Europeanization and urban policy networks : the impact of EU programmes on cooperation around economic development in Kraków and Glasgow

Abstract

This PhD thesis is the outcome of a research project that has analysed how EU programmes influence cooperation among local economic development actors in European cities. The focus of the research is particularly on the impact of the Europeanization process on urban policy networks. The study is based on a comparative analysis of two European cities, Krakow and Glasgow. In particular, the thesis looks into the impact of EU funds on local actor relations around economic development by analysing the management of EU programmes, participation in EU projects and international city cooperation. The theoretical framework provided is based on analysing five dimensions of the Europeanization process, categorised as institutional, financial, cognitive, rhetoric and symbolic. The study builds on an extensive literature review and involved a range of sources, including a large number of interviews in both cities. The structure of the thesis is based on six main chapters. The first chapter introduces a research problem, puts forward preliminary hypotheses and sets a research design based on the five dimensions of the Europeanization process. In the second chapter we find a literature review, looking at actor relations around economic development in cities, with an emphasis on urban policy networks, and the conceptualised role of Europeanization stimulating cooperation among actors. Chapter three provides a review of the urban dimension in EU policies with respect to policy objectives, funding and policy measures. This is followed by two empirical chapters on Glasgow and Krakow, reviewing the historical, political and institutional contexts, management of EU programmes, participation in EU projects and engagement in inter-city cooperation. The final chapter links the empirical findings with urban theories and Europeanization literature as well as provides conclusions on the five dimensions set out in the theoretical framework. The dimensions of the Europeanization model set out in this dissertation demonstrate that when exposed to EU programmes, European cities tend to develop similar features of cooperation around EU funded economic development, despite their distinct institutional structures and differences in national, historical, cultural and political backgrounds. Similar institutions in the form of partnerships are created around EU funds (institutional dimension), which attract additional funds, both private and public (financial dimension). Actors involved with EU funded projects exchange knowledge and expertise that contribute to the creation of best practices, which become available to all cities in the European Union (cognitive dimension). Consequently, local actors involved with EU programmes start using the same EU language (rhetoric dimension) and apply the same EU symbols (symbolic dimension).