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Study on the implementation of the 1986 White Paper on urbanisation with recommendations for urbanisation strategies in the 1990s, including physical aspects, economic and social considerations as well as a discussion of the squatter problem and questions of management and finance. (DÜI-Eng)

Contrary to the prevalent criticism of the modern nation-state, the author thinks that it is an institution ethically valid in itself. A nation-state is a political entity in which the boundaries of state & nation coincide. National identity is a source of communitarian solidarity & trust, essential for the formation of a state. The author thinks that the state, as a means of national self-determination can relinquish many of its functions & delegate them to supranational bodies, under the condition that it can regain them. Certain areas, such as social & cultural policy & certain aspects of economic policy, due to their importance for the preservation of the national identity should remain in the hands of the nation-state. In their foreign policy, states ought to respect several basic norms: renouncing the use of force or other forms of pressure, honoring agreements, solidarity in adversity, & reducing the unfair distribution of resources. The author deals with the problem of multinational states & concludes that the separate national groups in principle have a right to secession & the creation of their own state. Adapted from the source document.