Locating urban issues in german policy-making: Metropolitan regions and urban development policies in a multi-scalar context

Abstract

This contribution explores the emergence and relevance of urban and metropolitan issues in German national policies. In particular, the contribution draws attention to policy shifts, first, toward metropolitan regions in the mid-1990s and, second, toward cities of all sizes in the mid-2000s. Methodologically, the contribution builds on the qualitative-interpretive analysis of policy documents and insights into selected expert interviews. Thereby, the comparison of urban and metropolitan policies in Germany proposes an innovative perspective on the complementarity of metropolitan regions and cities as issues emerging on the political agenda and as actors in the policy-making process. Moreover, analyzing the underlying processes of conceptual and instrumental innovation contributes to understanding the influence of institutional and ideational mechanisms on policy shifts. Theoretically, the analysis reflects on German urban policy-making as a complex process in a multi-scalar system involving communities of practice between academics, applied research institutes, national ministries, federal states’ governments and representatives from the municipal level.