Cities and the European Union: Comparing urban Europeanisation in Kraków and Liepāja in the context of the Cities Mission

Abstract

This article compares urban Europeanisation processes in two Eastern European cities in the policy context of the EU’s innovative Cities Mission. Using a novel analytical framework to distinguish vertical (city-to-EU and city-to-national-government) and horizontal (city-to-city and city-to-stakeholder) interactions, and a comparative qualitative case study approach, it is shown how the Cities Mission deepens urban Europeanization processes in Kraków (Poland) and Liepāja (Latvia). This enhances the local governance of the ecological transition through improved public sector coordination, stakeholder engagement and citizen involvement. However, structural barriers such as the limited administrative and financial capacity of cities, lack of ownership over the net-zero transition among municipal actors, and limited prior experience with EU projects, limit the mission’s transformative impact. The article concludes that while the Cities Mission is a promising experiment in multilevel urban climate governance, its transformative potential remains constrained by the capacity of cities to translate enhanced urban Europeanisation into a stronger and more coordinated governance of the ecological transition.