Urban Governance in Europe : the Government of What ?

• Main Authors: Olivier Borraz, Patrick Le Galès
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Métropoles 2010-11-01
• Series: Métropoles
• Subjects: regulation; risk; urban governance
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/metropoles/4297

«Who governs when nobody governs ?» This question is addressed by looking at phenomena that have become characteristic of cities today: violence, crime, immigration, mobility. Answering this question also requires paying more attention to different forms of regulation : state, market, along with cooperative/reciprocal modes of regulation. Risk embodies these different forms : it has become a common way of framing and addressing a wide variety of urban problems, suggesting that to govern is to identify and to manage vulnerabilities through different modes of regulation. Lastly, the question points to the uncertainty that characterizes city borders : these are constantly being redefined both by demographics, urbanization and political reforms.