The financial crisis of 2008 and its repercussions on the real economy have shown that Europe's former industrial cities must reinvent themselves to continue to prosper.

Ex-industrial cities today face two major challenges: less public investment and a more restrained use of natural resources. Therefore infrastructures, buildings, public spaces must be reused to retain existing residents and attract new populations that can promote positive territorial development.

Cities for a Small Continent is the result of ten years of intensive research focused on struggling former industrial cities in Europe. Anne Power provides a concrete and in-depth look at life in these cities that managed to recover in the 1990s but had to deal with the economic crisis of 2008 and its aftermath. She decodes the political decisions and economic strategies that have allowed these cities to rise from their ashes like the mythological phoenix. She analyses the beneficial effect of public-private collaboration and highlights the impact of cluster strategies. She stresses the importance of these cities’ industrial legacy and their history of invention and engineering prowess, now driving technological innovation to gain a foothold in the global economy.

What does the future hold for these cities at the beginning of this new industrial revolution? The book provides some clues. Their strength depends on their leadership, their shared vision, their flagship infrastructure, and their leading-edge innovations in green technology, renewable energy and social enterprise.

Anne Power offers thought-provoking insights into the role of cities in the world to come. This book is timely. Cities are the main users of fossil fuels and the main emitters of greenhouse gases, but they must become the new solution in the fight against climate change. They will play a leading role in the transition to a low-carbon society. The value of this book lies in providing concrete and convincing arguments in favour of this exacting transition.