Growing Apart: cities, nations and the future of Europe

Europe’s cities and nations have long been uneasy partners. As the challenges of the 2020s mount — from political polarisation to aging populations to climate change — relations between urban and national governments in Europe are coming under increasing pressure. City leaders seem ever more ready to take a stand against national governments on questions like housing policy (Lisbon), LGBT rights (Italy), public finances (Paris), or democracy (Hungary and Poland).

This event asks how urban-national political relationships have evolved in Europe in recent decades; what new tensions and alliances are emerging; and what role cities can play in shaping the direction of national and continental politics.

Ben Rogers, Director of the European Cities Programme at LSE Cities, will be joined by Aziza Akhmouch, Head of Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development at the OECD and Neil Lee, Professor of Economic Geography at the LSE, to reflect on the shifting balance of power between European cities and nations, and what this means for Europe’s future.