EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - The role of cities in integrated regional development

The role of cities in integrated regional development

Introduction

Urban sprawl continues to be a predominant trend in European spatial development. Cities function as motors for social and economic development and are vital for common integrated planning. They are also basic service providers for the whole region. It is essential that urban development and planning goes hand in hand with integrated development of the hinterland. As a result of all these problems, surrounding municipalities should be integrated more into the general development and urban planning in the future. Therefore this network intends to define common strategies in developing “master plans for cities and their surroundings” including not only strategic measures but also the implementation by concrete pilot projects.

Problem

Forming a thematic network to compare strategies and identifying best practices of a common integrated development of towns and regions in order to avoid suburbanisation and to create new financial instruments.

An anticipatory coordinated development of the entire spatial potential should be prepared by an integrated strategic location management with the participation of the surrounding municipalities. With themes, such as spatial development, land-use management or mobility should be dealt in this context.

Improving the competencies of both political players and the relevant key actors of the territory (such as stakeholder groups) by implementing integrated interventions of urban development.

A discussion process should also be initiated on structural level – to what extent mechanisms for the coordination of towns and their surrounding regions could be institutionalized. Superordinate authorities (such as regional and federal governments) should be integrated especially in this field.

Description

The main objective of this network is the elaboration of working programmes and policy recommendations for improving the cooperation between cities and their surrounding municipalities. The main challenges include:

Common land use policies and instruments to avoid urban sprawl;
Definition of new financial instruments to meet the multiple tasks and projects of general interest;
The participation of relevant key actors by (re-)defining the criteria for integrated regional development.

Approach

The main overall objective of this network is still the elaboration of working programmes and policy recommendations for improving the cooperation between cities and their surrounding municipalities as described in the Declaration of interest. The special issues that all of the network’s partners would like to be addressed have been clustered into two sub-themes:

Planning tools and financing instruments for a sustainable city-hinterland development with the focus on:
Tools for efficient land use and against suburbanisation
Tools for an efficient public transport system between city and its region
Tools for a sustainable economic development and the revitalisation of the city-centres
Tools for efficient environmental development
Definition of criteria for projects of common interest and possibilities of financing them

Regional structures as basis for a successful cooperation with the focus on:

Necessary regional structures for successful city-hinterland (region) cooperation and methods of financing them
Shared functions and tasks
Special methodologies for cooperation between big city and smaller municipalities
Strategies on the involvement of key players and key investors
Legal preconditions for city-hinterland (region) cooperations

Results

Exchange of experiences with other cities/metropolitan areas, with relevant partners with expertise on integrated urban planning; identification of best practices; adaptation of these models to their particular local needs; improvement of the absorption capacity of Structural funds and showing the new member states a way to participate in EU programmes and networks.

Local Action Plan with new implementation strategies for an integrated development of the centre municipality and its surroundings and methods to come up against suburbanisation and urban sprawl and to implement cooperation (legal structures, financing, etc.)

Catalogue of functions that can be shared between towns and their neighbouring smaller municipalities and also a summary of reasons why some tasks cannot be shared as future policy recommendations

Recommendations for methods for the participation of key actors and stakeholders in the integrated development of the city-region

Integration of managing authorities, regional governments and relevant municipalities into the project

Broad dissemination of the results on national level by participation on conferences.

Project start date

01/01/2007

Links

Click here to view an information brochure on the project

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords