The City of Paris, the Laboratoire Techniques, Territoires et Sociétés (LATTS, University Paris-Est) and the Centre d’Etudes Européennes (CEE, Sciences Po) are organizing an international conference about « Governing the Metropolis: Powers and Territories. New Directions for Research » on November 28-30th, 2012.
For this occasion, a call for papers is being launched: Call for papers Governing the Metropolis
Today, large metropolises face a governance challenge, since their political, social, economic and cultural fabrics are embedded in the two major trends of decentralization and globalization. Decentralization, beginning in Europe in the early 1980s and at later points in many other countries of the world, has given more legitimacy and access to local players, local authorities and urban residents, opening up access for actors from the bottom. Globalization has introduced new players such as international or supranational organizations and associations, global firms and multi-national companies, opening up access for actors from the top.
The construction of metropolises has given rise to controversies in academic debate as well as in society as a whole. The conference which will aims at discussing these controversies, particularly – but not exclusively – the four following ones:
1) Can metropolitan regions cope with classic regulation?
2) Does the spatial governance of metropolitan areas require perimeters?
3) Is the development of local democracy compatible with the emergence of a metropolitan democracy?
4) Should the informal sector be institutionalized to reduce metropolitan governance failures?
For further information and details on the conference and this call for papers, visit the websites:
http://governingthemetropolis.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/welcome-bienvenue
http://www.paris.fr/gouvernerlesmetropoles
Email your papers at: governingthemetropolis@paris.fr => New deadline: April 30th