Urban development in EU programmes

EU Member States cooperate in many areas of urban policy. The cooperation covers such themes as urban dimension in the cohesion policy, development of urban networks, support for sustainable urban development and strengthening of urban research at EU level.

Member States and the European Commission are preparing an urban agenda at EU level, the purpose of which is to strengthen the urban policy. In June 2015, the ministers of the Member States with responsibility for urban matters adopted the Riga declaration, in which they approved the preparation of the agenda. The agenda and the concrete cooperation themes laid out in the document will be adopted in May 2016 at a meeting in Amsterdam during the Netherlands Presidency.

The aim of the urban agenda is to achieve closer cooperation between the Member States, the Commission, cities and other actors in the development of urban regions. The principal goals are as follows:

• Making better use of the potential of urban regions as sources of employment, growth and innovation so that they can support EU-wide growth and the implementation of the Europe 2020 objectives
• Strengthening the coordination of EU policies with urban impact and improving EU provisions that have an impact on urban development
• Promoting more effective knowledge-sharing and interactive learning between Member States and urban regions

Further information: olli.voutilainen(at)tem.fi