First published in 1998, this collection of essays compares the implementation of urban policies in 15 different countries across the European Union, with most articles' contributors hailing from their subject nation. The contributors include experts in geography and spatial, town, transport and urban planning, and their contributions reflect fundamental changes in the economy, technology, demography and politics of European towns and cities. They ask four main questions: what the urban development pattern is, what administrative and financial relations between national authorities and cities exist, which issues the national authorities consider to be prominent and how this impacts on the national urban planning policies. Through the provision of national perspectives, they ask what can be learned through the comparison of how each region has tailored its perspective and strategy.

Leo Van Den Berg, Erik Braun, Jan Van Der Meer

1. Research Framework. 2. Austria. Herbert Purschke. 3. Belgium. Guido De Brabander. 4. Denmark. Christian Wichmann Matthiessen. 5. Finland. Eero Hostila. 6. France. Alain Sallez. 7. Germany. Klaus R. Kunzmann. 8. Greece. Koustautinos Efthimiou and Theodossios Psihogios. 9. Ireland. Michael J. Bannon and Mary Grier. 10. Italy. Ilaria Bramezza. 11. Luxembourg. Leo van den Berg, Erik Braun and Jan van der Meer. 12. The Netherlands. Leo van den Berg, Erik Braun and Jan van der Meer. 13. Portugal. Nuno Portas, Álvaro Domingues and Alberto Laplaine Guimarãis. 14. Spain. Oriol Nel.lo. 15. Sweden. Jan-Evert Nilsson. 16. The United Kingdom. Michael Parkinson. 17. Synthesis. Leo van den Berg, Erik Braun and Jan van der Meer.