ABSTRACT
European cities have been positioning themselves in recent decades at a historical crossroads. The changes and restructures occurring in their rhythms, densities and landscapes, as well as in their broader to inner cognitive and political and cultural dimensions, have led European urban territories and societies into new types of opportunities and pressures. Corresponding differences, pluralities and common features structuring urban governance in cities like Athens, Marseille, Palermo, Barcelona, Ljubljana, Rome or Lisbon. As a differential social, cultural and geopolitical territory, Southern Europe has its own urban governance specificities that deserve attention. Multiple new urban-driven strategies policies were developed, many with promising degrees of innovation and inclusion, others raising doubts about democratic procedures and cost-effective public deliverance. Urban politics comprehends a vast arena where very different dimensions coexist, ranging from national strongholds to local political communities and to civic neighbourhood, from metropolitan strategic planning to human resources administration, from EU cohesion funding to real estate and swap finance.
