| Abstract: | A comparison of the city development of Munich (Germany) and Birmingham (England) shows the adverse consequences of excluding egalitarian‐minded organizations and perspectives from public decision making. Since the Second World War, Munich has become an economically thriving and beautiful city in which people from all walks of life can feel at home. During the same period of time, Birmingham has struggled economically, socially and aesthetically. Their diverging paths, from quite similar starting positions, can be explained with the help of the argument that in Munich a much more pluralistic policy regime has reigned, whereas in Birmingham egalitarian views have been ignored until very recently. Yet, another attempt at urban revitalization—this time in the multi‐ethnic, impoverished Schilderswijk in The Hague, the Netherlands—illustrates that policy making can also become too egalitarian. An in‐depth study of a municipal attempt to revitalize this neighbourhood reveals that this effort floundered, as it was overly infused with egalitarian concerns and values. |
