Energy Transition in Europe | www.energy-cities.eu

Depuis une quarantaine d'années, la financiarisation du capitalisme transforme les économies, les sociétés et les espaces urbains. Ce dossier interroge l'intervention croissante des acteurs, des instruments et des logiques de la finance dans la production urbaine, le rôle de la puissance publique et les conséquences sociales, politiques et spatiales de ces évolutions.

ÉDITORIAL. Trottinette, vélo, scooter, autopartage, VTC… Ces usages alternatifs à la voiture individuelle, souvent basés sur des applications numériques, interrogent le partage de l’espace public, mais aussi l’accessibilité et les libertés individuelles.

On September 22 2013, 50.9% of the Hamburg citizens voted in a referendum for the full remunicipalisation of the energy distribution grids in the city. The referendum was initiated by the citizen’s initiative ‘Our Hamburg – Our Grid’ (OHOG) and constituted the climax of an intense political controversy that lasted for more than three years. Through this vote Hamburg has received international attention and became a flagship example for remarkable civil engagement. In the international best-seller “This Changes Everything” (2014), Naomi Klein sees the driving motive in the people’s ‘desire for local power’. Indeed it is true that under the constitution of the City of Hamburg, a successful referendum has a binding effect, which left the City government no other option than to announce the implementation of the referendum decision and to start the remunicipalisation process immediately after the vote

Far from being an isolated phenomenon, political change seen today in Poland is a symptom of broader trends. All over the world, voters in large cities oppose authoritarian populist parties and initiatives. And, all over the world, they are nowadays more and more likely to be defeated. Has urban politics played its part in bringing about the authoritarian populist wave? What part can it have in bringing it down?