Routledge Metropolitan Organising Capacity: Experiences with Organising Major Projects in European Cities (Routledge Revivals)

Published in 1997. The environment of cities has become increasingly competitive. Tradition location factors, that once tied economic activities firmly to particular areas have become less important. Increasingly the ability of a city to anticipate, respond to and cope with internal and external changes is getting attention. Organizing capacity of cities, or of metropolitan regions is becoming indispensible for sustainable economic and social development. The authors have carried out investigations into eight European cities to increase the insight into the practice of organizing capacity. The analysis of the development and implementation of 15 revitalization projects in these cities shows that organizing capacity calls for a new style of entrepreneurial urban management with public and private networking, leadership, long term strategies and organizing political and public support as key concepts. About the Author Leo van den Berg is Director of EURICUR and Professor of Urban Economics and Urban Management at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Erik Braun is a Senior Researcher in EURICUR and Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Jan van der Meer is Associate Director of EURICUR and Associate Professor of Urban Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. The editors have initiated, carried out and contributed to many comparative urban research projects through EURICUR in cities across and beyond Europe. The results of these investigations have been published internationally in the EURICUR-series with Ashgate and in academic journals. Leo van den Berg, Erik Braun and Jan van der Meer have also edited the first volume concerning national urban policies in the EU-countries that was published by Ashgate in 1998 (National Urban Policies in the European Union).