This chapter deals with the vertical linkages as well as the dynamics between the political, institutional and legal environments that we find between national and subnational levels of governance. By ‘vertical linkages’ we refer to collaborative governance arrangements, coordinated efforts and forms of cooperation between national, regional and local arenas. We compare the national and subnational arenas for combating poverty in five European cities (Dortmund, Turin, Radom, Malmö and Glasgow). These cities belong to countries with different welfare traditions but share the common background of being former industrial centers that subsequently had to adapt to ‘post-Fordist’ transitions.