Social Entrepreneurship and the City - A comparative analysis of municipal support policies and governance mechanisms in three European cities

Despite the contributions of social enterprises to social integration, economic development and resilience, support from public institutions is regarded unsatisfactory across Europe. This paper investigates the potentials of city administrations’ cooperation with and support for so-cial entrepreneurship, exploring dynamics between these actors in three European cities. Uti-lizing an exploratory qualitative approach, we conducted 16 semi-structured interviews in Hamburg, The Hague, and Vienna, complemented by policy document analysis. Our findings reveal divergent municipal support strategies: On the one hand, both the Hague and Hamburg present two distinct versions of more centralized and strategic approaches to municipal sup-port through dedicated institutional entities. On the other hand, Vienna has adopted a decen-tralized approach, emphasizing mainstreaming of social impact across various business forms instead of tailored support for social enterprises and delegating coordination efforts largely to the private ecosystem. Each approach presents unique strengths and institutional tensions within the ecosystem. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of existing potentials for collaboration and the challenges faced by social enterprises in urban settings and holds practical implications for municipal administrations.