The processes of globalisation and European integration are creating new relationships between and within Europe’s cities and regions as old economic activities are destroyed and new ones created. The challenge for cities and regions in the volatile international economy is to respond to increasing inter-locality competition for economic investment whilst addressing increased social polarisation and exclusion.
This module examines the problems faced by Europe’s cities and regions and the role of local authorities, central governments and the European Union in influencing their economic development.
The course is divided into two teaching “blocks”, each of 10 weeks and runs over two terms:
1. The “Entrepreneurial City” which examines competition between Europe’s cities for mobile investment through the development of public - private partnerships, property development, new structures and processes of planning, urban regeneration and place marketing strategies.
2. “Regional Development” which considers regional development in Britain and the European Union and how this may be interpreted as the product of global and / or local factors. The current debate on “regionalism” and devolution in the United Kingdom is also discussed.