Urban-regional governance in the European Union; Practices and Prospects

This book deals with developments at the subnational level in EU countries. It focuses on emerging patterns of co-operation between cities and regions, the two 'power houses' in subnational governance. Jacques Delors' vision of the 'Europe of the Regions' has furthered the prestige of the region in Europe, buth this has not diminished the role of the city in European culture, politics and wealth-creation. Strenghening the region is not always detrimental to the city, nor is it always the other way around. The policy strategies that cities and regions adopt are not necessarily zero-sum games. They can in fact be zero-plus games and build on co-operation, as some case studies in this book illustrate. Urban-regional cooperation can be worth while, but it does not come easily. It has to be actively created, with cities and regions both playing their part. This is the lesson that can be learnt from the case studies presented in this book. The case studies have been sought in four types of EU state: decentralised unitary states, centralised unitary states, regionalised states and federalised states. The case studies are drawn from the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Greece, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium and Germany.