IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v61y2024i10p1891-1914.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local policy-making within the multilevel system: A study of governance in peripheral(ised) medium-sized cities undergoing socio-economic transformation in Saxony, Germany and Lower Silesia, Poland

Author

Listed:
  • RafaÅ‚ Gajewski

    (University of Gdańsk, Poland; Projekty Miejskie, Poland)

  • Robert Knippschild

    (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Germany; Technische Dresden Universität, Germany)

Abstract

Our motivation for undertaking this research was to verify the scope and results of public policies aimed at supporting peripheralised medium-sized cities, and to check how these policies have been perceived by stakeholders within these cities. We selected the Polish-German borderland as a case region for this, primarily due to a particular concentration of cities experiencing the detrimental effects of socio-economic transformation. These are also cities exposed to the consequences of radicalising political discourse. We chose two pairs of cities comparable to centres behind the border: Bautzen and Görlitz (located in East Saxony), as well as Zgorzelec and Jelenia Góra (the western part of Lower Silesia). We assumed peripheralisation, left-behind places and multilevel governance to be the theoretical frameworks to capture the dynamics of processes taking place within such peripheral(ised) medium-sized cities. Our main research objective was to investigate the way the public authorities have been navigating their respective paths within the multi-level urban development / regional policy systems. The main conclusion of the research is the low institutional capacity among the public authorities in the given cities to allow them to be able to reverse negative trends.

Suggested Citation

  • RafaÅ‚ Gajewski & Robert Knippschild, 2024. "Local policy-making within the multilevel system: A study of governance in peripheral(ised) medium-sized cities undergoing socio-economic transformation in Saxony, Germany and Lower Silesia, Poland," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(10), pages 1891-1914, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:10:p:1891-1914
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980231221085
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980231221085
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00420980231221085?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Knippschild & Constanze Zöllter, 2021. "Urban Regeneration between Cultural Heritage Preservation and Revitalization: Experiences with a Decision Support Tool in Eastern Germany," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-12, May.
    2. Lewis Dijkstra & Hugo Poelman & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2020. "The geography of EU discontent," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(6), pages 737-753, June.
    3. McCarthy, Jack & Bonnin, Christine & Meredith, David, 2018. "Disciplining the State: The role of alliances in contesting multi-level agri-environmental governance," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 317-328.
    4. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Neil Lee & Cornelius Lipp, 2021. "Golfing with Trump. Social capital, decline, inequality, and the rise of populism in the US," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 14(3), pages 457-481.
    5. John Harrison & Mercedes Delgado & Ben Derudder & Isabelle Anguelovski & Sergio Montero & David Bailey & Lisa De Propris, 2020. "Pushing regional studies beyond its borders," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(1), pages 129-139, January.
    6. Kemeny, Thomas & Storper, Michael, 2020. "Superstar cities and left-behind places: disruptive innovation, labor demand, and interregional inequality," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103312, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Javier Terrero-Davila & Neil Lee, 2023. "Left-Behind vs. Unequal Places: Interpersonal Inequality, Economic Decline, and the Rise of Populism in the US and Europe," LIS Working papers 859, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    2. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Lewis Dijkstra & Hugo Poelman, 2024. "The Geography of EU Discontent and the Regional Development Trap," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 100(3), pages 213-245, May.
    3. Adamiak, Czeslaw & Rodriguez-Pose, Andres & Churski, Pawel & Dubownik, Anna & Pietrzykowski, Maciej & Szyda, Barbara & Rosik, Piotr, 2024. "Places that matter and places that don't: territorial revenge and counter-revenge in Poland," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126536, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Maria Greve & Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2023. "Long‐term decline of regions and the rise of populism: The case of Germany," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(2), pages 409-445, March.
    5. Cerqua, A. & Ferrante, C. & Letta, M., 2021. "Electoral Earthquake: Natural Disasters and the Geography of Discontent," GLO Discussion Paper Series 790, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Sebastien Bourdin & André Torre, 2023. "Geography of contestation: A study on the Yellow Vest movement and the rise of populism in France," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 214-235, January.
    7. Richard Crisp & David Waite & Anne Green & Ceri Hughes & Ruth Lupton & Danny MacKinnon & Andy Pike, 2024. "‘Beyond GDP’ in cities: Assessing alternative approaches to urban economic development," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(7), pages 1209-1229, May.
    8. Luise Koeppen & Dimitris Ballas & Arjen Edzes & Sierdjan Koster, 2021. "Places that don't matter or people that don't matter? A multilevel modelling approach to the analysis of the geographies of discontent," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 221-245, April.
    9. Camilla Lenzi & Giovanni Perucca, 2021. "Not too close, not too far: Urbanisation and life satisfaction along the urban hierarchy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(13), pages 2742-2757, October.
    10. Niembro, Andrés & Calá, Carla Daniela, 2024. "Regional structural change in Argentina (1996-2019): Concepts, measurements and unequal trajectories over the business cycle," Nülan. Deposited Documents 4106, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    11. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Neil Lee & Cornelius Lipp, 2021. "Golfing with Trump. Social capital, decline, inequality, and the rise of populism in the US," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 14(3), pages 457-481.
    12. Kamila Bednarz-Okrzynska, 2024. "Evolution of Determinants of Regional Development in Selected European Union Countries," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 1238-1247.
    13. Bauluz, Luis & Bukowski, Pawel & Fransham, Mark & Lee, Annie Seong & López Forero, Margarita & Novokmet, Filip & Breau, Sébastien & Lee, Neil & Malgouyres, Clément & Schularick, Moritz & Verdugo, Greg, 2023. "Spatial wage inequality in North America and Western Europe: changes between and within local labour markets 1975-2019," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121290, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. repec:osf:socarx:nkydt_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Glückler Johannes & Wójcik Dariusz, 2023. "Seven Years of Brexit: Economic Geographies of Regional De- and Recoupling," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 67(2-3), pages 67-75, August.
    16. Dylan Shane Connor & Michael Storper, 2020. "The changing geography of social mobility in the United States," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(48), pages 30309-30317, December.
    17. McNeil, Andrew & Luca, Davide & Lee, Neil, 2023. "The long shadow of local decline: Birthplace economic adversity and long-term individual outcomes in the UK," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    18. Lars Mewes & Leonie Tuitjer & Peter Dirksmeier, 2024. "Exploring the variances of climate change opinions in Germany at a fine-grained local scale," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    19. Annie Tubadji & Thomas Colwill & Don Webber, 2021. "Voting with your feet or voting for Brexit: The tale of those stuck behind," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 247-277, April.
    20. Panagiotis Artelaris, 2021. "Regional economic growth and inequality in Greece," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 141-158, February.
    21. Richard Grieveson & Michael Landesmann & Olga Pindyuk & Maryna Tverdostup, 2024. "Ukraine’s reconstruction in the context of EU accession," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 50(2), pages 45-86.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:10:p:1891-1914. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.