Varieties of city regionalism and the quest for political cooperation: a comparative perspective

Abstract

Urban theorists forecast greater political cooperation within city regions in response to globalization, yet signs of this remain relatively scant in Western Europe and North America. This article helps to explain the gap between theory and reality, as well as suggesting another way of looking at the comparative politics of city regions. The central argument: theorists are correct about the renewed importance of regional politics, but wrong about the importance of intergovernmental political cooperation. Local governments have other ways of pulling together for compelling metropolitan-wide objectives. This is done through processes of political coordination − institutionalized systems of mutual adjustment. Pluralist, associational and macropolitical varieties of political coordination among cities and suburbs empower them to act regionally without much governmental innovation. Each process has specific political limitations, however. They also influence the prospects for political cooperation among governments. Cases in New York, north-central Italy and Holland illustrate this perspective.