Geography and urban development of Dresden

Dresden is a large city in the eastern Saxony nearby the border to the Czech Republic at the river Elbe.

Dresden lies on both banks of the river Elbe, mostly in the Dresden Basin, with the further reaches of the eastern Ore Mountains to the south, the steep slope of the Lusatian granitic crust to the north and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains to the east at an elevation of about 113 metres.

The northern parts of Dresden are in the West Lusatian Highlands (Westlausiter Berg- und Hügelland).

The depth influx valleys and the higher areas in the south of Dresden characterise the change to the eastern foothills of the Ore Mountains.

The incorporation of neighbouring rural communities over the past 60 years has made Dresden the fourth largest urban area in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne.

One important part of that landscape is the Elbe meadows which cross the city, 20 kilometres long.

Due to its location on the banks of the Elbe and where some water sources from the Ore Mountains flow to, flood protection is an important aspect of the city's development.

Many parts of city still contain an old village core, while some quarters are almost completely preserved as rural settings.

Other characteristic kinds of urban areas are the historic outskirts of the city, the former suburbs with dotted housing.

Dresden was divided into the five Stadtbezirke (boroughs) Mitte (centre), Ost (east), West, Süd (south) and Nord (north) between 1958 and 1991.

[6] In addition nine former municipalities which have been incorporated between 1997 and 1999 form Ortschaften which are granted a higher degree of political self-rule.

The largest Ortschaft is Schönfeld-Weißig covering an area called Schönfelder Hochland (Schönfeld Highlands).