ABSTRACT
A wide movement directed towards creating the policy structures needed for gender mainstreaming in city building in Europe seems to be developing slowly. Some of the main issues dealt often interpreted as trade-offs by both policymakers and academics. A first such issue relates to policy processes and it points at how gender mainstreaming is often used as a substitute for positive action measures, rather than as an additional and complementary policy approach. A second one relates to the possible trade-offs between the substantive objectives of gender action in city building, as gender strategic interests of emancipation can appear to run counter to the more practical interests of improving daily life for women. Thirdly, integrating diversity, or 'intersectionality', should not mean the disappearance of gender policy within a wider diversity agenda. Possible trade-offs can also appear when environmental sustainability is considered, and when issues of effectiveness and scale are taken into account.
