"This proposal aims to support the career development of an experienced researcher, through an interdisciplinary research project that addresses a crucial policy issue of the 21st century, that of urban governance. The research will take an innovative approach to exploring governance of urban regeneration projects in two member states, France and the UK, being examples of countries with contrasting institutional, economic, social and cultural traditions in relation to government and governance.Using an innovative multidisciplinary theoretical framework, the scientific objectives of the research are: to critically analyse mechanisms for urban regeneration governance, including the interaction of private, public and civil society actors; to analyse the impact of these local governance mechanisms in contributing to a more sustainable city in the wider sense, in terms of economic competitiveness, environmental sustainability and social inclusion: that is, the city's objectives of being ‘smart, sustainable and inclusive’ (SSI); and to provide policy and research recommendations from the project for dissemination to a wide audience.The host institution for the researcher is the Triangle Laboratory, based at the Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon. The Laboratory provides the ideal host for the project, offering a strong multidisciplinary environment, a network of international contacts, and an outstanding track record of training researchers. The research training objectives of the proposal are to train the fellow in a new methodology, discourse analysis, which she will then apply to the research; to complement the researcher’s knowledge of urban governance in the UK with in-depth understanding of the case in France, and thus to develop a cross-national comparative perspective; to participate in seminars and other events organised by the Laboratory; and to interact and collaborate with international scholars from different disciplines in areas of mutual interest."