ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book claims that there is need to define the political with respect to planning, considering channels that enable decisions to be reached related to the public infrastructure and services necessary for sustaining the viability of a society within legitimised processes. It underlines that state-initiated and investment-oriented contractual arrangements are evident in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The book discusses the state of exemption created under the pressure of international relations. It shows that when active citizenship is strongly politicised, politics in asymmetrical power structures emerges in association with rhetorically adversarial arguments, which hinder mutuality in participation and therefore the chance for effective solutions. The book summarises institutional changes related to metropolitan governance in three federal states – Canada, Brazil and Germany – Zimmerman questions the aim of institutionalisation at the metropolitan level.
