Debate: Challenges for urban areas in the post-COVID- era
Date: MONDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Kadri Simson
Language: EN

We agree with you on the importance of digital transformation and that smart city strategies can help us create more inclusive cities, especially in an increasingly digitalised world. Today, two in three people living in cities have access to high-speed broadband, as the Eighth Cohesion Report states. We must ensure that, when it comes to digital public services – education, administration, for example – there is also wide access to such digital services and that no one is excluded. So we very much agree, too, on the importance of inclusiveness. This is deeply rooted in cohesion policy through the partnership principle – local actors helping to design and deliver local projects. As regards direct support, cities under the 2021—27 Cohesion Programme period, 8% of the European Regional Development Fund, so around EUR 17 billion, are ringfenced for sustainable urban development projects selected by the cities themselves. And our new European Urban Initiative will finance experiments in making urban development more sustainable and more participative. We hope that the new European Powerhouse Initiative aiming for inclusiveness, sustainability and aesthetics in the places where we work and live will also be of interest to cities, and I hope that we will see cities embark on this transformational challenge as well. In this context, I cannot speak of inclusive cities if citizens do not have quality, affordable housing. The Commission’s renovation wave and the Affordable Housing Initiative will support local actors in their efforts to increase energy efficiency for a fairer transition. Inclusive cities also have high-quality public spaces that are safe. This requires good urban planning and design, urban policy for the common good, as set out in the new Leipzig Charter. As you know, we in the Commission subscribe to this charter. We agree, too, that future cities must be sustainable. I have already mentioned the ring-fencing for sustainable urban development within cohesion policy. As you know, the EU supports cities through various other initiatives, including the Intelligent Cities Challenge, the Urban Mobility Framework, the 100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030 mission or learning cities to ensure cities are sustainable, resilient, innovative and inclusive. Finally, the report calls for tailor—made policy initiatives. We agree that cities cannot face these challenges alone. We must mobilise all levels of government. We welcome your reference to the urban agenda as a new model of multilevel governance. Our Europe Act programme will continue to support this with exchanges of good practice and capacity-building. The Next Cities Forum in early 2023 will mark and amplify this new wave of support for cities. The next few years bring a once—in—a—generation investment, the combination of enhanced cohesion policy, the Recovery and Resilience Facility and other funding sources under the EU budget. Let us work together to make the most of these investments. Europe’s cities have a bright future. Your report illuminates the next step.