized because the private housing economy was not able to deal with the high demand especially for small apartments. Especially the shortage of small apartments caused that questions and problems related to housing were considered as system-critically more than other social-political areas.” (Steitz, a. cit., p. 393f). Contemporary reformers and those who discussed questions related to housing formulated a high number of local political measures. Based on those discussions the author formulates his research question: “Which local political measures were undertaken by the communities of the German Empire between 1875 and 1914 under which circumstances? Some historical studies in this subject are already investigated local housing policies especially regarding the housing construction for workers in the entire German Empire. The local conditions and the measures undertaken by the different communities varied significantly. Therefore the present study tends to analyze the extent of communal housing policies looking at the case study of Frankfurt am Main because this city played an important role in this subject area” (Steitz, a. a. O., p. 397). Data tables in HISTAT:A.01 Per capita tax burden in Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Prussian communities with more than 10.000 inhabitants, in Mark (1890-1913)A.02 Development of population on the basis of the 1910 incorporated territory including Frankfurt (1871-1910)A.03 Relative per capita tax burden in Frankfurt am Main (1890-1905)A.04 Public debt of Frankfurt am Main (1887-1907)A.05 Proportion of expenditure for infrastructure spending on total expenditure and revenues, as well as on the direct tax burden, Frankfurt am Main (1872-1898)A.06 Share of taxes and operating surplus of the total ordinary revenues of the budget of the city of Frankfurt am Main (1904-1913)A.07 Overview of surpluses and grants from the regular budget of the city of Frankfurt am Main (1898-1913)A.08a Expenditures of Frankfurt am Main (1872-1881)A.08b Expenditures of Frankfurt am Main (1881-1897)A.08c Expenditures of the regular household of Frankfurt am Main (1898-1905)A.08d Expenditures for construction in the extraordinary budget of Frankfurt am Main (1898-1910)A.09 Ratio of urban mortgage sum of leaseholder on urban ground in Frankfurt am Main (1902-1905)A.10 Urban construction of small apartments in Frankfurt am Main (1904-1913)A.11Buildings and apartments constructed by charitable construction and housing associations (1868-1914)A.12 Proportion of newly built apartments on the total number of new apartments in Frankfurt am Main (1884-1914)A.13 Share of charitably built apartments on the total number of available and occupied apartments in Frankfurt am Main (1871-1910)

Shijonawate City(Shijonawate Shi)'s No. of dwellings whose distance to the nearest day services center for aged is under 250 m is 1,890[dwellings] which is the 461st highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 33rd in Osaka Prefecture, with 0.15% share of the entire Osaka. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Shijonawate City and Chino City(Nagano) and Hamura City(Tokyo)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

The systematic expansion of local public enterprises started in the mid of the 19th century. The focus of these enterprises was the utility industry (the population’s supply with water, gas, and electricity), the transportation (passanger transport), the lending business (banks supported publicly by the commune or district), the health care system and the housing industry. The local enterprises worked as the municipalities’ instruments, fulfilling during the 19th century mainly social, distributional, and fiscal responsibilities. The investigator deals in his study with the following topics:

1. How can the development of the local public enterprises, i.e. the development of scope and structure of their services, be characterized empirically?
2. What conditions have shaped this development? This question relates to the analysis of the development of municipalities and the motives of the municipalization.

The investigation is limited to the years 1871/72 to 1913/14, because most of the municipalization-process occurred in the industrialization phase at that period.

First, the attempt is made to provide an overview of the general development of the local public enterprises or the so called “German municipal socialism”. The municipalization-process and the extent of the local public companies’ economic activities are shown by the investigator by means of the development of individual local public companies as overview for the German Empire (gasworks, water works, electric power stations, street railways). Then, the companies’ efficiency in 54 cities with over 50,000 inhabitants is examined. Starting point of this analysis are the results of the statistical yearbooks of German cities from 1890 to 1912 and surveys on wages and working hours for 1902 and 1907 of the Imperial Statistical Office. Based on these data, the extent of the financial and social conditions of the local public companies and their development in a given period can be described (extent of investments and financing; pricing policy of the local public enterprises; benefits in terms of fiscal policy; benefits in terms of social policy; financial structure and it’s redistributive effects). In order to review the fiscal efficiency of local public companies, the municipal taxes and municipal dept of each city as an appraisal criterion are collected. Furthermore, to review the benefits of the social policy, the companies’ in-house benefits are used as criteria. The determined surplus revenues (net and gross surpluses), local taxes and municipal debt, are listed per head of population, so that they can be seen in their systematic connection and that therefore a meaningful comparison between the analyzed cities in possible. In chapter VII the comparison of Bochum and Munster in the province Westphalia examines the question to what extent there are deviations of the public companies’ development in individual municipalities from the general development trends of the German state. The cities Bochum and Munster were chosen for this comparison, because both exemplify a special type urban development, Bochum as a heavy industrial city, and Munster as an administrative city. Thus, the question must be asked how the economic structure of a city has shaped the development of their local companies. First, the typological features of the towns are related to their social structures, their structures of population and of economy. These features are the basis of a municipality’s policy. Using this typology of cities, the investigator examined how the structural features of a city be reflected in local policies. The main objective of this case study is to analyze whether there is a relationship between the typology of cities and the development of local public companies (or rather the success of local public companies) and if this relation could be explained.

Datatables in the search- and downloadsystem HISTAT (topic: Statistics of towns (= Städtestatistik) ):

Thematical subdivision of the study’s datatables: A. Entwicklung der Kommunalunternehmen im Deutschen Reich (1849 – 1913). (= Development of local public companies in the German Empire) B. Fallstudie: Die Städte Bochum und Münster (1870-1913). (= Case study: the towns Bochum and Munster) C. Datentabellen mit statistischen Angaben für 54 Städte mit über 50.000 Einwohnern (1889 – 1912). (= Data tables with statistical information on 54 towns with about 50 000 inhabitants and more)

The state of Belgium owes its name to Julius Caesar, who used the name "Belgium" to refer to the region in his narrative "The Gallic Wars". After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region emerged as a cosmopolitan trading center, and was a collection of smaller duchies and states (such as Flanders and Brabant), before modern history saw control of the region pass between France, the Netherlands and (to a lesser extent) Spain. Modern day Belgium emerged in 1830 following the Belgian Revolution when it gained independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Throughout this time, the Belgian region was the setting of many conflicts between other European powers, which greatly affected the population development and demography of the area. From 1800 until the First world War, the population of Belgium grew steadily, and more than doubled in the nineteenth century. The World Wars Population growth stagnated in the 1910s, as a result of World War I and the Spanish Flu epidemic. Belgium was one of the focal points of military action in the war, and many military personnel from other nations also lost their lives here during the conflict. Much of the Second World War also took place in Belgium, and although it remained neutral at the outbreak of both wars, it was invaded twice by Germany due to its strategic importance. Belgium suffered an estimated 88,000 fatalities during the war; with many further military fatalities from other nations also perishing in the region. Continuous growth From 1950 onwards, Belgium's population grows at a relatively consistent rate, to more than ten million people the year 2000. Since the turn of the millennium, a positive net migration rate and higher life expectancy has meant that Belgium's population has grown even faster rate than in the twentieth century. Today, Belgium has a very high standard of living, and the capital city of Brussels is home to the headquarters of many international institutions, particularly the European Union.

This dataset comprises data on households residing in six municipalities in the province of Noord-Brabant on January 1 1850, 1890 and 1921. It concerns the cities of Eindhoven, Gestel, Stratum, Strijp, Tongelre and Woensel. The dataset contains a random sample of more than 20.000 individuals, born between 1770 and 1930.The seven files of this relational database contain (sur/last)names, marriages, date and place of birth, occupations, religion, generation and (il)literacy of the Eindhoven population. The data set was used for the master thesis of dr. O.W.A. Boonstra:, 'De waardij van eene vroege opleiding: een onderzoek naar de implicaties van het alfabetisme op het leven van inwoners van Eindhoven en omliggende gemeenten, 1800-1920', (Hilversum 1993).The dataset was originally created by prof. dr. A.M. van der Woude (Wageningen Agricultural University) and prof. dr. H. van Dijk (Erasmus University Rotterdam) for research into the development of the population of Eindhoven in the 19th and 20th centuries.