The Effectiveness of Integral Urban Strategies: Policy Theory and Target Scale. The European URBAN I Initiative and Employment

Integrated urban development strategies are shaping a new policy frame to cope with the complexity of urban problems. This implies multi-level policy mixes involving multiple goals, the collaboration between different actors, and policy theories based on complementarity between different policy tools (and their causal processes). As in other policies, the third aspect has been less analysed. This article studied the theory behind policy mixes developed in the European Union URBAN I Initiative framework and the effects on its employment inclusion goal. The policy theory suggests complementary effects between policy actions oriented toward economic activities and those oriented at increasing employment skills to, in turn, increase residents’ inclusion in the labour market. The quasi-experimental approach applied at the neighbourhood level in Spain showed a moderate influence on employment among the youngest age cohorts and a more evident impact on business density. Nevertheless, evidence concerning the complementarity between actions oriented at improving labour market demand and labour market supply in targeted neighbourhoods suggested in the program theory is less convincing. This exercise showed the methodological challenges in assessing the effectiveness of integral urban initiatives and offered some suggestions regarding the policy theory behind them through a European Union case.