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Europe is in a troubled state. The macroeconomic situation looks grim, national governments are close to dysfunction, and Europeans are facing austerity and relative decline. The one bright spot on the horizon is the potential for positive action at the level of the city and urban regions. In this book, the editors have assembled a collection of original contributions by scholars from Europe, North America and Asia who offer insights as to how local authorities in Europe might be able to chart a course for their city or urban region during this period of extraordinary difficulty.

The volume begins with an Introduction, followed by a set of three papers in Part Two examining European urban competitiveness from the standpoints of measurement and policy. This section also provides a case study of the cities of one country - Italy - from which the reader can gain an understanding of the current position of European cities as well as what might be possible going forward. Experience has shown that perhaps the most crucial element in competitiveness enhancement is good and effective governance. To that end, Part Three examines structural aspects of urban government, including polycentric regions, wide metropolitan cooperation, the role of social actors and territorial aggregation. Part Four treats issues of innovation from two perspectives and provides a case study from Eindhoven, while also covering social issues such as demographics, participation, social exclusion and mobility.

This set of scholarly reflections will be of considerable benefit to urban practitioners, researchers and students of public policy.

Contributors: P. Canonico, C. Donolo, G. Hirsch, M.P. Iacono, D. Ietri, J.-L. Klein, P.K. Kresl, W.F. Lever, E. Mastropietro, D.J. Maurrasse, R. Mercurio, S. Micelli, S. Mollica, P. Ni, A.H.J. Otgaar, J. Shen, J. Sobrino, D.-G. Tremblay, L. van den Berg