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Celebrating 20 years of cohesion policy in urban development

M. Aldo M.TORRE Interview signed off by Mr Władysław Piskorz Head of unit \"Urban development, Territory cohesion” DG Inforegio - C.2 Urban development and territory cohesion

1. What are the priorities in selecting the projects in the filed of urban development?

Urban projects are part of the 316 programmes defined by the regions and States in accordance with the European Commission and co financed by European funds such as ERDF. Priorities are therefore quite different from one region to another and from one country to another, so it would be impossible to make up a list of all the projects. Each regional authority is in charge of the definition of the selection criteria for the projects. Nonetheless, there are priorities that have been defined at the European level. The supported projects should help in the improvement of the appealing and competitiveness of all the cities in order to put forward enterprises (in peculiar SMEs). They should also support innovation, infrastructures and service development. Those projects should promote cohesion in between cities, helping disadvantaged neighborhoods, industrial fallow and historical downtown. Other objectives are the promotion of the exchange of experiences between cities and urban networks at a national and European level, the reinforcement of the links between urban and rural areas to have a better balanced territorial development.

2. What is the amount of the budget allocated to urban development in the cohesion policy?


According to our estimates, around 30 million euro of the ERDF ( that is to say 10% of the total) are dedicated to urban development for the programming period 2007-2013. Moreover there are numerous European initiatives that have an urban characteristic, for instance, the FP7 programme for actions in research and technological development, the programme called ICP and the Life Long Learning programme etc…




3. What are the regions most concerned and why are they so?


70% of Europeans live in urban area and hence the urban development concerns all European regions. In absolute value, almost triple amount of euro are invested in cities that follow the “convergence objective” (poorest regions that have a GDP inferior to 75% of the EU average) instead of being invested in cities following the Regional Competitiveness and Employment (richer regions). In absolute value, it is Poland that uses investments in urban development the most as it is the first beneficiary of the cohesion policy.



4. Can you give some concrete examples of success stories?


I can cite, for example, the Urban programme which helped revitalize neighbourhoods in the south of Strasbourg. It led to the establishment of a support to small business, crafts and services. The project has managed to maintain so far 83 positions and create eleven others. In the province of Flevoland (Netherlands), European investment has also helped develop urban public transport \"a la carte\". This flexible formula, that combines services like taxi with a traditional public transportation method, was a resounding success with a number of users exceeding all expectations. The initiative Greenkeys is helping twelve European cities, such as Dresden, Ljubljana and Sofia to develop strategies for planning green spaces.
We will be able to give you further examples as of May, because this is when we shall reward for the first time ‘CityStars’, most innovative urban projects achieved with the support of the cohesion policy.



5. What future do you see for the regional policy?


The urban dimension has become increasingly important in the cohesion policy since the first URBAN pilot projects, in 1989. While at the beginning it was experimental, it has now become a part of most ERDF projects. The debate on the future architecture of cohesion policy after 2013 is underway, so it is too early to say what will be the place of urban development. Given that cities are the engines of economic growth in Europe (90% of new jobs are created in urban areas), their development remains a priority for the cohesion policy of tomorrow.
The new Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, has already indicated its willingness to renew the urban dimension of the cohesion policy and its intention to launch a consultation on this issue. Challenges such as the fight against climate change, demographic change and migration will also be taken more into account in the future. The exchange of experiences between cities through the URBACT program will also remain an important policy. We will have to find a better use for these networks.




For more information: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/