Citizen involvement-and the concept of partnership-in urban governance has long been a major issue in the transformation of local democracy. The move from delegated to participative forms of local government has, in principle, profound consequences for governance at the scale of cities. However, it is clear that partnership and participation are interpreted in many different ways, according to the traditions of government in different countries. This volume brings together the experience of three countries in which very different approaches to participation are evident: Canada, France and the United Kingdom. By comparing and reflecting on these countries' approaches and the resulting changes in governance, it provides an in-depth analysis of the intentions and effects of involving citizens in policy making. It also highlights innovative new forms of partnership which are emerging within metropolitan areas at a local level. Contents: Metropolitan cities at the crossroads of globalisation and changing politics, Bernard Jouve; The transformation of citizenship and democracy at local and global levels, Jules Duchastel and Raphael Canet, translation by Stuart-Anthony Stilitz; Contemporary cities and the renewal of local democracy, Pierre Hamel; Partnerships and transformation of the state in urban Britain, Gordon Dabinett; London: the Mayor, partnership and World city business, Peter Newman and Andy Thornley; The contradictions of partnership: Sheffield from steel to urban regeneration, Philip Booth; Toronto's reformist regime, municipal amalgamation and participatory democracy, Julie-Anne Boudreau; Municipal reform and public participation in Montreal's urban affairs: break of continuity?, Anne Latendresse; The fight for jobs and economic governance: the Montreal model, Jean-Marc Fontan, Juan-Luis Klein and Benolt Levesque; Putting locally based management to the test in French public policy, Philippe Warin; Participating in development: the case of a public open space in Villeurbanne in the Lyon conurbation, Jean-Yves Toussaint, Sophie Vareilles, Marcus Zepf, Monique Zimmerman, translation by Philip Booth; Local democracy under challenge: the work of the Agora Association in Vaulx-en-Velin, France, Didier Chabenet, translation by John Tittensor; Instituting proximity: the Arrondissements of Paris, Marseille and Lyon since 1983, Melody Houk; Metropolitan democracies: from great transformation to grand illusion?, Bernard Jouve; Index.