Globalization as reterritorialisation: the re-scaling of urban governance

Summary. In the rapidly growing literatures on globalisatio n, many authors have emphasised the apparent disembedding of socia l relations from their local-territoria l pre-conditions. How-ever, such arguments neglect the relative ly ® xed and immobile forms of territor ial organisation upon which the current round of globalisatio n is premised, such as urban-regional agglomera-tions and territor ial states. This article argues that processe s of reterritor ialisatio nÐ the re-con ® guration and re-scaling of forms of territor ial organisation such as cities and statesÐ constitute an intrinsic moment of the current round of globalisatio n. Globalisatio n is conceived here as a reterritorialisa tion of both socioeco nomic and political-institutional spaces that unfolds simultaneously upon multiple, superimposed geographical scales. The territor ial organisation of contemporary urban spaces and state institutions must be viewed at once as a presupposition, a medium and an outcome of this highly con ¯ ictual dynam ic of global spatial restructuring. On this basis, various dimensions of urban governance in contemporary Europe are analysed as expressions of a politic s of scale that is emerging at the geographical interface between processes of urban restructuring and state territor ial restructuring