Remunicipalisation and the prospects for more equitable place-based development

Abstract The last two and a half decades have witnessed a remarkable process of global de-privatisation locally: leading to the term remunicipalisation. There is, however, little research on the extent to which remunicipalisation challenges the inequities and injustices associated with privatisation and dominant neoliberal agendas at urban and regional scales. This paper aims to fill this gap with a two-step analysis of remunicipalisation outcomes. First, we use the Public Futures database to assess its global geography and development implications. Second, we develop a comparative analysis of remunicipalisation in Germany and the UK. This demonstrates the potential contribution of remunicipalisation to alternative place-based development strategies but also its limits in tackling broader spatial and social inequalities. Germany’s decentralised political economy has provided more opportunities for such strategies, while the UK’s overcentralised political economy has been more restrictive. But, even here, determined local agency has used remunicipalisation for progressive ends.