ABSTRACT
This final chapter synthesises the main trends and developments with regard to national urban policies in the 15 ‘old’ member states of the EU. What is the state of the art concerning national urban policies and what has changed since 1997? The basis of this synthesis is an extensive comparison of the 15 national reports written by experts from the member states. The comparative investigation should lead to answers to the following questions:
What do national and regional authorities consider to be major issues for a desired development of ‘their’ larger cities?
What important changes have recently taken place in national policy responses to cope with these major issues?
What role is attributed to European policy with respect to urban development and urban policy-making?
