1st Edition
Unequal Cities The Challenge of Post-Industrial Transition in Times of Austerity
This seminal edited collection examines the impact of austerity and economic crisis on European cities. Whilst on the one hand the struggle for competitiveness has induced many European cities to invest in economic performance and attractiveness, on the other, national expenditure cuts and dominant neo-liberal paradigms have led many to retrench public intervention aimed at preserving social protection and inclusion. The impact of these transformations on social and spatial inequalities – whether occupational structures, housing solutions or working conditions – as well as on urban policy addressing these issues is traced in this exemplary piece of comparative analysis grounded in original research.
Unequal Cities links existing theories and debates with newer discussions on the crisis to develop a typology of possible orientations of local government towards economic development and social cohesion. In the process, it describes the challenges and tensions facing six large European cities, representative of a variety of welfare regimes in Western Europe: Barcelona, Copenhagen, Lyon, Manchester, Milan, and Munich. It seeks to answer such key questions as:
- What social groups are most affected by recent urban transformations and what are the social and spatial impacts?
- What are the main institutional factors influencing how cities have dealt with the challenges facing them?
- How have local political agendas articulated the issues and what influence is still exerted by national policy?
Grounded in an original urban policy analysis of the post-industrial city in Europe, the book will appeal to a wide range of social science researchers, Ph.D. and graduate students in urban studies, social policy, sociology, human geography, European studies and business studies, both in Europe and internationally.
1. Introduction. European Cities Between Economic Competitiveness and Social Integration, (Roberta Cucca and Costanzo Ranci)
1.1. The Crisis of the "European City Model"
1.2. Disconnected Cities
1.3. The role of Urban Policies
1.4. Plan of the Book
Part I: Urban Trends and Social Tensions: A Comparative View
2. Varieties of Post-Fordist Transitions and Labour Market Inequalities, (Roberta Cucca and Lara Maestripieri)
2.1. Introduction
2.2.The Socio-economic Structure of the Six Cities
2.3. Patterns of Post-fordist Transitions
2.4. Conclusive remarks
3. The Forces of Attraction: Cities Between Flows and Places, (Agostino Petrillo)
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Foreign Direct Investment and Internationalisation
3.3. The Impact of the Crisis
3.4. Hard and Soft Factors
3.5. Highly Skilled Workers: Presence and Demand
3.6. Conclusions
4. The New Social Division of the Urban Space: Gentrification in Times of Economic Crisis, (Yvonne Franz and Rossana Torri)
4.1. Introduction: Moving Beyond the Crisis in the Gentrification Debate
4.2. Setting up the Framework
4.3. Patterns of Gentrification in European Cities
4.4. Final Considerations
5. Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities: The Right Workers for the Wrong Jobs?, (Roberta Cucca and Nathalie Kakpo)
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Immigrants and their children in Barcelona, Copenhagen and Milan
5.3. The rise of a middle-class ethnic minority in Lyon, Manchester and Munich
5.4. Conclusions
Biography
Roberta Cucca is Marie Curie Fellow at the Department of Sociology, University of Vienna. Her main research interests are oriented to: economic competitiveness and social inequalities in contemporary cities; deliberative and participatory democracy; environmental crisis and social vulnerability
Costanzo Ranci is Full Professor in Economic Sociology at the Polytechnic of Milan, Italy. He is Director of Social Policy Research Unit (LPS) and of the International PHD program in Urban Studies at the Polytechnic of Milan. He published extensively on social inequality and welfare policy
