European Economic Integration and Urban Inequalities in Western Europe

Recent processes of European integration have influenced profoundly the fortunes of cities across Western Europe. Although some cities have benefited, others have been impacted adversely. Income inequalities result from economic growth differentials occurring between different cities over time. The theoretical literature differs on whether increased integration promotes or reduces income disparities. The European Union (EU) assumes that rising inequalities will impair EU growth and lead to even greater disparities. Empirical analysis has concentrated on the EU-defined regions because of problems of urban data availability and comparability. Using regional data, I identified that the overall level of inequalities changed little for the metropolitan regions between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. Urban disparities were cyclical—decreasing during strong EU growth and increasing in slower growth years. Factors outside direct local government control, including relative location within Europe, reinforced the traditional strong-core—weak-periphery spatial pattern of development. I argue that additional factors specific to cities, such as limited EU urban policy and funding, contributed to overall higher and more sharply rising inequalities since the late 1980s for cities compared with regions. The positive linear relationship between levels of national income and urban disparities has implications for economic polarization within richer member states and for EU efforts to reduce inequalities by raising the level of development in poorer countries.