Europe's urban areas are home to over two-thirds of the EU's population. They account for about 80 % of energy use and generate up to 85 % of Europe's GDP.
These urban areas are the engines of the European economy and act as catalysts for creativity and innovation throughout the Union. But they are also places where persistent problems, such as unemployment, segregation and poverty, are at their most severe.
Urban policies therefore have wider cross-border significance, which is why urban development is central to the EU's Regional Policy.
The various dimensions of urban life – environmental, economic, social and cultural – are interlinked and success in urban development can only be achieved through an integrated approach. Measures concerning physical urban renewal must be combined with those promoting education, economic development, social inclusion and environmental protection. Strong partnerships are necessary between local citizens, civil society, industry and various levels of government.
Such an approach is especially important, given the seriousness of the challenges European cities currently face, ranging from green and digital transitions, specific demographic changes, the inclusion of migrants and refugees, to the consequences of economic stagnation in terms of job creation and social progress, and to the impact of climate change.
The response to these challenges is critical for achieving the objectives envisaged as part of the European Green Deal and other Commission priorities.
The 2014-2020 period put the urban dimension at the very heart of Cohesion Policy. More than EUR 115 billion of ERDF resources was invested in urban areasm with around EUR 17 billion from the ERDF were directly allocated to integrated strategies for sustainable urban development. More than 900 cities were empowered to implement these integrated strategies for sustainable urban development.
Cohesion Policy in the 2021-2027 period will continue to invest in all regions and the European Commission has put forward a simpler and more flexible framework to better reflect the reality on the ground.
There is a focus on five policy objectives around a (1) Smarter, (2) Greener, (3) Connected, and (4) Social Europe, and a new cross-cutting objective (5) to bring Europe closer to citizens by supporting locally developed integrated territorial development strategies across the EU.
Cohesion Policy will continue to support integrated territorial and local development strategies and empower urban authorities and territorial bodies in the management of the funds, while requiring strong local partnerships with relevant stakeholders. The urban dimension of Cohesion Policy has been strengthened, with 8% of the European Regional Development Fund at national level dedicated to sustainable urban development strategies. Territorial tools, namely Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI), Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) and other territorial tools will be deployed to implement these strategies.
The European Urban Initiative (EUI) is the EU instrument supporting urban areas of all sizes with innovative actions, capacity and knowledge building on sustainable urban development. The initiative is focused on:
Portico, the gateway to urban learning, is the knowledge sharing and community platform for sustainable urban development in the EU powered by EUI. The platform provides easy access to the latest knowledge and practical resources from diverse partners supporting EU Cohesion Policy for just, green and productive cities. It will also host the Portico Community, providing networking and peer exchange opportunities for urban practitioners across the EU.
The previous period’s Urban Innovative Actions and Urban Development Networkwill be embedded in the EUI. The support of the Urban Agenda for the EU will also take place under this initiative.
Benefits of the EU's Regional Policy for cities or about Cohesion Policy in your Member State.
The Urban Agenda is an integrated approach to dealing with EU and national policies and legislation that relate to urban areas. It seeks to improve quality of life by focusing on concrete priority themes within dedicated Partnerships.
The Urban Agenda is a new working method that aims to:
Concretely, Partnerships are set-up around priority themes with European and urban relevance. Within these Partnerships, urban challenges are identified and solutions are recommended through action plans (these are addressed to the EU, the Member States and the cities). The action plans will contain actions and examples of good projects to be scaled-up and transferred across the EU. Actions could be a proposal to amend an EU Directive, proposal linked to the implementation of structural funds, reinforcing cooperation on shared issues, or a project that worked well and that could be scaled-up/ transferred etc.
The Urban Agenda for the EU should lead to:
All stakeholders are invited to contribute to the Urban Agenda for the EU.
This includes you! Join the community and make your voice heard.
You can sign up sign upto the newsletter or visit the website: Urban Agenda for the EU
Learn more in our brochure:
Urban agenda for the EU Multi-level governance in action
See how the Commission helps cities achieve EU objectives. Learn how cities can gain and share knowledge. Get information on funding and other support.
A one-stop-shop of EU policies for Cities
URBACT is a European exchange and learning programme promoting sustainable urban development. It integrates economic, social and environmental dimensions and enables cities to work together to develop new, pragmatic and sustainable solutions to major urban challenges.
The European Union launched the International Urban Cooperation Programme (IUC) in 2016. In 2021 the programme was extended to regional authorities and additional countries. The International Urban and Regional Cooperation Programme (IURC) entails cooperation on common urban and territorial challenges, with particular attention to the green and digital transitions and the inclusive post-pandemic recovery.
It does this by pairing up EU cities or regions with non-EU partner cities or regions in order to share knowledge and best practices. They will cooperate in three thematic areas:
The REGIO Peer2Peer + scheme enables staff of programme authorities and other public bodies involved in managing and implementing ERDF, CF and JTF .
