Hamm is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of 2016 its population was 179,397. The city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railway station is an important hub for rail transport and renowned for its distinctive station building.

Hamm has seven quarters (Stadtbezirk), each divided into residential areas like City, which actually means the center of the city around the Pauluschurch or like Hövel-Radbod near the former entrance to the coalmine Radbod in the quarter Bockum-Hövel. The following table shows the situation in 2006. Every quarter is named with the prefix Hamm, like Hamm-Bockum-Hövel or Hamm-Mitte.

In 2006 Hamm was the first city to accomplish a "Ratsbürgerentscheid". Subject of the plebiscite was a plan to build a 43 ha city lake (2007-2010) near the city centre. 136,521 citizens were entitled to vote, 57,563 used that possibility and 56.9% refused their approbation for the project. As minimal vote 20% (of the total 136,521 voters) had to decide between one of the possibilities (20% for Yes or 20% for NO). The city council accepted the voting and stopped the plans. This procedure is planned for future projects in NRW. Also in Hamm established was the "Baugerichtstag e. V." a society organizing a congress about the German building law. The congress is held in a two years term.