Throughout Europe, cities and regions have launched on a path of competitive redevelopment by means of a variety of strategies, ranging from large-scale mega developments and integrated action plans to community- based local re-conversion efforts. These schemes are spread over the European urban and regional landscape, operating in a variety of regulatory, political and socio-economic contexts, welfare regimes and public policy frameworks and combine private and public initiatives and finances in a great diversity of institutional framework. However, they are comparable in the sense that they are inserted in and grapple with epochal global trends and attempt to re-assert their position in the new global economic competitive climate and its associated technological, cultural and social transformations. Each of these produces a series of profound mechanisms of exclusion/integration and, at the end of the day, it is such activities, which shape or moderate the process of polarization and exclusion itself.

Cities have been positioning themselves in this 'new urban hierarchy' through the marketing strategies and construction of new images. This has taken place by many cultural activities and symbols all of which try to enhance the European world ranking of cities.

Dublin as the national capital and primate city in Ireland has produced both renaissance flagship urban development projects and socio-spatially excluded communities in the drive to modernise and compete with other comparable cities in the newly emerging urban hierarchy of the European Union. The CHDDA International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Urban Regeneration project is one of the main projects designed to enhance the city's image and competitive position in the international urban arena. The urban renewal act of 1988, set out a process for model of regeneration in Dublin. With 23 property developers and 30 urban planners many changes were made to the city of Dublin. Since the 1980's Dublin has turned around and has been extremely successful from investments and has become a magnet for tourists.

There is not a single urban hierarchy in Europe. Rather there are a number of overlapping hierarchies, which centre on particular functions.... Each urban area is in competition with a range of others according to the economic function and the sphere of influence - global, national, or regional - at which it performs its specialisms (Commission of the European Community, 1994, p. 44).

Policy tools can be applied in various combinations to manage change in practice and to attempt to achieve sustainable development. The development and implementation of city-wide environmental strategies and action plans require effective community participation and partnership mechanisms, as called for in the Local Agenda 21 programme. Local Agenda 21 is essentially a strategic process of encouraging and controlling sustainable development. The development, management and implementation of this process requires all the skills and tools that can be brought to bear by a local authority and its community.

The most generic procedure put forward by the Ministere de la Ville and the Delegation Interministerielle a la Ville is the Contrat de Ville (CDV). The main objective of this procedure is to combat urban exclusion at the level of "priority-targeted" neighbourhoods and at the level of the agglomeration on the other. Actions for social assistance aiming at improving daily life as well structural actions involving large-scale urban operations (roads, improvement of the housing stock) are launched.

Some common words found in the essay are:
European Community, Throughout Europe, Western Mediterranean, Newman Thornley, European Communities, Local Agenda, Urban Regeneration, Ville CDV, Dublin Lille, Quays Smithfield, urban hierarchy, european urban, positioning themselves, cities positioning themselves, cities positioning, commission european, olympic games, regeneration project, european funding, local agenda 21, competition european, european community 1994, economic activities, commission european community, sustainable development development,
Approximate Word count = 2165
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)