Städtische Problemdiskurse

Despite the insistence in interpretive policy analysis that the discursive construction of problems must be understood in terms of its historical and spatial context, it remains an open question how cities provide such a context. We argue that cities as a distinct form of sociation enable certain (discursive) actions, while restricting others. Taking both the interpretive policy analysis’ interest in the social construction of political reality and holistic concepts of approaching the distinctiveness of cities as starting points, we scrutinize how the cities of Frankfurt/Main, Dortmund, Birmingham and Glasgow provide distinct contexts for the construction of local policy problems.