Integrated urban development was one of the focal areas of the Germany Presidency of the European Union in 2007. In this context, the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs chose to focus on architecture and 'Baukultur' as aspects of integration and sustainable urban development. The aim of this study was to use the analysis of built examples to confirm the central thesis that Baukultur makes a valuable contribution to the economic, social and sustainable development of the European city. The study puts forward a selection of of case studies of cities which have all relied on their governments taking a proactive approach to raise the local level of Baukultur.