This book explores sub-municipal units' (SMU) role in decision making, decentralized institutional innovation, social innovation and, in rural areas, service delivery. Focusing on fourteen European countries, the book examines the impact of political cultures, administrative traditions and local government systems on the functioning of the SMUs. An under-explored topic in the literature, this book provides a comprehensive, comparative European, thematically broad, descriptive book on sub-municipal governance.

The interest in urban governance and policy is growing, namely in the proposed interconnection with innovation policies. This book fills a gap by contributing to a new understanding of urban innovations. The authors treat the subject in an original manner, particularly given the methodological approach. Innovation is a heated topic and is taught widely in management studies, economic geography and development studies. The value of this book is its empirical cases that enrich our understanding of a growing topic. This book will be particularly relevant for the analysis of local policy systems and for the broader field of urban studies, urban planning and urban geography.

The interest in urban governance and policy is growing, namely in the proposed interconnection with innovation policies. This book fills a gap by contributing to a new understanding of urban innovations. The authors treat the subject in an original manner, particularly given the methodological approach. Innovation is a heated topic and is taught widely in management studies, economic geography and development studies. The value of this book is its empirical cases that enrich our understanding of a growing topic. This book will be particularly relevant for the analysis of local policy systems and for the broader field of urban studies, urban planning and urban geography.

This book explores sub-municipal units' (SMU) role in decision making, decentralized institutional innovation, social innovation and, in rural areas, service delivery. Focusing on fourteen European countries, the book examines the impact of political cultures, administrative traditions and local government systems on the functioning of the SMUs. An under-explored topic in the literature, this book provides a comprehensive, comparative European, thematically broad, descriptive book on sub-municipal governance.