The literature on regional agglomeration suggests that local economic revitalisation is likely to involve a rise in local wages. In the context of urban regeneration, community-oriented policy envisages to improve prosperity among the residential population of deprived neighbourhoods. Yet, due...

Traditional urban policy focuses mainly on redevelopment measures. Germany's Social City programme incorporates urban regeneration with support to local communities in deprived neighbourhoods. We use microdata on household characteristics from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and microdata...

Which Americans experience the worst infrastructure? What are the costs of living with that infrastructure? We measure road roughness throughout America using vertical acceleration data from Uber rides across millions of American roads. Our measure correlates strongly and positively with other...

We study the role of mayoral gender in attracting public funding in Italian municipalities. We exploit a novel administrative dataset containing detailed information on all projects aimed at the digitalisation of local public administrations and funded under Italy's National Recovery and...

We study the role of mayoral gender in attracting public funding in Italian municipalities. We exploit a novel administrative dataset containing detailed information on all projects aimed at the digitalisation of local public administrations and funded under Italy's National Recovery and...

Every year, the State of Regions and Cities report invites us to pause, zoom in, and take stock of where we stand. Europe is often spoken of in broad strokes - the Union, the market, the continent. But the real pulse of Europe is felt locally: in our cities, towns, and regions, where daily life...

We study the reaction of low vs. high-skilled politicians to a reform, approved in Italy in 2011, that introduces stringent individual financial and career sanctions to local administrators who are judged responsible for their municipality’s bankruptcy. To this aim, we leverage exogenous...

January 2025, for the first time in the postwar history of Germany's national parliament, a mainstream political party (the Christian Democratic Union) relied on the support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) to pass a motion. This prompted intense public debate as many Germans worried that...

Nachdem im Deutschen Bundestag Ende Januar 2025 erstmals eine politische Mehrheit mit den Stimmen der AfD zustande kam, sind viele Deutsche besorgt, dass es bald weitergehende Kooperation mit der AfD geben könnte. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht unsere Studie den Stand der Brandmauer in...

As urban overheating increases, adaptation strategies that enhance more comfortable urban spaces are needed. This study presents improvements in the methodological approach of outdoor thermal comfort studies and designs that will help stakeholders address such impacts. It advances in selecting...

In recent years, technological advancements have significantly transformed the public sector, with many institutions embracing digital solutions to enhance service delivery. Romanian city halls are actively incorporating digitalization into their sustainable development strategies, aiming to...

The literature on regional agglomeration suggests that local economic revitalisation is likely to involve a rise in local wages. In the context of urban regeneration, community-oriented policy envisages to improve prosperity among the residential population of deprived neighbourhoods. Yet, due...

This study investigates the effects of smart technologies in urban management on the economic and social dimensions of Brazilian Smart Cities, with a focus on fiscal governance, health, and work. Smart Cities are defined as those that integrate systems, processes, and services through enabling...

Every year, the State of Regions and Cities report invites us to pause, zoom in, and take stock of where we stand. Europe is often spoken of in broad strokes - the Union, the market, the continent. But the real pulse of Europe is felt locally: in our cities, towns, and regions, where daily life...

In 2020, Berlin introduced a rigorous rent-control policy responding to soaring rents by setting a cap on rental prices: the Mietendeckel (rent freeze). The policy was revoked one year later by the German Constitutional Court. Although successful in reducing rents during its duration, the...

Traditional urban policy focuses mainly on redevelopment measures. Germany's Social City programme incorporates urban regeneration with support to local communities in deprived neighbourhoods. We use microdata on household characteristics from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and microdata...

Which Americans experience the worst infrastructure? What are the costs of living with that infrastructure? We measure road roughness throughout America using vertical acceleration data from Uber rides across millions of American roads. Our measure correlates strongly and positively with other...

According to various growth theories, technology is the main factor driving long-run growth and economic convergence. Yet this process is constrained by the features of a country's institutional background. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between economic convergence and...

To fully understand why the European Union is defined by its motto United in diversity, one must look at its regions and cities. This complex network of communities, old and new, full of collective and personal stories, is the beating heart of Europe. As a new political cycle starts for the...