This title was first published in 2001. This volume is a result of the action COST A9 "Civitas - Transformation of European Cities and Urban Governance", launched in 1995, which looks at the emergence of the urban question. The COST framework is a European mechanism to provide scientific and technical assistance for national research programmes. The text covers the change in the importance of European cities and analyzes how each city re-formulates its policies and methods of governing in response to these changes. This text is to analyze the new forms of urban governance using three points of view, a statistical approach, an economic approach and a sociological approach. This book tackles the fragmentation and social exclusion that occurs in urban society and explores the different forms it takes throughout Europe. It also presents some strategies to combat or at least regulate this fragmentation, to ensure a united European city.

Governing European Diversity is a completely new introductory text on social change in Europe for all students of contemporary Europe, the European Union (EU) and European integration. This text offers a comprehensive overview of both tradition and transformation in the social and cultural relationships at the heart of the political and socio-economic landscape in Europe today.

This wide-ranging study of three European cities shows how hybrid forms of governance emerge from the tensions between new ideas and past legacies, and existing institutional arrangements and powerful decision makers. Using detailed studies of migration and neighborhood policy, as well as a novel Q methodology analysis of public administrators.

The autonomy granted to local communities (such as towns, municipalities, and city-states) by larger, central powers (such as empires, kings, lords, and central states) is a recurrent feature of European history over time, from Antiquity to the contemporary period. This volume explores the political, social, and cultural aspects of this feature in a diachronic and comparative perspective, from the Roman Empire to today's city partnerships. To this end, it uses the concept of polycentric governance. Originally developed by political economist Vincent Ostrom in the 1960s and then expanded by the 2009 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, political scientist Elinor Ostrom, this concept characterises the interdependent system of relations between different actors involved in a process and, for that reason, it is frequently used in policy studies. This volume applies the concept of polycentric governance to historical studies as a heuristic device to analyse the multilayer systems into which cities were integrated at various points in European history, as well as the implications of the coexistence of different political structures. Fourteen chapters examine the structures, the dynamics, and the discourse of polycentric governance through various case studies from the Roman Empire, from medieval towns, from early modern Europe, and from contemporary cities. The volume suggests that for extended periods of time throughout European history, polycentric governance has played a pivotal role in the organisation and distribution of political power.

This book investigates and evaluates the opportunities and limitations of network governance in building local capacity for energy infrastructure governance. Presenting a comparative analysis of three city cases from across Europe- Birmingham, Frankfurt and Budapest- this book demonstrates how local factors shape the prospect of network governance to support low-carbon energy transitions. It maps out existing governance networks, highlighting the actors involved and their interactions with one another, and also discusses the role and embeddedness of networks in the urban governance of low-carbon energy. Drawing on case study evidence, Nochta develops a comparative analysis which discusses the intricate connections between network characteristics, context and impact. It highlights that organisational fragmentation; the complexity of the low-carbon energy problem and historical developments all influence network characteristics in terms of degree of integration and vertical (hierarchical) power relationships among network actors. Overall, the book concludes that understanding such links between context and networks is crucial when designing and implementing new governance models aimed at facilitating and governing low-carbon urban development. Low-Carbon Energy Transitions in European Cities will be of great interest to scholars of energy policy, urban governance and sustainability transitions.

Nico Giersig exemplifies the specificities of Nordic cities within Europe as a whole by means of a systematic comparison of governance arrangements and their dynamics in two Nordic capital regions.

This book addresses the ‘bigger picture’ of local-European relations and adds a new dimension to existing studies on multilevel governance and the Europeanisation of local government. Drawing from a combination of European integration theories and operational approaches, it introduces the idea of an integration cycle in which local government responds to the top-down impact of the EU internally, horizontally and vertically. This volume presents a wide range of empirical examples to demonstrate how local authorities across Europe have changed their practices, orientation and preferences, and adapted their institutions and organisation. Not only do cities, towns and counties cooperate with each other across borders and through transnational networks and partnerships, but by mobilising formally and informally, local actors participate in and influence European governance and contribute to the future trajectories of European integration, thereby completing the integration cycle.

The liberalization of communications markets, especially from the 1980s onward, has witnessed increased regulatory activity within but also above the national state. By examining the European case_concentrating on the European Union, the most advanced example of regionalism_Governing European Communications enhances understanding of the trend toward above-the-national-state regulation, its, drivers and its limitations. Analyzing in detail the origins, dynamics, and evolution of European-level communications governance in the postwar era, Michalis offers a single, comprehensive, and up-to-date account of telecommunications and television policies and regulation and their technological convergence.