The Politics of the EU Urban Agenda: Mobilising the ‘Right to the City’ for European Governance?

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Urban Agenda for the European Union (UAEU) introduces a new stakeholder mechanism for transnational cooperation on sustainable development. Whilst planners welcome this ‘soft’ urban approach to EU policy, globalisation critics warn of network governance impairing the ‘rights to the city’. Indeed, the experience of EU regional policy cautions promises of subnational participation and proposes differentiated institutional effects of political mobilisation. So, how can the urban mechanisms now contribute to European governance? Conceptualising the UAEU as an evolving political field highlights both the potentials and limitations of governing diversity, thus contributing to the democratic politicisation of transnational urban governance.