EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - European Metropolitan Governance: Cities in Europe

European Metropolitan Governance: Cities in Europe – Europe in the Cities

Introduction

This report takes issue with two major topics that have gained in importance to cities over the last decade: first, the evolving relationship between cities and the European Union, and second, the rise of new forms of 'governance', be it at the local level or in the multi-level context of the European Union.

Description

The research focused on two questions:

What is the impact of European policy on cities?
To what extent are cities able to influence the EU decision process?

The publication ‘Cities in Europe – Europe in the Cities’ summarises key results of the study; the Final Report ‘European Metropolitan Governance’ furthermore includes detailed case studies of cities in the United Kingdom, Austria and Germany. ‘Cities in Europe – Europe in the Cities’ contains four articles, on the following issues:

Urban Policy in Europe – Where have we been and where are we going?;
Cities and services of general interest – A case study in deliberative European governance;
The Local and Regional Dimensions of the European Employment Strategy – Empty phrases or a real chance for cities and regions?;
The European engagement of cities – Experiences, motivations and effects on local governance in Liverpool, Manchester, Vienna, Graz, Dortmund & Hamburg.

Background information

The future of European democracy will largely depend on the initiative of cities and their citizens. Against this backdrop the international research project ‘European Metropolitan Governance’ has analysed the role of cities in the process of European integration.

'European Metropolitan Governance' is a collaborative research project of:

Europaforum Wien – Center for Urban Dialogue and European Policy;
the European Institute of Urban Affairs at Liverpool John Moores University;
and the Department of Spatial Development, Infrastructure and Environmental Planning, Sociology at Vienna University of Technology.

Conclusions

The results show that cities by far are not just ‘policy takers’ in the EU context: through the active participation in European debates and lobbying, cities are able to influence the positions of European institutions according to their interests. The results of the research project furthermore exemplify how urban decision-makers can sharpen their strategies for European policy engagement.

Contact info

Europaforum Wien
Alexander Wolffhardt, tel. +43 1 585 85 10 25

Publication date

01/01/2005

Researcher

Eugen Antalovsky, Jens S. Dangschat, Michael Parkinson (eds.)

Links

Europaforum Wien

‘Cities in Europe – Europe in the Cities’ (PDF, Eng, 730 KB)

‘European Metropolitan Governance’ - Final Report (PDF, Eng, 2 MB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords