Increasing population movements from the countryside to cities have thrown the spotlight on urban and rural local governments. The biggest questions now concern the impact of urbanisation and the depopulation of rural areas. How can local governments cope and how do they finance local public services? Does merging local governments entail efficiency gains? Does inter-municipal cooperation make sense? The EU-funded LoGov project will answer these questions. Specifically, it will identify, evaluate, compare and share practices in five major local government areas (local responsibilities, finances, government structure, intergovernmental relations and people’s participation). It will also conduct a comparative analysis that draws on findings from 17 countries on six continents.