It is worth distinguishing social exclusion from social isolation, definingsocial isolation as the phenomenon of non-participation (of anindividual or group) in a society’s mainstream institutions, whilereserving ‘social exclusion’ for the subset of cases in which socialisolation occurs...

Europe is a continent of cities with a remarkable history of cultural inspiration, wealth creation, social and politicaldynamism. But in the late-20th century, many former industrial cities entered a period of steep decline, losingmost of their manufacturing jobs and many of their economic...