Today cities are both a new subject and a new political space. Cities therefore require a multidimensional perspective, such as the one provided by this book, which uses concepts, interpretive methods and operational approaches pertaining to various disciplines: history and sociology, political science and law, administrative science and urban studies. The text hosts a wide variety of examples, featuring primarily Italian cities but extending to other European contexts as well. The volume is intended for students of sociology, political science and urban planning, but also for politicians and local-level policy-makers.

Contents: Introduction - Part One: The City in the European Space - 1. The Political Renaissance of Cities - 2. From the State System to the Europe of Cities - 3. New Issues in City Government - Part Two: The Public Sphere and the Public Space - 4. The Spatial Dimension of the Public Sphere - 5. Political Spaces - 6. Public Space Policies - Part Three: Urban Democracy Issues - 7. Low-Level Politics: Committees and Neighbourhoods - 8. Mid-Level Politics: Civil Society and Urban Powers - 9. Politics in General: Women's and Men's Cities - Bibliographical References.

Chiara Sebastiani teaches Local Government and Comparative Local Politics art the University of Bologna.