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During the last decade, in many European countries and cities, area-based Urban Development Programmes have been initiated, in response to major problems of poverty and social exclusion. Urban Development Programmes are usually developed in a complex interplay between different governmental levels, and implemented by a wide variety of public and non-public parties. This paper addresses the organisation of these programmes, concentrating in particular on the form and extent of ‘public-public partnership’, i.e. on the role that the different levels of the public administration play, both through the administrative system and through policy-making. The ‘empirical’ basis for the paper consists of case studies, derived from the UGIS project (‘Urban Governance, Social Inclusion and Sustainability,’ a research project financed by the European Commission, DG RTD). The short analysis makes clear that both the model of public administration, in terms of the extent and form of decentralisation, and the presence (or lack) of a national policy framework determine the extent to which UDPs can be planned, approved and implemented at the local level. One of the main findings is that the central influence over UDPs depends more on the urban policy framework of the central government than on the model of public administration of a country. Countries with strong national (regional) urban policies, sufficient decentralisation of public administration to the municipal level and the use of governance methods at the local level open up possibilities for successful UDPs. Without upper-level urban policy frameworks UDPs might be successful as well, but their replicability and the control over their external effects will not be ensured.

The number of inhabitants of the four largest Dutch cities, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, has stabilised since the mid-1980s. This stability in population size, however, hides considerable dynamics in population composition, especially regarding ethnicity, household type and socio-economic status. In this paper, we focus on the influence of international migration and residential migration flows on changing ethnic population structure. A selective residential outflow of natives and influx of foreigners, together with higher natural growth of ethnic minority groups, have contributed to very fast changes in ethnic composition of the four largest Dutch cities. The latest national population forecasts of Statistics Netherlands in December 2004 indicate an ongoing influx of foreign population groups into the Netherlands for the decades to come, despite the recent more restrictive immigration policy. One can expect from this a continuous international migration towards the large Dutch cities in particular. If the observed trend in native outflow continues, the foreign city population will soon cross the 50 per cent mark.

This paper examines the spatial transformation of the city from children’s point of view. Three important daily living domains – children’s outdoor play spaces, leisure centres and caring institutions – are examined. Empirical findings are made from studies in Amsterdam, where new urban developments affecting children are most apparent in the Netherlands. Conclusions show that developments are both diverse and paradoxical. On the one hand, we see processes that progressively contribute towards the exclusion of children from urban public space. Safety considerations underpin these processes heavily. Children’s marginal position in the public domain is further reinforced in the planning and design of new residential areas. Children do not seem to be a factor that merits consideration. On the other hand, never before has so much attention been paid to children. Adults’ efforts to give due consideration to children’s position lead to the creation of many new domains especially created for children. These give children a ‘face’ in the city, but these spaces are characterised by privatisation, institutionalisation and segregation. In the context of the Netherlands it is not altogether clear what shape the future will take, but it seems to be most likely that indicated developments will continue.

Over the past few years, parties on the extreme right of the political spectrum have drawn a surprisingly large number of votes in elections throughout Western Europe, and surprisingly often. What these parties have in common is their aversion to ‘foreigners’, by which they mean anyone who hails from another country. This paper considers whether the presence of foreigners in the immediate surroundings of people's homes is a factor in their decision to cast their vote for any of these parties. It is based on an analysis of data on two elections held in Amsterdam in 1994. The analysis reveals that the presence of Moroccans and Turks, two population groups that are associated with an Islamic lifestyle, in the immediate surroundings of the home actually does increase the support for parties on the extreme right. In contrast, the presence of people from Surinam or the Antilles does not have that effect, while the presence of foreigners from other countries does not have that effect at all.