Nearby. A utopia of the small town?

Is the small town a place of the future: a place where the shape of society can be both read and initiated? Long neglected politically and by the media, it is precisely the 'provinces' - the villages and small and medium-sized towns in rural areas - that are now experiencing a surge in attention. As if under a burning glass, explosive questions and problems can be observed here that are driving societies and transformations: be it demography and public services or migration and social cohesion; be it dealing with one's own past, the importance of community or the relationship between East and West, city and country, center and periphery.

But: How and from which perspectives do we look at the living environments of small towns? What can we learn from the experiences of small-town dwellers for social issues as a whole? We will address these and other questions at the Apollo together with author and FAZ journalist Simon Strauß on the occasion of his latest book In der Nähe - and bring literary, social and planning science perspectives into conversation with history and the present.