Divided cities

Governing Diversity

Annika Björkdahl & Lisa Strömbom (red.)

Very rarely has peace and conflict studies been combined with public administration research. Divided Cities – Governing Diversity brings together theories from conflict resolution, public administration, and urban studies to present new theoretical and empirical insights from nine in-depth case studies.

The authors employ the city as a prism to shed light on the complex, multidimensional processes of conflict, segregation, democratization, and governance. They use the city as a diagnostic site for exploring the role of public administration and civil servants in resolving contested issues in divided societies.

The researchers analyse nine multifaceted cases: Toronto, Copenhagen, Malmö, Mostar, Cape Town, Belfast, Jerusalem, Nicosia and Mitrovica – all cities at different stages of conflict and stability and with disparate legacies. The contributors map the tools, strate­gies, and understandings of conflict resolution to be found in each city, and in so doing break new empirical and theoretical ground.