Budapest Communiqué on European Urban Areas Facing Demographic and Climate Challenges
In course of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the attention was drawn to some of the most pressing global challenges of urban areas. Having cross-border influence, demographic and climate challenges can only be tackled with international cooperation adjusting to the principles of sustainability. That is what the Budapest Communiqué on European Urban Areas Facing Demographic and Climate Challenges stands for. The document was accepted on 2nd May 2011 by the Directors General of the Member States responsible for urban development.
Summary
The first decade of the 21st century brought crucial changes in the conditions of European development. Besides due to the speeding up of globalisation and climate change, demographic changes are increasingly visible and will pose different challenges for different Member States and their various regions. At the same time, by the end of the decade the deep financial and economic crises have seriously limited the public sector’s room for manoeuvre to respond, thus deepening social and economic disparities between EU territories. To answer these challenges, a sustainable Europe requires long term perspectives. The aim of the Budapest Communiqué, a policy document drafted by the Presidency, discussed and commented by the Urban Development Group and the Directors General responsible for urban development was to emphasise the importance of the environmental and social sustainability-related aspects of future development. To take all the previous contributions into account, the document is built on the results and decisions of other important European documents developed in the last years on sustainable and inclusive cities (Bristol Accord, Leipzig Charta, Marseilles Statement, Toledo Declaration).
EU involvement
This report feeds into the framework of the Hungarian Presidency
of the Council of the European Union
Organisation
- Dr. Péter Szaló, State Secretary for Spatial Planning and Construction, Ministry of Interior, Hungary
- Dr. Andrea Iván, State Secretary for Spatial Planning and Construction, Ministry of Interior, Hungary
Publication date
2 May 2011
Contributing country
Hungary
Contact person
Dr. Andrea Iván
Function: Senior Expert Adviser
Phone: +36-1-441 1684
Email: andrea.ivan@bm.gov.hu
Document type
policy