Delivering the Urban Agenda for the EU

Our towns and cities are home to nearly three quarters of the EU's population, and most EU policies concern them, be it directly or indirectly.

While the revised 2014-2020 cohesion policy framework introduced a number of new instruments intended to enhance the urban dimension of cohesion funding, a shared vision of urban development has gradually taken shape at inter-governmental level, accompanied by increasing calls to give city authorities and stakeholders a greater say in policymaking.

To help guide these discussions, the European Commission launched a public consultation following its July 2014 communication on the urban dimension of EU policies. Its findings indicated broad support among city stakeholders for an Urban Agenda for the EU. The European Parliament also prepared an own-initiative report on the issue, as part of a process that would ultimately lead to the signing of the Pact of Amsterdam on 30 May 2016, a clear political commitment to deliver an Urban Agenda.

With eight urban partnerships now in operation and the members of the remaining four announced in April 2017, past months have seen visible progress in terms of delivering the Urban Agenda, with recent developments including the setting up of a permanent secretariat for the Urban Agenda and new resources such as the launch of a specialist one-stop shop and a new website.

This process looks set to expand further following the 2016 UN Habitat III conference in Quito, which identified the Urban Agenda for the EU as the main delivery mechanism in the EU for the UN's New Urban Agenda, a roadmap for global sustainable urban development.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Urban Agenda: new call for projects worth €50 million to help cities solve urban challenges http://www.europeansources.info/record/urban-agenda-new-call-for-projects-worth-e50-million-to-help-cities-solve-urban-challenges/

ESO: Launch of an urban agenda for the EU [EPRS: Briefing, June 2016] http://www.europeansources.info/record/launch-of-an-urban-agenda-for-the-eu/

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