Urban development through the EU: European urban policy and URBAN-approach in the area of conflict of the Lisbon Strategy and the Leipzig Charter

This paper discusses recent developments and the current state of EU urban policy against the backdrop of the Lisbon strategy and the Leipzig Charter, drawing for purposes of illustration on the URBAN initiative to revitalise disadvantaged urban areas. In contrast to the Lisbon process, which shifted the focus unmistakably to "strengthening competitiveness'; the Leipzig Charter - hatched during Germany's presidency of the EU - stresses the need to promote socially integrative urban development. Notwithstanding this conflict, the author argues that the real key to understanding European urban policy is "governance", i.e. changes in forms of municipal steering and control.