‘Cities of tomorrow’ on the European agenda

Governance-related, economic, social and environmental issues all play a role in cities today, affecting two-thirds of Europe’s population. The European Commission has considered the ‘Cities of tomorrow’ and is now publishing the outcome of that reflection.

Over two-thirds of Europe’s population lives in urban areas.

Cities are fertile ground for science andtechnology, innovation, culture, and individual and collective creativity. They are a particularly favourable location for experiments aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change. At the same time, cities are also places where environmental pollution and problems such as unemployment, social marginalisation and poverty are concentrated. ‘Cities are places where both problems emerge and solutions are found.’

To identify and arrive at a better understanding of the issues that European cities will have to face in the years ahead, the European Commission initiated a wide-ranging consultation process, the final report on which has just been published.

It is available in English here on the website Europa.eu