EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - The URBAN II programme in Italy: towards a socio-economic regeneration of deprived areas, IT.

The URBAN II programme in Italy: towards a socio-economic regeneration of deprived areas, IT.

Introduction

As a follow-up of the URBAN I Programme (1994-1999), the URBAN II Initiative tackles the elaboration and implementation of innovative development models to acquire socio-economic regeneration of deprived areas (e.g. small and medium cities affected by city centre decline, urban areas with high level of housing density, deviancy and serious infrastructural gaps.

Description

URBAN II is a European Community Initiative Programme aiming at carrying out the following relevant activities:

urban environment regeneration to increase sustainable employment, improve integration of local communities and ethnic minorities, social re-integration of people at the margins of society, social safety and prevention of delinquency
support of self employment and new businesses
fighting social exclusion and supporting equal opportunities, especially for women, immigrants and refugees
creation of integrated public transport systems that should be economically efficient and environmentally sustainable
environment development through waste recycling, efficient water management and decrease of noise pollution
development of innovative information services for citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises
restoration of historical/artistic heritage and promotion of tourism.

To achieve these goals, the envisaged regeneration strategies should:

involve the stakeholders and support structures
build strong local partnerships
develop an integrated approach to tackle territorial issues
take into account economic, social, environmental, safety and transport issues
support equal opportunities
develop an overall approach connected to other initiatives promoted by European Union Structural Funds or national policies.

Considering the results of URBAN I Italy decided to support the new URBAN II Initiative for the 2000-2006 programming period. The Italian Ministry for Infrastructure launched a call for proposals open to the italian town and cities. In their proposals the towns and cities also needed to address the following two issues, in addition to the ones provided by the European Commission:

• the connection with national and regional programming interventions

• the development of the potentials of the Information Society.

EU involvement

The URBAN II Programme aims at strengthening the exchange of experiences gained within the sustainable urban development in the European Union. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) can finance up to 75 percent of the total costs of a programme in the regions of the Objective 1 and up to 50 percent in the others. To implement the URBAN II Programme, the ERDF finances measures usually supported by the European Social Fund (ESF) and by the Financial Instrument for fisheries guidance (FIFG). The European Commission established an indicative financial allocation for each Member State, taking into account demographic indexes related to the urban areas and the total long-term unemployment rates.

Contact info

Ministry for Infrastructure
Ms. Daniela Versino

Publication date

//2000

Article info
Author: Ministry for Infrastructure
Organisation: Ministry for Infrastructure

Links

Ministry for Infrastructure (in Italian)

Document type

policy

Themes

Urban Policy > Urban environment > Urban renewal

Keywords

City centre development