In Europe, we are facing demographic change and the pleasing prospect of rising life expectancy. But as a consequence, the share of elderly people with a need of care will increase in the next two decades. According to Eurostat data, the share of people aged 65 and over is set to increase to approximately 29% [...]
Making URBACT crucial in the Italian urban policies debate
The URBACT programme currently runs 23 National URBACT Points covering 26 countries across the European Union. The number is expected to grow in the near future. The National URBACT Points, represented by Ministries, Associations of Cities, Universities, or consultancies, are in charge of communicating on and supporting URBACT-related activities and integrated urban development in their [...]
Want to reduce traffic in cities? These parking policy tools will help
Parking policy in Europe has a long tradition of following parking demand, and many European cities have ended up giving a large part of their public spaces to parking, at a high cost. It is estimated that on average cars in cities are being used for only 1 hour per day, and that up to [...]
Why we need the urban dimension in future EU Cohesion Policy
By Jonas Scholze, German Association for Housing, Urban and Spatial Development, National URBACT Point for Germany and Austria The urban dimension in the European Union’s Structural Funds policy became an intrinsic part of EU Cohesion Policy over the past two decades. Today, approximately 15bn euros are reserved within the EU Structural Funds for integrated and [...]
How fighting energy poverty helps reduce social and spatial exclusion in cities
Between 50 and 125 million EU citizens are estimated to be energy poor. The situation is even more severe in South East Europe, where in some areas 30% or more households are struggling with energy poverty. What is energy poverty and who suffers from it? Energy poverty happens when a household finds it difficult or [...]
Placing your city in the European context: the Urban Data Platform
A little background… One of the main aims of the Urban Agenda for the EU is to improve the knowledge base and the collection of comparable and reliable data on urban development issues – this would in turn facilitate the monitoring and benchmarking of European cities, and foster the engagement of citizens in urban related [...]
Internet of Things, from home to city
For years I had a secret. I didn’t really understand what the term ‘Internet of Things’ actually meant. I knew what the ‘Internet’ was. I even knew what a ‘thing’ was but somehow when put together this term baffled me. So a quick definition, ‘Internet of Things or IoT refers to the Internet working of physical devices, vehicles [...]
4 lessons every European city can learn from Oberhausen
Oberhausen is a city in the Ruhr Area in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has about 211 000 inhabitants and is one of the cities still fighting to overcome its industrial past. Over the past two years, Oberhausen has often served as an example of a German city coping with the influx of [...]
Universal Basic Income: who’s laughing now?
A few years ago, many cities would have laughed at the idea of introducing a Universal Basic Income. Fast forward to today, and the concept is being tested in neighbourhoods and cities across the EU, from Barcelona and Copenhagen to Stockholm and Utrecht. The Catalan Joke As a Scot, I’ve given my various Catalan friends [...]
Break out of our comfort zones: Play Szociopoly!
How to inspire in a meeting? How to make participants imagine the life of others and of hard choices? In October 2016 I was preparing my next CHANGE! study visit, which was – partly – about how to generate deep insight into the needs of local communities to create meaningful outcomes and thus redesign public [...]
Authors
Antonio Borghi
Alina Andreea Băileşteanu
Anna Leidreiter
Bertil Nilsson
Alison Partridge
Ania Rok
Aldo Vargas- ALL AUTHORS
