Nik. Brandal is Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Science and International Relations, Oslo New University College. Øivind Bratberg is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo.

• Introduction: The urban dilemmas of the European centre-left – Nik. Brandal and Øivind BratbergPart I: Structural conditions and electoral geography1 Social structures in European cities – Hans Thor Andersen2 Changing social democratic urban-rural cleavages – Jane Gingrich3 Left-left compeition: an urban phenomenon? – Petar Bankov and Dan Keith4 Urban labour markets and trade unions: a review of the challenges and opportunities – Christian Lyhne IbsenPart II: Party strategies5 What and where are urban left mayors delivering in England? – Max Stafford, Georgina Blakeley and Thom Oliver6 The painstaking forging of the liberal left in Polish cities – Anna Paczes´niak 7 The Danish Social Democratic Party and urban voters, 1900-2024 – Niels Wium Olesen and Rasmus M. Mariager8 A social democratic holding strategy? Managing the greening and radicalisation of the left in Oslo – Øivind Bratberg9 Managing multiculturalism in two Swedish cities – Lisa PellingPart III: Mobilisation and the party/movement interface10 Comparing youth mobilisation by the urban centre-left in France and Spain – Mathieu Petithomme11 Competing for the centre-left? Urban German Green Party activists and the party/movement interface – Chantal Sullivan-Thomsett12 Social movements and the left at the subnational level in Central and Eastern Europe – Julia Rone, Ivaylo Dinev, and Karlo Kralj13 Pitching tents and raising walls: Building a progressive alliance in UK cities and beyondConclusion – Nik. Brandal and Øivind Bratberg