!!!Dorf

Dorf (village), rural settlement, characterised by a typical rural 
architectural, economic and social structure, formerly prevalent, 
today less distinct. In modern times the originally economic community 
(self-governed co-operative, partly independent administration of 
justice, a legal and economic unit under a landlord) developed into an 
administrative community.

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Traditional rural settlements are defined by the types of houses and  
Farmhouse Types, the  Farmland, Subdivision of and the  Settlement, 
Forms of . A village is a group settlement (as opposed to an 
individual settlement) displaying typical elements of traditional 
groups and types of villages: scattered settlements and loose village 
types in contrast to closed villages. Among the closed villages the 
nucleated village displays an irregular form; linear villages and 
street villages display regular linear structures. A mixture of the 
closed and linear types are those villages where the houses are 
arranged around the village green or the village square (circular and 
rectangular forms, radial villages). Urban lifestyles and the 
industrial economy have changed the face of rural settlements (new 
residential streets and areas expanded the villages). Today, an 
increasing number of commuters and the rising number of second homes 
have resulted in the growth of villages, and in turn to the creation 
of purely residential village areas. The creation of new industrial 
sites has also contributed to the growth of villages.

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In the past a village was an economic unit (a household formed the 
basis for the organisation of labour); agriculture constituted a major 
part of the income (supplemented by income from trade, crafts and 
services). The social structure of a rural community comprised the 
farmers (coloni), those who owned a small house, but no land 
(inquilini), those who rented (subinquilini, pauperes) and the farm 
labourers. As a result of socio-economic changes over the past 40 
years the village population of today is dominated by people whose 
main occupation is not in agriculture; farming has come to be regarded 
as a source of supplementary income.

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The characteristics of a traditional farming village community were 
strong social relations, particularly with neighbours (which acted as 
a kind of "social control"), rigid social structures, economic, 
social, cultural and religious standards (customs, festivals, interest 
groups, family life) and other phenomena of every-day culture 
(architecture and housing, clothing, food, etc.). Over the past few 
centuries the rural community and its characteristics (influenced by 
political, economic, social and cultural structures) have undergone 
several periods of change. The rise of tourism, which began as early 
as the 19%%sup th/%  century and has rapidly developed over the past 
few decades, and the Heimatschutz protectionist movement have resulted 
in the revitalisation and commercialisation of customs, traditional 
costumes and folk art in the village (folklorism).

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The rural character of a village is often seen in contrast to urban 
society; since the 19%%sup th/%  century a certain degree of 
"overlapping" of rural and urban culture (e.g. in architecture, 
housing and clothing) has been noticeable. The industrialisation and 
urbanisation of rural areas, the increasing mobility of the 
population, the development of tourism, the increasing number of 
second homes of people from the cities in rural areas and the cultural 
integration of media and communication systems have blurred the 
distinction between urban and rural social structures.

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These fundamental changes, which have contributed to a multitude of 
regional and local varieties, have made it difficult to find a uniform 
definition of the concept of the village. This is why in regional 
planning the expression "community displaying a rural structure" 
(rural community) is increasingly used. As there is no uniform 
definition, the number of people living in villages can only be 
estimated. In Austria 380,435 people live in communities of less than 
1,000 inhabitants, 2,214,022 in communities of up to 2,500 inhabitants 
(census 1991). In contrast, the figures for 1961 showed 1,152,005 
people living in communities of up to 1,000 inhabitants and 2,689,384 
people in communities of up to 2,500 inhabitants.


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