European cities are on the rise, and are taking advantage of the opportunities of the European integration and globalization processes. But they also face economic changes, social inequalities, poverty and a new set of constraints. Taking examples through the European Union, European Cities
explores the impact of the transformation of the nation states on cities and the change of local societies and local governments. It argues that new modes of urban governance are emerging, and that cities are becoming collective actors within European governance.
European Cities shows
why and how the bulk of European cities still appear to be original forms of compromise, aggregation, representation of diverse interests, and culture. Different modes of governance are gradually being structured in most middle size European cities despite processes of social exclusion segregation
accompanied by the increased mobility of some citizens. Are Europeans going to invent a new form of institutionalized and territorialized capitalism, of which medium-sized European cities will be one of the pillars and one of the actors ? Failing that, the effects of changing scales could be
expressed as profound transformations of the European urban model.
European Societies Series
Series Editor: Colin Crouch
Very few of the existing sociological texts which compare different European societies on specific topics are accessible to a broad range of
scholars and students. The European Societies series will help fill this gap in the literature, and attempt to answer questions such as: Is there really such a thing as a 'European model' of society? Do the economic and political integration processes of the European Union also imply convergence in
more general aspects of social life, like family or religious behaviour? What do the societies of Western Europe have in common with those further to the east?
This series will cover the main social institutions, although not every author will cover the full range of European
countries. As well as surveying existing knowledge in a way that will be useful to students, each book will also seek to contribute to our growing knowledge of what remains in many respects a sociologically unknown continent.
Part I : European cities within European societies
Introduction
The long history of the European city
Part II : A 'historical interlude for European cities'?
The loosening grip of the state and the redistribution of authority within the European Union: a new set of
parameters to structure modes of urban governance
European cities: a more diverse but robust social structure within eroding national societies
Social and political actors within European cities and the making or urban modes of governance
Cities as incomplete societies: actors and
regulations
Dynamic mayors and restructured City councils
Conclusion
There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.
Patrick Le Galès is at CNRS senior research fellow with CEVIPOF, and associate professor of politics and sociology, Sciences po Paris.
