Governance of Europe’s City Regions is a structured overview of current debates on cities and regions. It provides an understanding of trends at different spatial scales and explores a range of different European experiences to consider prospects for the effective governance of city regions. Contrasts arise for different economic and spatial contexts, and from the complex interactions of national, regional and local politics and policy. Governance of Europe’s City Regions examines the trends in regional development and the responses of European scale regional and urban policy, including the changing role of the European Union in regional issues. The authors’ core argument develops a distinction between two types of city region, showing that city regions dominated by a core city face different challenges from those ‘polycentric’ regions that link groups of cities. In addition to these differences, national constitutional contexts constrain regional and local governments, and local political and cultural forces of regional governance influence the effectiveness of the city. Arguments are illustrated with a range of detailed case studies, and in particular taking readers through the complex interactions of regional, national and local scales in England and Germany. Governance of Europe’s City Regions introduces and summarises a wide interdisciplinary literature. It clarifies contemporary debates about regionalism and contributes new insights into the theory of ‘new regionalism’. The authors’ argue that the city region scale continues to be contested, that no single governance model will fit all experiences. They also assert that there is need for a careful appreciation within city regions of the interactions of local institutions, their constitutional context and their economic prospects.