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The political dimension of the European City is a product of its embedding in the national welfare state and a far-reaching capacity to act within a stable national context. This capacity to act is based on the fact that cities and municipalities receive national funds and have the autonomy to determine up to a certain degree how these funds are used. Thus, cities can determine their politics and developments (see Kazepov, 2005). In addition, the inclusion in the supranational system of the European Union strengthens the capacity to act because secondary to national funding, cities can also strive for European funds and use these for their development. Symbols for the municipal autonomy and the far-reaching capacity to act are local investments in infrastructure, water supply, public housing and urban planning:

European Cities have (had) the legal competences and the possibility to create and implement a local welfare state and determine the course of their policy. Also in a similar way the creation of modern urban planning instruments during the 19th century in European cities can be understood as a demonstration of municipal autonomy and the political idea to «restrain» market forces and obtain a coordinated development on the local level (Koch 2011).