Efficient Metropolitan Governance – Functioning Urban-Rural Relations
In the European Union (EU), currently 73 percent of the population lives in urban areas of over 20.000 inhabitants. Apart from the 2 mega-poles of London and Paris, Europe is characterised by a unique polycentric structure of large, midsize and small cities. However, population is a relative criterion- and sustainable urban development within Cohesion Policy is not only about big cities. A small town in a sparsely populated area plays a significant role in the regional economy. The EU needs cities of all sizes to succeed in the ambitions for smart, sustainable and socially inclusive growth objectives which have been set in the Europe 2020 strategy. The EU will be most successful in pursuing this agenda if all regions, especially those with the greatest potential for higher productivity and employment are able to play their part.
Focus on better territorial cohesion
This was the conclusion of the conference titled ‘Efficient Metropolitan Governance – Functioning Urban-Rural Relations’ held in the European Parliament in Brussels on the 14th of April 2011. The event was hosted by the URBAN Integroup, jointly organised with the networks METREX, EUROCITIES and PURPLE. The conference focused on better territorial cohesion. According to the organisers, Good Metropolitan Governance, integrating the urban and the rural areas, may be seen as a prerequisite for territorial cohesion.
Functional urban areas deserve our attention
Cities as well as metropolitan areas are strong economic centres. However, according to vice-president of METREX Jeanette Wopperer, they would be unable to function if they acted in isolation. Instead, cities depend on their openness towards their conurbation. In order to provide housing, transport connections, industrial and commercial space and recreational opportunities to the people working in the cities and rural areas they have to work together. The functional urban areas are the most dynamic spaces for activity and territorial interdependencies. According to Wopperer, they deserve our attention more than ever. Their good governance should become the subject of an Urban and Metropolitan Agenda in Europe as well as part of the European Cohesion Policy.
No “one size fits all” approach
Keynote speaker Olaf Merk stressed that all too often governance is considered to be the end of the policy chain, an instrument to achieve defined policy goals: the “how?” question when the questions of “what?” and “what to do?” have been answered. According to Merk a more fruitful approach is to put governance at the core of the policy debate: governance as one of the co-production factors of policy. Governance is also interwoven with local characteristics, local dynamics and local policies. So what works in some regions does not work in others: there is no “one size fits all” approach.
Flexibility and facilitation
DG Regional Policy and head of unit, Wladyslaw Piskorz made 3 crucial points about the urban-rural relations:
- Regional policy is about bringing the European Union and its policies to specific places.
- Coordination of different policy layers and co-operation between different levels are crucial.
- We have to learn from the past experiences to identify future strategies.
For the future, our key words are flexibility and facilitation.
Regional Policy is there to enable good solutions, not to
restraint.