Dresden is a spacious city, not only due to the most recent incorporations in the 1990s. The districts of the city differ in their structure and appearance. 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. In Socialist times a lot of apartment blocks were built. Not unsurprisingly, the districts in Dresden are a mix of all these kinds of area.