The Future Is Urban: The Progressive Renaissance of the City in EU Law
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THE FUTURE IS URBAN: THE PROGRESSIVE
RENAISSANCE OF THE CITY IN EU LAW
Maartje De Visser*
Abstract: For much of the European integration process, local authorities
have been on the legal margins. Yet many amongst this group, and cities in
particular, consider themselves as important players in realising the Union's
overarching policy objectives. This view is slowly but surely finding traction
with the EU's political institutions. This article suggests that the future
architecture of the European Union's (EU's) operating system will evince a
rapprochement between the socio-economic clout of local authorities, notably
cities, and their legal-political recognition at Union level. It further suggests that
there is room for greater conceptual clarity along two lines when interrogating
the future of the vertical axis of the Union's governance structure. First, the
local tier should be disaggregated, with cities treated as a distinct subset of
the category of subnational authorities that warrant attention in their own
right. Second, the relationship between the EU and cities should be dissected
further to develop a more fine-grained map of the possible ways in which both
levels interact and the norms and incentives that shape those interactions.
To this end, a six-fold taxonomy is developed that covers cities in their guise
as (i) implementation agents; (ii) value communities; (iii) front-line decision-
makers; (iv) democracy enhancers; (v) policy developers; and (vi) advocates
of urban interests in EU decision-making. Finally, this article addresses the
methodological implications of an urban turn in European legal scholarship.
Keywords: local authorities; cities; implementation agents; value
communities; local democracy; policy-making; urban interests
I. Introduction
In a 1991 study that undeniably belongs to the scholarly canon of European
law, Joseph Weiler identified the dynamics that, he argued, had brought about a
radical transformation in the relationship of the then-European Community to its
Member States.' His analysis squarely centred on the architectural dimension of
* Associate Professor, School of Law, Singapore Management University, 55 Armenian Street, Singapore
179943. mdevisser@smu.edu.sg. She is a member of the editorial board of the European Yearbook of
Constitutional Law and works on topics in comparative constitutional law with an institutional/procedural
slant. Her publications have appeared in intemationaljournals such as theAmerican Journal of Comparative
Law, Global Constitutionalism and the Asian Journal of Law and Society. She has further authored two
monographs on EU-law related topics and contributed chapters to more than 20 edited volumes.
1 Joseph Weiler, The Transformation of Europe (1991) 100 Yale Law Journal 2403.
[(2020) 7:2 JICL 389-407]](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jintcl7&div=22&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Future Is Urban: The Progressive Renaissance of the City in EU Law
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