Metropolitan, because we believe that metropolitan regions, organized around one or more large cities, are the new structuring units of our societies. Whereas traditional divisions – State, city, countryside… - lose part of their pertinence, the growth of mobility and networks of activities and systems of production draw new territories. All over the world, new boundaries cross the inner cities, the suburbs and rural areas. Describing and reflecting on the complexity of the relationship between the city and its environment is a crucial step towards a better understanding of a globalized society.
Political, because these questions are not only reserved to experts. Planning, design, construction, management and uses of space are everybody’s problem. Metropolitan territories gather a formidable concentration of economic, cultural and human resources, but they also yield social inequalities. Various forms of poverty and exclusion develop, which traditional policy tools don’t seem to tackle. But exploratory answers and actions emerge. They call for new modes of democratic inclusion in which, urbanites, professionals and elected officials take charge of their problems (employment, housing, mobility, education, energy…).
European, because emerging law and transfers of experience are more and more defined at the scale of Europe. And beyond Europe, this scope helps to address questions coming from other regions of the world.
What will you find on metropolitics.eu ? We hope to contribute to public debate by publishing spatial approaches of contemporary social questions. Everyday, the site will offer general papers, texts about specific questions and op-eds exposing individual points of view. We will discuss current projects (laws, urban planning and design, etc.) and inform on a variety of urban experiments. We will also keep track of research news, and controversies. Everyone is invited to submit their contribution.
The Editorial staff
