Most studies of the Arab uprisings and their aftermaths focus on national-level political processes, neglecting changes at the municipal level. The few studies of municipalities that do exist tend to treat municipalities either as corruption-prone institutions exploited by local elites, or else as areas in need of intervention to make them function properly. We argue that municipalities are an overlooked site of political change—both spatially and temporally—that began prior to the uprisings but accelerated in their aftermath. Drawing on original empirical material from Tunisia and Syria between 2007 and 2014, we highlight two changing dimensions of municipal governance: how municipalities have sought to expand their power by stretching into new areas; and how, since the uprisings, municipalities have taken up new regulatory and enforcement roles in the wake of central state retreat.

To support this analysis, we utilize on-the-ground interviews and fieldwork in Tunisia and off-site interviews and aerial analyses of urban growth in northern Syria. We find that, first, city governments are moving into the spaces where national actors are absent, transforming municipalities into spaces for meaningful political engagement (Tunisia) and the allocation of resources (Syria). Second, municipalities have gained greater autonomy in the arenas of service delivery and planning. This increase in municipal power does not represent a break from pre-uprising practices, but rather a continuation and perhaps acceleration of the politicization and expansion of municipal authority that began pre-2011.

大多数关于阿拉伯起义及其后果的研究都集中在国家一级的政治进程上，而忽略了市政一级的变化。很少有关于市政当局的研究倾向于将市政当局看成是当地精英利用腐败倾向的机构，或者将其视为需要干预以使其正常运行的领域。我们认为，市政当局在时空上是政治变化的一个被忽视的地点，无论是在时间上还是在时间上，都始于起义之前，但后来却加速了。借鉴突尼斯和叙利亚在2007年至2014年之间的原始经验资料，我们着重介绍了市政管理的两个不断变化的方面：市政当局如何通过扩展到新的领域来扩大其权力；以及自起义以来如何

为了支持这一分析，我们利用突尼斯的实地采访和实地调查以及叙利亚北部城市发展的异地采访和空中分析。我们发现，首先，市政府正在进入缺少国家行为者的空间，将市政当局转变为有意义的政治参与（突尼斯）和资源分配（叙利亚）的空间。第二，市政当局在服务提供和规划领域获得了更大的自治权。市政权力的增加并不代表着起义前的实践，而是从2011年前开始的市政当局政治化和扩张的延续，甚至可能是加速。