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The Rise of the Metropolitan City Region? Exploring the Establishment of New Levels of Local Government in England and France

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Book cover Foregrounding Urban Agendas

Part of the book series: The Urban Book Series ((UBS))

Abstract

This article develops a comparative analysis of the recent processes of creation of metropolitan governments for large city regions in two European countries: England and France. We consider the evolutions which led to these reforms which aim at the reorganisation of the sub-national territories of public action. Although coinciding in time, the new forms of metropolitan government are embedded in specific institutional systems. It is our contention that, far from being a response only to the management of city regions, the institution of metropolitan governments is part of a wider project of the national government of the country concerned. Comparative analysis focuses on the motivations of the main actors of metropolitan reforms: government, parliament and local elected officials. Our analysis then focuses on several key issues: Do the reforms carried out constitute a radical change or do they proceed by successive increments? Are there any quid pro quos granted by the state in return for the implementation of metropolitan reforms (for example, greater autonomy and/or financial support)? Finally, we analyse the capacity to act and the spatiality of the new metropolitan governments in both countries.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For England, the number of Combined Authorities taken into account in this article is those which were established by July 2017. For France, we have taken into account here only the 15 métropoles resulting from the loi de modernisation de l’action publique territoriale et d’affirmation des métropoles (law of modernisation of the territorial public action and the affirmation of metropolises) of 2014, leaving aside those that were created in 2017. Indeed, the aim is not to conduct an exhaustive analysis of metropolitan areas, but to compare the national determinants of the implementation of these new levels of government.

  2. 2.

    In 2012, 82% of deputies of the assemblée nationale and 77% of senators held at least one other elected office. The proportion of parliamentarians at the head of a local executive (mayor or chairman of a county or regional council) was 45% for the deputies and 48% for senators. These figures make France an exception in Europe. In Italy, 16% of parliamentarians hold at least one other elected office, 15% in Spain, 13% in Great Britain and 10% in Germany. In January 2014, the French parliament adopted a law prohibiting the combination of local executive functions with a deputy or senator’s post. This law came into force on March 31, 2017.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 7324 Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés, Université de Tours, 33 Allée de Lesseps, 37200, Tours, France

    Christophe Demazière

  2. Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZQ, England, UK

    Olivier Sykes

Authors
  1. Christophe Demazière
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  2. Olivier Sykes
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Correspondence to Christophe Demazière .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Simonetta Armondi

  2. Department of Urban and Spatial Planning, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado

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Demazière, C., Sykes, O. (2020). The Rise of the Metropolitan City Region? Exploring the Establishment of New Levels of Local Government in England and France. In: Armondi, S., De Gregorio Hurtado, S. (eds) Foregrounding Urban Agendas. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29073-3_9

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