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AbstractCulture is perceived as the main driver of the restructuring of former industrial centres in capitalist societies. Hence, it proves useful to adopt a cultural approach to regional development in different dimensions, that is, culture as a meaning‐making process, a constitutive part of a community's identity, or in an aesthetic sense. The study focusses on culture narratives in two East German old industrial towns. Here, local actors refer to culture both in stories of loss as well as in stories of change. They consider culture as an important part of their development narratives, yet with different aims and outcomes depending on whether they promote an instrumental or functional understanding of culture. As a result, culture narratives can either open up new opportunities and thereby contribute to changes in old industrial towns and de‐peripheralization, or they can foreclose specific development options and lead to further marginalization.

Despite the emphasis of the European Regional Policy on territorial cohesion, regional disparities have been increasing within Europe in the past years. The metropolitan areas in almost all countries are considerably growing while regions outside of agglomerations are stagnating or even declining. Against this background this book aims to provide an understanding of the underlying processes of polarisation and related regional and local policies. This open access volume contributes to the debates about polarisation and regional development by focussing on questions of spatial justice, power distribution and policy transfer. Theoretical and empirically grounded contributions show that European policies are indeed reproducing socio-spatial inequalities instead of challenging them. The book shows further the existing potentials and limits of individuals, economic, political and civil society actors to respond to polarisation on the regional and local level. In this book conceptual thoughts on polarisation, regional policy and regional development are combined with empirical research and resulting implications for policymaking. As such, it is a valuable source for early career students and researchers as well as professionals in the field of regional and economic development, policy consultants, and policy makers.