ABSTRACT
This chapter represents the conceptual basis for a multi-stage research project that addresses an acute concern of contemporary politics internationally, namely urban areas in the Global South, as settings for group conflict, and as sites for governance efforts and experiments. It aims from a public law perspective to identify strategies to meet challenges of urban transformation and to develop policy initiatives to manage conflict. Can and if so, how far can, the competences from national and/or constituent unit ‘levels’ to the city ‘level’ or the democratization of local government systems be transferred to the sought-for ‘Better City, Better Life’? According to their impact on conflict management amid urban transformation, the principles of subsidiarity and democracy might serve as guidelines in government design. The dependent variable in the success or failure of different strategies of conflict management focused on will remain the degree to which cities pursue a ‘bottom-up’ approach.
