Open Access Comparative Research on Urban Political Conflict: Policy Amidst Polarization

Abstract: Based on field research in politically contested cities in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, this paper pro-vides a methodological guide to analyzing urban policy in jurisdictions with multiethnic conflict. It seeks to stimulate the intellectual development of comparative conflict studies by illuminating the issues involved in cross-national urban re-search in troubled settings of ethnic conflict and fragmentation. It describes why scholars must be clear in articulating the types of cities under study and how a specific analytic “lens ” can be used to gain access to wider issues of urban govern-ance and policymaking in divided societies. Key urban ethnic conditions- territoriality/control over land, distribution of economic benefits and costs, access to policy-making, and group identity- are described in terms of how they can facili-tate or impede the movement toward peaceful co-existence. The paper positions the “city ” not as a unitary actor but one that is internally differentiated and externally linked. A comparative analytic framework (“scaffolding”) for cross-national research on urban conflict is then presented. Finally, empirical vignettes from eight contested cities in Spain, the forme