Sharing knowledge

Talking Cityzen: Polder motives & cultural resonance in landscaping

Our new ´Talking Cityzen´ is Bruno van den Elshout. He travelled all 27 member states of the European Union to discover and describe the national mindset of each country. Bruno van den Elshout: Thinking of Holland, I see broad rivers, moving slowly through endless lowlands. These are the first lines from the famous poetic ode Remembrance of Holland, written by Hendrik Marsman in 1936. Add 2 500 kilometers of motorways to this poem and you'll get an impression of what The Netherlands look like, 75 years down the line.

New EMI Case Study on Economic Vitality of Poznań, Poland

As part of EMI’s Knowledge and Research Agenda ‘Economic Vitality’, EMI publishes its second city case study, this time on the economic vitality of the city of Poznań in Poland. Given Poznań’s booming economy and important role as national and European centre of industry, trade, culture, higher education and science, Poznań was considered to be an interesting case to examine in this Agenda. Other city case studies are: Bucharest, Madrid and Munich. This article gives you a preview of several challenges the EMI research team analysed, including further research questions and recommendations.

Europe 2020: 2nd Monitoring Report to bridge the partnership gap

Recently, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) has published its 2nd Monitoring Report on the growth strategy Europe 2020. The Committee of the Regions is the political assembly that provides the regional and local levels with a voice in EU policy development and EU legislation. The report summarises the outcome of the monitoring activities undertaken by the Committee of the Regions in the last 12 months, on how Europe 2020 is being implemented on the ground and to what extent the local and regional authorities are being involved in its design and implementation.

Economic activity in European cities - Global Metro Monitor 2011

The Brookings Institute in the United States has analysed the capita GDP (income) and employment changes in the 2010 to 2011 period for 200 of the world’s largest metropolitan economies. Read some of the most important findings for European cities in quotes taken from the report:

Interview Heidy van Beurden: It´s not difficult to become a Smart City

How to make your city smarter? Heidy van Beurden is a Communications Specialist and Editor working for governments, the private sector and the non-profit sector. She is specialised in themes like climate change and energy efficiency and wrote several books about these topics. Her latest one is called ‘Smart City Dynamics’. It offers its readers inspiring views from experts across Europe on how to make your city smarter, focusing on energy efficiency.

Barcelona´s Green Corridors: another or an other urban project?

This time our ´Talking Cityzen´ is Tine Vleugels. She has a Master Degree in Regional and Population Studies. She gives her personal view on a green corridor project in Barcelona. Tine Vleugels: The Barcelona City Council has launched a competition to design 16 entrances to the Natural Park of the Collserola hill, which is the natural border between the Catalan capital and its metropolitan area. The project aims to link the Natural Park to the city, to rearrange the Collserola neighbourhoods and to ‘renaturate’ the city, through 16 green corridors. However, Collserola has been subjected to numerous land use planning before. Ideas such as green corridors remind of former projects designed by the previous municipal government. So what´s new?

Eurostat Regional Yearbook: regional diversity EU illustrated through statistics

Which EU regions are the most developed? Which region has the highest proportion of the population with completed tertiary education? And which cities are considered to have the worst air quality? The answers to these questions and many more are found in the 2011 regional yearbook from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Case study Bucharest finalised: what is needed to keep up this region’s economic vitality?

Bucharest has many faces; it is a city or metropolis in transition, it is an important transport node, but perhaps, most importantly it remains largely undiscovered. As part of EMI’s Knowledge & Research Agenda on economic vitality in urban areas, we kick off with the Bucharest Case Study. The aim of these case studies is to define research questions that are of interest for both academics and urban practitioners.

Interns Revealed – internships as a cheap way to substitute workforce

The higher the youth unemployment rate in Europe rises, the more companies offer young graduates un(der)paid internships. They say ‘yes’ because they are desperate. Therefore the European Youth Forum (YFJ) has taken up an initiative with other partners to improve the situation of internships in Europe. Internships should provide a learning experience for young people to facilitate successful integration into the labour market; however, there has been an increased prevalence of internships serving as precarious employment for young people—a cheap way to substitute workforce. In addition, young interns are performing tasks that do not contribute to professional development. This is described in the YFJ publication titled ‘Interns Revealed’ by author Inger Dyrnes.

The Danube Foundation: stories, dreams and ideas

The Danube Foundation is a network of young Europeans that aims to contribute to the exchange of ideas between people in Central, East and Western Europe. We talked to Sophie Bloemen about the vision and mission of the Danube Foundation.

Youth Employment Bureau in Catalunya: stimulating entrepreneurship among youth

Currently it is very hard for Spanish youth to find a job. We asked the Youth Employment Bureau for the region Catalunya, based in Barcelona, what they do to help these young people to find a job. Do they notice more young people leave the country to find a job abroad and what is it they do to stimulate them to remain in Catalunya?

Talking Cityzen blog: neighbourhood Tarlabasi in Istanbul

Talking Cityzen is a blog written by citizens of European cities. It is a platform for citizens to give their personal views and to share their knowledge on urban topics. In this way policy makers and researchers can gain insights into what really matters to the inhabitants of a city. Our first ´Talking Cityzen´ is Ayse Taspinar, second year student Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Sabanci University in Turkey. She gives her personal view on the development of Istanbul.

Press Release - EU calls for immediate action to drive down youth unemployment

Brussels, 20 December 2011 – Against the backdrop of Europe's persistent jobless youth rate of 21%, the Commission is pleading for Member States, workers' representatives and business to join forces and take decisive action to tackle youth unemployment. The new 'Youth Opportunities Initiative', adopted by the Commission, calls on Member State to work on preventing early school leaving; helping youngsters develop skills relevant to the labour market; ensuring work experience and on-the-job training and helping young people find a first good job. The Commission is also urging Member States to make better use of the European Social Fund which still has €30 billion of funding uncommitted to projects. In addition, the Commission has put forward a set of concrete actions to be financed directly by EU funds.

Report Cities of tomorrow: cooperation key to sustainable urban development

On 6 December 2011 the Urban Unit from the Directorate General (DG) for Regional policy presented the report ‘Cities of tomorrow’. EMI was there during its presentation. Undertaken upon the initiative of European Commissioner Johannes Hahn from DG Regional policy this forward-looking report forms part of the wider discussions on the future of regional policy. With the input of 60 European experts shared challenges facing cities in the 21st century were discussed in different working groups. This article contains the most important points discussed in the report.

Interview Philip Monaghan: societies need desirability and deliverability for a green economy

He has over 17 years of international experience as a strategist and change manager in the fields of economic development and environmental sustainability. He is Founder & CEO of Infrangilis. His new book ´How local resilience creates sustainable societies: Hard to Make, Hard to Break´ will be released beginning 2012. EMI asked Philip Monaghan some questions about this new interesting book and what advice he would cities give when it comes to stimulating a green economy.

EMI supports urban focus of new ERDF Financial Regulations for 2014 - 2020

Cohesion policy plays a pivotal role in delivering the Europe 2020 strategy. That is why EMI reacts on the proposals for the Financial Regulations of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The proposals acknowledge the urban potential, but have some open ends in which urban research could play a larger role. In October 2011 the European Commission published the proposals for ERDF, period 2014-2020. The ERDF Financial Regulations are the main budget instrument to support urban and metropolitan regions financially across Europe.

Resilient metropolitan areas: need for structural exchange practice and research

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) at its 474th plenary session held on 21 and 22 September 2011, adopted the own-initiative opinion on "Metropolitan Areas and City Regions in Europe 2020". As a consequence of the changing economic and spatial landscape in Europe, metropolitan developments are attracting much attention. The EESC welcomes the increasing acknowledgment of these developments by the European Institutions. EMI is mentioned in the report as the way to ensure a structural exchange between practitioners and research.

New report on neighbourhood regeneration

Starting point for this report was a core group of 6 cities of the Working group of Urban Regeneration of EUROCITIES started 1,5 year ago a unique project in which practitioners working daily in deprived neighbourhoods, exchanged experiences and tested the mainstream ideas of urban regeneration against practical experiences.

Interview Yuri Kazepov: social inclusion is all about making synergies

Yuri Kazepov is Professor of Urban Sociology and Compared Welfare Systems at the University of Urbino in Italy. He is a founding member of the Network for European Social Policy Analysis and the president of RC21, the research committee on urban and regional development of the international sociological association. EMI asked him a few questions about creating effective social cohesion policies. He gave a lot of useful examples of practices in cities.

Crowdfunding: New York High Line in Rotterdam?

During the 5th IABR (International Architecture Biënnale Rotterdam) over 35 projects from more than 25 cities around the world will be presented in Rotterdam. This year´s theme is ´Making City´ and examines how the city can continue to generate its wealth in a sustainable manner. During one of the IABR Public Lectures, Alexandros Washbum, director Urban Design from the urban development program of New York City, elaborated on New York´s successful public park, The High Line.

Polycentric metropolitan area: Lille Kortrijk Tournai

Director General of the agency Eurometropolis Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai, Stef Vande Meulebrouke, outlined the ambitious plans of Eurometropolis during the urban lecture of the International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam. The urban lecture is part of the 5th IABR with this year´s theme: making city.

Interview Director LSE Cities about new report: The tale of two regions

European metropolitan areas are polycentric; they consist of many smaller interlocking ‘cores’ and therefore require multi-level approaches to policy making, as well as research. EMI had an interview with professor Ricky Burdett from the London School of Economics (LSE) and director of LSE Cities. The LSE, together with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment and the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency (PBL) recently presented a study that compared the Dutch Randstad with the urban landscape of Southeast England.

Interview Mr. Iván Tosics: policymakers in cities need to talk more

Mr. Iván Tosics is one of the principals of the Metropolitan Research Institute (MRI) in Budapest. He is mathematician and sociologist with a long experience in urban sociology, strategic development, housing policy and EU regional policy issues. EMI talked to him about the difficulties cities experience in achieving an integrated approach to urban regeneration.

The city Poznan: Eastern energy, Western style

‘New Challenges for European Regions and Urban Areas in a Globalised World’, was the title of the yearly congress of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA). One of the main topics of the ERSA-congress was the discussion about Europe’s cohesion policy and the shift towards more place-based policies. During the congress European Commissioner, Johannes Hahn, urged scientists to actively contribute to the process of policy-making. More research is required in order to create a better understanding in today’s complex and dynamic urban economy.

Mobility practice in Utrecht, The Netherlands

EMI´s team working on the Knowledge & Research Agenda Sustainable Urban Mobility took advantage of the traditionally calmer summer months by leaving the office and find out what is happening in urban practice. Mr. Frits Lintmeijer, Deputy Mayor responsible for a.o. Mobility and International Affairs of the City of Utrecht and chair of Eurocities’ Mobility Forum, filled us in on current mobility practices in his city. According to Mr. Lintmeijer, every European city aspires to be sustainable, accessible and attractive. How does the City of Utrecht try to reach this goal?

Participate in the Survey EU2020: What is happening on the ground?

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is holding a survey that looks at whether, and to what extent, Europe 2020 is adding value to local and regional policies. The results of the survey will feed into the 2nd CoR Monitoring Report on Europe 2020, to be published in December 2011 as a contribution to the European Commission's 2012 Annual Growth Survey - just before the 2012 Spring European Council issues political guidance for the 2nd European Semester. All EU regions and cities are invited to participate.

Results URBACT: connecting cities, building successes

URBACT is a European exchange and learning program promoting sustainable urban development. We help cities to develop pragmatic solutions that are new and sustainable, and that integrate economic, social and environmental dimensions. URBACT is jointly financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund) and the Member States. 20 URBACT Projects just completed after 3 years of working on joint, effective and sustainable solutions to major urban challenges. These projects have brought to light solutions that have proven effective and providing valuable support for policy makers and practitioners involved in tackling these challenges. We have highlighted a few of these projects:

OECD: Stronger regions make for stronger nations

International comparisons of economies and societies tend to be undertaken at the country level. For example statistics on production capacities refer to gross domestic product (GDP) while health and education levels tend similarly to be measured and debated in national terms. The differences between countries are often not as great as the disparities within them. In Chile, Poland, Portugal and Turkey, for example, the GDP per worker in the best performing region is more than 3 times higher than in the worst performing region. In several regions, disparities have widened recently, as evidenced by the doubling of the difference in employment growth rate across OECD regions after the 2008-09 recession. Taking advantage of the economic potential of all regions could help governments grow their national, regional and local economies.

Barcelona identifies prejudices and stereotypes about immigrants

Barcelona City Council has identified prejudices and stereotypes that are commonly associated with the local migrant community. The city is implementing an initiative to educate its citizens and combat negative perceptions of migrant groups.

Active inclusion of young people in 9 European cities

In the first 6 months of 2011 the Cities for Active Inclusion-partners focussed their research activities on the topic of active inclusion of young people. Produced under Eurocities’ Cities for Active Inclusion (EUROCITIES-NLAO) strand of work, these latest reports illustrate why cities are prioritising support for youth employment and young people’s participation in society in times of growing youth unemployment rates. Each of the cities show that effective local policies and practice can help young people achieve their educational and career goals, and therefore contribute to broader local and regional economic development.

Madrid camouflages its struggling economy

It is easy, comfortable, cheap and fast. Arriving at Barajas Airport in Spain and travelling by metro from the airport to the centre of Madrid. The Madrid metropolitan region has the most modern and sophisticated metro network of the world. It will take you less than 25 minutes to arrive at Puerto del Sol, one of Madrid’s famous squares. No wonder Madrid is very proud of its infrastructure.

Bucharest feels like an American City

Being in Bucharest Metropolitan Area, with almost 3 million inhabitants and a double amount of cars, indeed feels like being in a big city somewhere in America. On the contrary, inhabitants prefer the association with ‘little-Paris’ due to the long and broad boulevards, fountains and a triumphal arch. EMI organised 2 roundtable discussions in Bucharest and held several in-depth interviews with key-experts.

The cycling challenge: cases of Copenhagen and Sevilla

Unsurprisingly, virtually every European city is striving to meet mobility challenges and to reach more sustainable patterns of mobility. Every city faces challenges that can be both general and rather unique for their specific situation. EMI and POLIS are currently developing a Knowledge and Research Agenda (KRA) on Sustainable Urban Mobility. In the first phase of the project, the urban mobility policy practices of a large number of European cities are examined and analysed.

Interview Prof. Alan Murie: regenerating neighbourhoods is a complex process

Alan Murie is Emeritus Professor of Urban and Regional Studies at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, University of Birmingham. EMI interviewed him about the regeneration of neighbourhoods in European cities. Specifically about how cities could go about formulating an effective policy to regenerate deprived neighbourhoods. EMI can help cities to obtain knowledge about the process of setting up an effective policy to regenerate neighbourhoods.

Interview Prof. Joan Fitzgerald: how can cities stimulate a green economy?

Professor Joan Fitzgerald is a Professor and Director of the Law and Public Policy program at Northeastern University in the United States. Her book ´Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development´, is a comprehensive research project that examines how the United States and Western European cities address the interrelated issues of global warming, energy dependence and opportunities for green economic development. EMI asked her about what she would recommend to cities that want to invest in a green economy.

Urban Mobility in Europe: is policy changing?

The European Metropolitan network Institute (EMI) recently started work on its Knowledge and Research Agenda (KRA) on ‘Urban Mobility’ in European urban areas, coinciding with the presentation of the White Paper on Competitive and Sustainable Transport in March 2011. EMI aims to ‘bridge the gap’ between local mobility practices across Europe and the ambitious goals of the European Commission (and its White Paper) by applying research to the needs of the cities. EMI looked at the Green Paper (2007) in detail to get more insight into what has been changed in the consultation process that led to the recent White Paper.

Interview Professor Cheshire: need for more qualitative research on Europe´s urban policies

Professor Paul Cheshire of the London School of Economics was one of the key-note speakers during the EMI-workshop “Urban Europe: still alive and kicking”. Cheshire published an article that discusses the lack of evidence based research on urban issues. Since EMI is setting up knowledge and research agendas, professor Cheshire was invited to present his view on urban policies and the challenges of future research programs. Before the workshop, EMI asked him his opinion on how urban policies can strengthen the economic vitality of cities.

Review of White Paper on Transport: implications for urban mobility

On 28 March 2011, the European Commission (EC) published the long-awaited White Paper on Transport: Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system. In the paper, the EC gives its vision on a competitive and sustainable transport system for the future and the strategy that should lead to this system.

Interview Ms. Marloes Hoogerbrugge: Cities can learn from innovative hotspot Munich

Cities are often coined as the motors of national economy. “There is an increase in attention for the local regional economic policy in cities” says Marloes Hoogerbrugge, researcher at the European Metropolitan network Institute (EMI) and actively involved in developing the Knowledge and Research Agenda on economic vitality of European urban areas.

Competitiveness in Urban Europe: research based, practice led

EMI’s knowledge and research agenda ‘Economic Vitality of European Metropolitan Regions’ is making progress. In the abstract document attached you can read the main objectives of the agenda and the purpose of the regional round table discussions in metropolitan regions across Europe. If you have any questions reading this agenda, please feel free to contact marloes.hoogerbrugge@emi-network.eu

EMI´s Knowledge and Research Agenda ´Economic Vitality´: selection of 4 sub-themes

EMI is working on the knowledge and research agenda ´Economic Vitality of Metropolitan regions´. After intensive desk-research and in-depth interviews with experts, we have identified 4 sub-themes: labour market, knowledge and innovation, entrepreneurial economy, and transforming economy. It is our goal to define an agenda that is based on urban practices. That is why you as an urban professional can participate and give your input.

Centre for Cities publishes annual index of economic situation in UK cities

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Global Metro Monitor: slow economic recovery for European metropolitan regions

OECD:´Cities should play prominent role in defining response to climate change.´

Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth