The Humboldt University of Berlin undertook a studypresenting, synthesizing and discussing recent and currentacademic research on the implementation of URBANin different European countries and cities.The study addresses 3 major issues:> URBAN and governance: impact of URBAN on (national,regional and) local governance structures and dynamics(impact on domestic policy traditions and institutional andadministrative local structures; responses of domestic actorsat all tiers of government to pressure emanating from URBANto adjust existing urban policy contents, patterns andinstruments to EU requirements; translation of EU norms andrequirements into the local context; conflicts and bargainingprocesses between different actors and interest groups, etc.)> URBAN and local empowerment: URBANs potentialto empower the subnational level and local actors (URBANand experimentation with innovative policy approaches,URBAN as a potential opportunity for local residentsto become involved in urban development, etc.)> URBAN as a transnational programme: exchange andpolicy learning offered through the transnational dimensionof URBAN (and URBACT); comparative approaches of URBANexperiences in Northern and Southern Europe, in countriesand cities with longer experience in decentralized andintegrated urban policy making and those with centralized,authoritative and top-down policy traditions, in different citiesin one country; potential learning processes discernablefrom URBAN I to URBAN II. Achievements: Please refer to the 'Description' field, which also includes the achievements of this project.