The Role of Subnational Governments in the Cities of Tomorrow. The Urban Agenda for Andalusia

Abstract

During the last decades, a renewed interest in policies geared specifically towards cities has emerged. UN-HABITAT (2014) defines an urban policy as a series of coherent decisions, derived from a deliberative process of coordination, and which brings various stakeholders together around a shared vision and goals, aimed at promoting long-term urban development that is more transformative, inclusive, and resilient. In accordance with this definition, public administrations at national and international level have sought to respond to this renewed interest in cities, but also, and above all, to this new way of understanding urban reality from the perspective of public policies. This has materialised through specific instruments such as urban agendas, which provide a general framework to lay the foundations and offer general guidelines when undertaking intervention in urban areas. The aim of this chapter is to reflect on the role played in general by regions with regard to city policies and, specifically, within the framework of urban agendas. To this end, first, the chapter analyzes the relevance of proposing urban agendas at regional level. In this sense, the definition and measurement of regional capacity are reviewed from the point of view of policies for cities. The second part focuses on the analyses the case of Andalusia in Spain, the country’s first region to develop an Urban Agenda.