The report explains that for many years cities were seen as the source of society's problems, and were the places facing the greatest difficulties of unemployment, social exclusion and physical decay. It considers the suggestion that cities have been experiencing a revival by examining the literature and research in this area to establish whether there has been a genuine improvement in cities. It looks at patterns of population change within European cities, urbanisation and concentration within cities, quality of life, core-periphery differences, and differences between western and eastern Europe. 

This paper is from a larger study of European cities supported by the Scottish Funding Council under the auspices of the Centre for Public Policy for Regions.

A review was undertaken of previous comparative research on European cities, and population as an indicator of urban change was assessed. Procedures were worked out for the definition of consistent spatial units and the identification of suitable data sources for analysing long-run European trajectories. 310 cities were included in the study.

The research finds that one in seven cities can be described as resurgent, but these are greatly outnumbered by cities that have experienced continual growth or a recent downturn. Taking a long-term view, the absolute and relative position of cities generally appears to have deteriorated over the last few decades, but a short-term perspective suggests something of a recovery within the last five years. Growth and resurgence are more common in Western Europe and decline is more widespread in the East. The position of larger cities has also improved slightly relative to smaller cities.

Centre for Public Policy for Regions, University of Glasgow
Ivan Turok

01/09/2006

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Ivan Turok and Vlad Mykhnenko (Glasgow University)

research

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment

Urban economy