Abstract
<jats:p>Around the Napoleonic era, the village of The Hague had around 41,000-45,000 inhabitants. In the second half of the nineteenth century, population growth accelerated sharply: by 1875 the city already had approximately 100,000 inhabitants, and by 1913 about 300,000. Around 1960, the population had grown to roughly 600,000, although by 1995, the population had declined to 442,937. This trend of increase required far-reaching urban renewal programs, characterized by the demolition of parts of the historic city and subsequent reconstruction. From the second half of the 1980s onward, however, The Hague experienced a renaissance. Attention shifted back to the historic city and its rehabilitation through urban renewal. Subsequently, new Vinex residential districts were developed, and a period of rapid growth began, driven by the arrival of immigrants from other countries. In January 2025, The Hague had nearly 570,000 inhabitants and had involved into a fully-fledged global city. Conflicts over the cityscapes of The Hague arose not so much because of personal disputes concerning urban design or individual buildings, but rather out of conflicting interests in the creation of the city, which created tensions between the municipality, entrepreneurs, and citizens. Such tensions became especially visible from the moment municipal politics began to develop more fully, after 1852, when debates around urban development came to occupy a central place in the city council and in various media. There was always a prevailing cityscape or urban image that hung over the city like a shadow - an image that was actively shaped and eventually cast aside once a new cityscape emerged. The cityscape as an idea and as a physically realized urban landscape merged, interacted, and influenced one another, ultimately converging in what became a clearly defined and architecturally recognizable urban landscape, accompanied by a corresponding narrative. In any given period, the urban image functioned as a driving force behind the expansion of the city, the organization of urban spaces, and the design of buildings and architecture. The cityscape or urban image is not an autonomous phenomenon, but is deeply intertwined with broad societal developments, both national and international. An essential characteristic is that it is never entirely unambiguous or precise; rather, it is a mental construct that gradually embeds itself in the collective consciousness. How compelling a cityscape can be is demonstrated by the case of The Hague. The city is distinctive for its often well-organized, activist citizenry, which resists government authorities and corporate actors, as well as for entrepreneurs who perceptively respond to this resistance and reinforce the dominant urban image. Walking through The Hague is akin to moving through a time machine, revealing the historical layering of the physical environment, its architecture, and urban design. A chic fin-de-siècle townhouse with turrets adjoins a concrete apartment block from the 1960s. A New Hague School residential neighborhood, partially demolished and supplemented by austere urban renewal, stands alongside it. This historic layering of cityscapes appears to be characteristic of the modern city.</jats:p>