Urban politics is shaped by a deep tension: some citizens welcome ambitious new projects, while others seek to protect the physical qualities that make their neighbourhoods distinctive. These conflicts affect housing affordability, environmental sustainability, and cities’ capacity to adapt to climate challenges. Because decisions about land use are largely made in local democratic arenas, public sentiment plays a central role. Yet, despite extensive knowledge about support or opposition to individual proposals, we still lack a general theory of why citizens resist urban development within their own city.
POLICITY fills this gap by advancing a new theoretical model—local preservationism—which explains opposition to new projects as rooted in a sincere attachment to the look, feel, and character of local urban environments. This perspective moves beyond strategic explanations to highlight how everyday emotional and aesthetic commitments shape political behaviour.
The project develops innovative approaches to measure opposition to development. It combines large-scale surveys with survey and quasi-experimental designs, as well as coordinated cross-city studies in Western Europe and the United States. Empirically, POLICITY will generate an treasure trove of data on citizen opposition to urban development, documenting how a desire to preserve local environments forms, how it evolves over time, and how it varies across cities. All data will be made publicly available at the end of the project.
Finally, POLICITY will offer practical insights for policymakers, community organisations, and developers. It will clarify why citizens resist specific projects, identify ways to design proposals that reduce conflict, and explain why some cities find it easier than others to accommodate urban growth.
