Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book seeks to explore the 'aconstitutional' but growing involvement of the European Commission in urban policy matters. It concentrates on answering why, and how, the Commission has ventured into the urban arena. The book focuses on the implementation of one specific European programme, the Community Initiative (CI) URBAN in the United Kingdom (UK) and France. It draws conclusions from the Commission's urban policy experiment and two case studies. The comparative approach explores the relationship between national and European policies in the two Member States. The book explores the policy from the perspective of the four principles of post-1988 regional policy: concentration, programming, additionally and partnership. It aims to gather data and gain the perspective of all levels involved, from the Commission, down to the residents and organisations based in the targeted neighbourhoods.