ESPON METRO – the Role and Future Perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the Planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities Annex 1 // November 2020

INCEPTION REPORT // ESPON METRO – The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities Annex 1 // November 2020

This Inception report is conducted within the framework of the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme, partly financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

The ESPON EGTC is the Single Beneficiary of the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme. The Single Operation within the programme is implemented by the ESPON EGTC and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, the EU Member States and the Partner States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

This delivery does not necessarily reflect the opinions of members of the ESPON 2020 Monitoring Committee.

Authors Giancarlo Cotella, Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone, Umberto Janin Rivolin, Marco Santangelo, Loris Servillo, Luca Staricco, Maurizio Pioletti, Donato Casavola. Politecnico di Torino (Italy)

Christophe Demazière. DEMAZIERE (France)

Iwona Sagan, Jacek Zaucha, Radomir Matczak. Institute for Development (Poland)

Mario Vale, Margarida Queiros, Eduarda Marques da Costa, Nuno Marques da Costa. Instituto de Geografia e Ordenamento do Território - ULisboa (Portugal).

Gilles Van Hamme, Moritz Lennert, Pablo Medina Lockhart, Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)

Zaiga Krisjane, Guido Sechi, Janis Krumins, Toms Skadins, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Luděk Sýkora, Alena Coblence, Charles University (Czech Republic)

Valeria Lingua, Giuseppe De Luca, Carlo Pisano, University of Florence (Italy)

Marc Marti Costa, Vittorio Galletto, Barcelona Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies (Spain)

Advisory group Stakeholders: Claudia Fassero, Città Metropolitana di Torino (IT) | Odile Huiban, Metropole de Lyon (FR) | Aleksandra Fijałkowska, Metropolitan Area of Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot (PL) | Filipe Ferreira, Lisbon Metropolitan Area (PT) | Sandrine De Meyer, perspetive.brussels (BE) | Agnese Gūtmane, Riga City Council (LV) | Soňa Raszková, Brno City Municipality (CZ) | Alessandra Barbieri, Municipality of Florence (IT) | Xavier Tiana Casablanca, Barcelona Metropolitan Area (ES) | Dorthe Nielsen, EUROCITIES | Guillaume Berret, Metropolis.

ESPON EGTC: Senior Project Expert: Piera Petruzzi, Financial Expert: Johannes Kiersch

Information on ESPON and its projects can be found at www.espon.eu. The website provides the possibility to download and examine the most recent documents produced by finalised and ongoing ESPON projects.

Graphic design by BGRAPHIC, Denmark

Printing, reproduction or quotation is authorised provided the source is acknowledged and a copy is forwarded to the ESPON EGTC in Luxembourg.

Contact: [email protected]

INCEPTION REPORT // ESPON METRO – The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities

Annex 1 // November 2020

Disclaimer This document is a inception report.

The information contained herein is subject to change and does not commit the ESPON EGTC and the countries participating in the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme.

The final version of the report will be published as soon as approved.

INCEPTION REPORT // ESPON METRO – The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities

Table of contents

Abbreviations ...... 8 Introduction ...... 9 1 Metropolitan City of Turin ...... 12 1.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy ...... 12 1.2 Objectives and policy needs ...... 18 1.3 References ...... 21 2 Barcelona Metropolitan Area ...... 23 2.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy ...... 23 2.2 Objectives and policy needs ...... 33 2.3 References ...... 35 3 Brno Metropolitan Area ...... 38 3.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy ...... 38 3.2 Objectives and policy needs ...... 43 3.3 References ...... 45 4 Brussels Capital Region ...... 48 4.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy ...... 48 4.2 Objectives and policy needs ...... 52 4.3 References ...... 54 5 Lisbon Metropolitan Area ...... 56 5.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy ...... 56 5.2 Objectives and policy needs ...... 60 5.3 References ...... 62 6 Lyon Metropolitan Area ...... 64 6.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy ...... 64 6.2 Objectives and policy needs ...... 70 7 Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdinya-Sopot ...... 75 7.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy ...... 75 7.2 Objectives and policy needs ...... 81 8 Metropolitan City of Florence ...... 84 8.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy ...... 84 8.2 Objectives and policy needs ...... 97 8.3 References ...... 99 9 Riga Metropolitan Area ...... 101 9.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy ...... 101 9.2 Objectives and policy needs ...... 109 9.3 References ...... 110

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INCEPTION REPORT // ESPON METRO – The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities

List of maps, figures, charts and tables

List of maps Map 1.1 Metropolitan City of Turin ...... 13 Map 2.1 Barcelona Metropolitan Area ...... 24 Map 3.1 Brno Metropolitan Area ...... 40 Map 4.1 Brussels Metropolitan Area ...... 49 Map 5.1 Lisbon Metropolitan Area ...... 57 Map 6.1 Lyon Metropolitan Area ...... 67 Map 7.1 Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot ...... 77 Map 8.1 Metropolitan City of Florence ...... 86 Map 9.1 Riga Metropolitan Area ...... 101

List of figures Figure 2.1 Labor mobility flows: the larger metropolitan functional area of Barcelona ...... 25 Figure 2.2 Budget by level of government in Barcelona, 2019 ...... 26 Figure 2.3 Main plans and programmes in the metropolitan area/region ...... 30 Figure 3.1 The institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation on the city level ...... 39 Figure 3.2 Brno Metropolitan Region: delimitation 2020 (for 2021-2027) and comparison with 2013-2020 ...... 41 Figure 4.1 Simplified institutional architecture of the cohesion policy (mainly ERDF) in Brussels ...... 50 Figure 5.1 Institutional Framework for Metropolitan Cooperation in Lisbon Region...... 58 Figure 5.2 Portuguese institutional structure of cohesion policy management ...... 58 Figure 6.1 Institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation in Lyon ...... 66 Figure 7.1 Spatial scope of 24 functional areas of ITI implementation in Poland...... 77 Figure 7.2 Allocations for 24 functional areas of ITI implementation in Poland from ROPs in the years 2014-20; in PLN millions and as a share of total ROP budget ...... 78 Figure 7.3 Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot territorial structure ...... 79 Figure 7.4 The institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation of MAG ...... 80 Figure 8.1 The 42 municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Florence...... 92 Figure 8.2 The mismatch between the Metropolitan City of Florence and the Functional Urban Area (in darker color) ...... 92 Figure 8.3 Union of Municipalities within the Metropolitan City of Florence ...... 93 Figure 8.4 Synthesis of the process of definition of the Strategic Plan for the Metropolitan City of Florence ...... 94 Figure 8.5 The final vision “Metropolitan Renaissance” for the Strategic Plan for the Metropolitan City of Florence ...... 95 Figure 8.6 Metropolitan Platforms in the Territorial Plan for the Metropolitan City of Florence ...... 95 Figure 8.7 PON Metro architecture, from National to Local level ...... 96 Figure 9.1 Tasks (goals) for organization of the Riga metropolitan area management process ...... 102 Figure 9.2 Institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation ...... 103 Figure 9.3 Municipalities and zones of the Riga Metropolitan Area ...... 104 Figure 9.4 Strategic objectives and priorities of the Latvian NDP 2014-2020 ...... 107 Figure 9.5 Priorities of the Latvian NDP 2021-2027 ...... 108

List of tables Table 1.1 Main plans and programmes from the regional to the local level ...... 15 Table 1.2 List of actors to engage ...... 20 6 ESPON // espon.eu

INCEPTION REPORT // ESPON METRO – The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities

Table 2.1 Main plans and programmes in the metropolitan area/region ...... 27 Table 2.2 Urban ERDF programmes, goals and topics ...... 31 Table 2.3 Urban programmes in the Barcelona metropolitan area/region (URBACT, EDUSI, UIA) .... 32 Table 2.4 List of actors to engage ...... 34 Table 3.1 List of actors to engage ...... 44 Table 4.1 Allocation of ERDF in the Brussels Capital-Region ...... 51 Table 4.2 Allocation of ESF in the Brussels Capital-Region ...... 52 Table 4.3 List of actors to engage ...... 53 Table 6.1 List of actors to engage ...... 72 Table 7.1 The main actors to be involved to answer to the policy needs ...... 82 Table 8.1 Metropolitan level spatial development, governance and planning tools ...... 87 Table 8.2 List of actors to engage ...... 98 Table 9.1 Municipalities and their territorial units in the three metropolis areas ...... 104 Table 9.2 Tentative list of actors ...... 109

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Abbreviations

AMB Barcelona Metropolitan Area ANCI National Association of Italian Municipalities BCR Brussels Capital Region BMA Brno Metropolitan Area CF Cohesion Fund CLLD Community led local development CMTo Metropolitan City of Turin CMFi Metropolitan City of Florence EAFRD European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development EC European Commission ERDF European Regional Development Fund ESF European Social Fund ESIF European Structural and Investment Funds ESPON European Territorial Observatory Network EU European Union FUA Functional Urban Area GDP Gross Domestic Product IB Intermediate Body ITI Integrated Territorial Investment JRC Joint Research Center LMA Lisbon Metropolitan Area MAG Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot MC Metropolitan City MdL Lyon Metropolitan Area NOP National Operational Programme PQ Policy Question RMA Riga Metropolitan Area ROP Regional Operational Programme SCM Steering Committee meeting TA Targeted Analysis ToR Terms of Reference

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Introduction

This Annex collects the materials gathered during the Step 0 of the ESPON METRO Targeted analysis, in relation to the nine metropolitan areas and cities under scrutiny. It is organised in nine separate sections, concerning respectively Metropolitan City of Turn (CMTo), Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), Lisbon Met- ropolitan Area (LMA), Brno Metropolitan Area (BMA), Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot (MAG), Metropolitan City of Florence (CMFi), Lyon Metropolitan Area (MdL), Brussels-Capital Region (BCR), Riga Metropolitan Area (RMA). The presented information reflects the discussion occurred in the occasion of the project kick-off meeting, that was held virtually on October the 9th, 2020, as well as the results of the focus group that has been organised together with the latter. Moreover, each section builds on a number of bilateral contact between the different research teams and the stakeholders located in the area they are responsible to analyse.

The research activity behind the collection of this information somehow anticipated the start of the project’s analytical work, and has been aimed to provide a number of preliminary evidence and hypotheses already in the Inception Report (as required by the project’s stakeholders during the kick-off meeting). Overall, it also contributed to initiate establishing mutual trust and working cooperation routines between the research team and the project stakeholder, and to open the knowledge sharing channels that will be used during the project. More in detail, the information concerning the various metropolitan areas was collected according to a preliminary questionnaire focusing on: 1. Metropolitan governance institutional configuration

 The institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation and its level of formalization in the country. When did metropolitan governance begin (formally or informally, or as a transition from informal to formal)? Is there any national and/or regional law regulating metropolitan cooperation? Is there any local, bottom-up formal agreement?

 The geographical and thematic scope of metropolitan cooperation (how many municipalities, under what conditions, on what matter(s)), also specifying variable geographies of cooperation in relation to different issues.

 Role and participation of various social groups and of the business community in metropolitan governance and related practices.

 Information concerning metropolitan financing and budgeting. Is there a metropolitan budget? How is it composed? What body/bodies is responsible for managing it?

 Metropolitan level spatial development, governance and planning tools and relevant sectoral tools (strategic plans, financial programmes and other coordination tools). With particular attention for their scope, the bodies that are responsible for their development and implementation, the financial coverage, the time frame etc. 2. EU cohesion policy architecture

 The institutional architecture of cohesion policy in the country, with particular reference to the role of the metropolitan level.

 The instruments used to programme and implement the EU cohesion policy (ROPs, NOPS, ITI, CLLD, other inter-institutional agreement for the transfer of funds) and their thematic scope.

 The actual bodies that are responsible for developing, managing and implementing these tools, with particular attention to the metropolitan level.

 The involvement of private operators and/or civil society in the development and implementation of these tools.

 Any formal/informal mechanism aimed at coordinating metropolitan development/planning/sectoral tools and priorities with the EU cohesion policy tools and priorities.

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INCEPTION REPORT // ESPON METRO – The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities

 Any relevant changes that will occur in the programming period 2021-2027. 3. Reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic

 Relevant initiatives put in place at the metropolitan/city level to (i) limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and (ii) react to it and invert the negative socioeconomic trends it triggered and (iii) prepare for similar events in the future.

 Role of the EU cohesion policy funds, the EU recovery fund and of the resources of the European Stability Mechanism in relation to these initiatives. 4. Stakeholder’s objective and policy needs

 Objectives and policy needs concerning the enhancement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the governance of cohesion policy at the metropolitan level;

 Objectives and policy needs concerning the added value that cohesion policy could provide in implementing metropolitan policies and achieving metropolitan spatial development goals;

 Objectives and policy needs concerning the added value that cohesion policy could provide in favouring the institution and consolidation of metropolitan governance structures and cooperation practices. 5. Preliminary hypotheses

 Preliminary hypotheses in relation to the identified objectives and policy needs. 6. Actors and policy processes

 Preliminary list of the actors that should be engaged with in relation to each case in order to answer the stakeholder’s policy needs and the project’s overall policy questions.

 Preliminary list of any relevant policy process that is currently ongoing, to engage with through participatory observation.

The result of this preliminary analytical activity is a work in progress, and is presented in the following sections in the form of working materials. In this light, the materials included in relation to each case are by no means complete or exhaustive and will undergo several revision steps as a consequence of the project’s activity.

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Metropolitan city of Turin

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1 Metropolitan City of Turin

1.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy

1.1.1 Institutional features of metropolitan cooperation

1.1.1.1 Institutional framework

The Metropolitan City of Turin (CMTo) is a wide area, second level local authority which replaced the former Province of Turin from January 1st, 2015. Metropolitan Cities (MC) are administrative units formally established in Italy by the reform of local authorities (National Law 56/20141), replacing the respective Province authorities.

According to law 56/2014, the President of metropolitan cities is the mayor of the main city, therefore for CMTo is the mayor of the City of Turin, and the council is elected among the mayors and city councilors of the municipalities. CMTo works in a very fragmented environment, where the power and competences are distributed among different (public and private) bodies. Therefore, it is not easy to develop integrated policies.

Furthermore, a number of other metropolitan cooperation activities exists, that concerns portions of the metropolitan city territory2:

. 3 Local Action Groups . 16 Unions of Mountain Municipalities . 9 Unions of Municipalities

1.1.1.2 Geographical and thematic scope of metropolitan cooperation

The Metropolitan City of Turin brings together 312 municipalities, covering a very large and heterogeneous territory, from dense urban areas to small towns and villages, much larger than the functional urban area of Turin (Map 1.1). It is the largest metropolitan city in Italy, fourth in population size (2.2Mln inhabitants) and seventh in population density (330 inh/km2). The Metropolitan city still performs all the functions of the previous Province authority. Moreover, according to Law 56/2014, metropolitan cities have the following further functions3:

. Adoption, with annual update, of the metropolitan strategic plan (valid for three years), which con- stitutes a fundamental platform for the institution and for the performance of functions of towns and municipalities unions included in the territory;

. Comprehensive territorial planning, which also includes communication facilities and networks of infrastructure and services belonging to the competence of the metropolitan community. Compre- hensive planning can also impose constraints and objectives to the activity of the municipalities in the metropolitan area;

1 Known as “Delrio reform” (named after the Ministry in charge of the process of power devolution and institutional reorganization), this law sought to transform all Italian provinces into second level institutions with non-elected assemblies and to reduce their jurisdiction. Provinces that incorporated major regional capital cities were abolished and replaced with “metropolitan cities”. 2 A number of other institutional or policy-based supra-municipal cooperation initiatives exists, that are more or less related to the cohesion policy: Territorial Pacts, River Agreements, Corona Verde, Interreg Alcotra projects, etc. However, they are not addressed in this preliminary overview. 3 Clause 1, subsection 44, Law n. 56/2014. 12 ESPON // espon.eu

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. Organization of coordinated management system of public services and of general public services concerning the area. In agreement with the municipalities included, the metropolitan city can perform the task of preparing the contracting documents, monitoring of service contracts, organizing competitions and selection procedures;

. Planning of mobility and road networks, ensuring compatibility and consistency of the municipal urban planning within metropolitan area;

. Promotion and coordination of economic and social development, ensuring support to economic activities and innovative researches that are coherent with the vocation of the metropolitan city as outlined in the strategic plan;

. Promotion and coordination of the digitalization system.

Map 1.1 Metropolitan City of Turin

Source: authors’ own elaboration

In view of its heterogeneity and wideness, that ranges from the urbanised area of Turin and its surrounding municipalities to rural plain and hill areas, up to the mountain areas bordering with France and Valle d’Aosta, CMTo is divided in 11 “homogeneous zones” defined by functionality and territorial criteria, as a result of a complex analytical process which considered a number of different existing structures and boundaries. These zones do not comply with the OECD typology of Functional Urban Areas. Unions of Municipalities (for municipalities counting less than 5.000 inhabitants) are aimed at the associated planning and management of municipal services. ESPON // espon.eu 13

INCEPTION REPORT // ESPON METRO – The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities

Local Action Groups are responsible of the implementation of the CLLD programmes (former Leader).

1.1.1.3 Role of social groups and the business community in metropolitan governance

A voluntary governance structure (Torino Internazionale) developed in 2015 a Strategic Plan for the Metro- politan Area (Turin + 37 surrounding municipalities) “Piano Strategico Torino 2025”, fostering metropolitan governance and socioeconomic development of Turin Metropolitan Area. The members of the Association were the Municipality of Turin, Chamber of Commerce of Turin, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo (a bank foundation), Politecnico and Università degli Studi di Torino. This is the result of a metropolitan cooperation activity that has started in the second half of the 1990s, and that through time has led to the approval of two other strategic plans for the metropolitan area (the first one in 1999, the second one in 2006). How- ever, this plan has not been implemented, also due to the establishment, in 2015, of CMTo, and Torino Internazionale is no more operative. Institutions and local stakeholders have been involved in the strategic plan developed by CMTo for 2018- 2020, and are involved in the ongoing definition of the strategic plan 2021-2023. CMTO’s strategic plans are statutory plans that de facto led to the abandonment of the document produced under Torino Internazionale.

1.1.1.4 Participation to policy networks

CMTo participates to several international and national policy networks. International:

. EUROMONTANA - European association of mountain areas . METREX - The Network of European Metropolitan Regions and Areas . Metropolis - the global network of major cities and metropolitan areas . FORUM LED – World Forum of Local Economic Development . FORUM EMA - European Metropolitan Authorities

National:

. ANCI – National Association of Italian Municipalities . UNCEM - National Association of Mountain Municipalities . INU – National Institute of Urban Planning . Metropoli Strategiche – Network of Metropolitan Cities promoted by a project funded by the NOP Governance 2014-2020.

1.1.1.5 Metropolitan financing

Today, Italian Metropolitan Cities can count on the taxation inherited from the former provinces, such as the tax on third-party liability insurances, the so-called environmental tax, the solid waste tax, the provincial quote on personal income taxes (IRPEF), etc. Altogether, the Metropolitan Cities can count on tax resources ranging from 50 to 100 euros per capita, depending on the area. The margins of manoeuvrability are really tight (Agnoletti et al., 2016; Servizio Studi Camera dei Deputati, 2020). In this respect, financial autonomy appears to be a highly relevant issue, given that metropolitan cities, as the Italian Constitutional Court puts it, are ‘entities also enjoying a supranational relevance when it comes to access EU funds’ and are provided with own powers and functions, distinct from those of the municipalities. Boggero, 2016). Moreover, they can also receive delegated tasks from municipalities, ‘which are likely to be funded not only via State or regional transfers but also by means of local taxes and charges, but in any case not by compulsory contributions of municipalities as it happens in other jurisdictions for second-tier local authorities (in Germany, for instance)’ (ibid: 8) The substantial spending review measures imposed on provinces and metropolitan cities have deeply affected the financial arrangements of these entities. Over the last few years, in order to overcome the financial

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difficulties that had arisen, the necessary resources have been allocated for the exercise of the basic functions of provinces and metropolitan cities as well as to support investments (Servizio Studi Camera dei Deputati, 2020). Since 2019, an experimental fund for rebalancing the provinces (Fondo sperimentale di riequilibiro delle province) has been finally introduced4.

1.1.1.6 Metropolitan level spatial development, governance and planning tools and relevant sectoral tools

As mentioned above, according to the law 56/14, metropolitan cities are responsible for the development of the metropolitan strategic plan, that is valid for three years and updated annually. The Metropolitan Strategic Plan is the guidance and programming document for the social, economic and environmental development of the metropolitan area. It defines the general, sectorial and cross-cutting development objectives for the metropolitan area and identifies the priorities for intervention, the resources needed to pursue them, the timing and way of implementation.

The spatial planning process is embedded within the overall national and regional spatial governance and planning system. According to the latter, the regional authorities, the provinces, the metropolitan authority (where existing) and the municipal authorities perform different spatial governance and planning functions and are responsible for the preparation of the following instruments:

. Regional level: Regional Territorial Plan (PTR) and Regional Landscape Plan (PPR), which focus on the whole regional territory;

. Metropolitan and provincial level: Metropolitan General and Coordination Spatial Plan (PTGM) developed by the metropolitan authority and the Provincial Coordination Spatial Plan (PTCP) developed by the province authority.

. Sub-regional and/or sub-provincial level: for particular geographical areas or for the implementation of specific projects or complex policies, the Operational Territorial Projects (PTO), are developed in relation to specific sub-regional or sub-provincial areas.

. Municipal level: General Spatial Plan (PRG) developed by the 312 municipalities (including the Municipality of Turin), either autonomously or in inter-municipal association. According to a ministerial decree, issued on 4 August 2017 by the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, which set out the guidelines for Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), it is compulsory for all the Italian metropolitan cities to produce the SUMP, a strategic planning tool including a long-term vision for the urban mobility system that aims to achieve a set of environmental, economic and social objectives.

Table 1.1 Main plans and programmes from the regional to the local level

Plan/Programme Level Responsible Focus Time frame Regional Territorial Regional Region Spatial planning Plan

Strategic Metropoli- CMTo Comprehensive - 2021-2023 Metropolitan tan Plan strategic

Metropolitan Gen- CMTo Spatial planning Under definition – eral and Coordina- Metropolitan will last 10 years tion Spatial Plan

4 The fund was set by law in 2012, but its application has then been delayed from year to year by means of specific legal provisions and confirmed in full as from 2019 by Article 1(896) of the Budget Law for 2019 (Law No 145/2018). ESPON // espon.eu 15

INCEPTION REPORT // ESPON METRO – The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities

Plan/Programme Level Responsible Focus Time frame

Metropolitan Sus- CMTo Mobility 2020-2030 tainable Urban Mo- Metropolitan bility Plan

Municipalities / Un- n.a. General Urban Municipal ions of municipali- Plan ties

Source: authors’ own elaboration

1.1.2 Cohesion policy 2014-2020

1.1.2.1 Institutional architecture of cohesion policy in the country

The cohesion policy is implemented in Italy through 75 European National (NOP) and Regional (ROP) Op- erational Programs:

. 12 National Operational Programs (NOPs): the NOPs are managed at national level and cover the entire territory. Each of them has a thematic scope of particular relevance for the country. They are related to specific competencies of the national level, not shared with the regions or in relation to investments to be made at supra regional level. The themes identified by the Italian NOPs for the 2014-2020 programming period are: infrastructure, culture, legality, business, research, urban policies, governance, social inclusion, youth, employment, school, rural development and fisheries. In principle, the NOP “Metropolitan Cities” and the NOP “Governance and Institutional Capacity” are the most relevant to metropolitan cooperation and governance.

. 39 Regional Operational Programs (ROPs): are owned by a local Administration (Region or Auton- omous Province), concern the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European So- cial Fund (ESF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (PSR FEASR), depending on the types of funds made available to the Regions in relation to regional specific competencies. Most of them are monofund, some are multifund (ERDF-ESF).

. 21 Rural Development Programs: for each of the 21 Italian regions or autonomous province, a RDP concerning EAFRD

. National Operational Programs for Rural Development (EAFRD). . 1 National Operational Program for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (EMFF). To reinforce the institutional governance and administrative capacity for managing the cohesion policy funds, the programming, coordination, monitoring and accompanying action of the cohesion policy have been assigned to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Agency for Territorial Cohesion.

1.1.2.2 Tools to programme and implement cohesion policy

The most relevant tools to programme and implement cohesion policy at the metropolitan level in the CMTo are: . National operational programme “Metropolitan cities 2014-2020” - PON METRO

. Regional Operational Programmes ESF and ERDF 2014-2020 . Rural Development Plan 2014-2020 (EAFRD fund) . Community Led Local Development – Leader: Local Development Programmes defined by Local Action Groups, funded by the RDP.

. National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI) – Valli di Lanzo

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1.1.2.3 Bodies responsible for developing and implementing the tools

The management of the Operational Programmes is entrusted to the Managing Authorities (MA). The State may, for some specific NOPs, exercise this function. The MA may choose to delegate the execution of certain tasks to Intermediate Bodies (IB). IBs, that can be public or private, are appointed to the development of certain tasks or for the management of part of an operational programme on behalf of the managing authority with regard to beneficiaries implementing operations. In the NOP METRO, capital cities of Metropolitan Cities are identified as Urban Authorities (art. 7 EU regulation 1301/2013) and are Intermediate Bodies appointed by the Agency for Territorial Cohesion, which is the Managing Authority. The City of Turin is IB for the NOP Metro in the CMTo. The Region is the main institution involved as Managing Authority in the Regional Operational Programmes. The Region involves in the design of the plan all the regional public authorities, economic, social and institutional actors relevant for the implementation such as provinces, municipalities, chambers of commerce, trade unions, universities, bank foundations. The engagement is carried on according to the “partnership agreement”5. Metropolitan Cities can be appointed by Regions as IBs for the ROPs ESF or ERDF. CMTo is an intermediate body in relation to some activities of the Piedmont’s ROP ESF.6 Two sectors are responsible for this fund: Education and Welfare; Productive Activities. CMTo is also member of the regional stakeholders’ group dealing with the ERDF and ESF, but as a sort of formal way of engagement, without much room for action. The SNAI is governed by a Technical Committee which is coordinated by the Department for the Cohesion Policy of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and involves a number of sectoral ministries. Moreover, in each project area regional, provincial and local authorities and stakeholders are involved in the technical committee. CMTo is not involved in the SNAI process for Valli di Lanzo. Finally, CMTo is beneficiary of several EU projects (direct funds or ERDF coming from territorial cooperation programs), through which it has the possibility to make up for the limited involvement in the management of the cohesion policy funds and to try to catalyse EU funds on their territorial development priorities

1.1.2.4 Private operators and civil society involved in developing and implementing the tools

As regards CLLD, the authorities that are responsible for its implementation are the Local Action Groups, which Local Development Programmes (PSL) are approved and funded by the Region within the RDP (EAFRD). The programme finances interventions ranging from support to the agricultural and productive sector, tourism, environment, services and culture, according to procedures and standards established by the European Community and the Region, but it is the local partnership that indicates on which sectors and interventions it intends to base its development strategy. Local Action Groups are responsible for the implementation of CLLD, deciding through their Local Development Programs on which sectors and interventions to invest the resources of the EAFRD. The Region assigns the funds to LAGs, which then manage selection procedures and the distribution of investment. LAGs are public-private bodies (private in majority, public bodies cannot represent more than 49% of the decision-making body), governed by both private and public laws.

1.1.2.5 Formal or informal coordination mechanisms

The Metropolitan City of Turin has established in 2019 the "European and International Projects and Pro- grams" Specialized Unit within its Economic Development Department.

5 See https://opencoesione.gov.it/it/lavori_preparatori_2021_2027/

6 The Region has recently modified the Law and the education and welfare competence has been reduced. In the future we will be not more IB for this. ESPON // espon.eu 17

INCEPTION REPORT // ESPON METRO – The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities

The activation of this function takes place at a particularly relevant moment: the European cohesion policy 2021-2027 programming period includes for the first time a Strategic Objective (SO) specifically dedicated to territorial development strategies: the SO5, i.e. "a Europe closer to citizens, by supporting locally-led development strategies and sustainable urban development across the EU". Two specific objectives are assigned to the Specialized Unit:

. Promotion and coordination of projects to be funded with supranational resources, ensuring the consistency with the Metropolitan fundamental functions and the strategic plan.

. Positioning of the metropolitan City of Turin strategies with respect to European programming

1.1.2.6 Relevant initiatives to limit the impact of COVID-19

CMTo is, to some extent, involved in managing the emergency, due to a partial competence of civil protection. However, as regards the recovery fund, the EU dialogues with member states, and in Italy then the dialogue is State-Regions, also involving representatives from the business community (Confindustria) and the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI). CMTo is involved by the latter in third place, to propose projects and priorities for action.

1.2 Objectives and policy needs

1.2.1 Efficiency and effectiveness of the governance of cohesion policy at the metropolitan level

As regards Metropolitan cooperation, CMTo works in a very fragmented environment, therefore it is not easy to develop integrated policies at the metropolitan level. There are some sub-regional aggregations that suc- cessfully cooperate for spatial planning, management of services and local development (such as the Unions of Municipalities and the LAGs), and there have been successful policy-based or project-based experiences of institutional cooperation. However, they belong to partial aggregations and are managed independently from CMTo. Whereas the governance system is core-town oriented, in the strategic and spatial planning process of CMTo all the local administrations of the metropolitan area are involved, through thematic and territorial working groups, the latter based on the “homogenous zones”. Effective and successful processes rely on the commitment of the persons involved. Local administrations, especially small ones in rural and mountain areas, are not often feeling as very engaged in the processes led by CMTo - don’t see the ad- vantage of cooperation: proximity matters. The main need is to support the engagement of local administrations and systematize units and processes of metropolitan government in an integrated governance system. As regards the governance of cohesion policy, despite the high level of institutionalization, CMTo presently does not play a relevant role in the development and management of the EU cohesion policy (IB for ESF7 and rather formal role in the inter-institutional platform for ERDF). The Region (and the national level) remain the main actor. A number of initiatives exist, that use ESI funds to promote local development (CLLD, SNAI, …). However, CMTo is not playing a relevant role within the latter. Other tools are available, but not adopted in the region (ITI). What is the room for CMTo to increase its influence on the development and implementation of the EU cohesion policy, in a way that the latter takes into account the metropolitan dimension to a more reasonable extent?

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1.2.2 Added value of cohesion policy - metropolitan policies and spatial development goals

The cohesion policy influences all the policies at the national and regional level. It is clear that also the metropolitan goals have to be really linked to the CP. CMTo would like to receive recommendations on how to develop synergies between metropolitan goals (included in the Metropolitan planning tools but not provided with autonomous budget) and EU cohesion policy goals. In so doing facilitating the achievement of metropolitan goals. In principle, it is rather easy to plug CMTo’s territorial development goals into the CP goals, as the latter are rather broad. In this light, the main issue concerns to open channels of influence on the development and management of CP funds.

1.2.3 Added value of cohesion policy - metropolitan governance structures and cooperation practices

The nature of the MC, as outlined by the Delrio reform (see note 1), is that of a "systemic institution", more relational than regulatory. Such a nature presupposes that a large part of the body's activity is based on the construction of relations with bodies of different levels (municipalities, Region and State) on the one hand, and with civil society on the other (valorising the contributions of the social community, the public-private partnership, the contribution of the third sector, etc.). In this perspective, the Metropolitan City should be considered as the pivotal coordination body of the local governance system, and needs to be clearly recog- nised within the ESIF programming. However, this does not occur yet to a full extent, due to the fragmentation of the territory CMTo is responsible for and of its governance mechanisms and dynamics. In this light, CMTo awaits recommendations on what changes in the Cohesion policy architecture (e.g. play a role in the management of (a dedicated share of) the EU cohesion policy funding) could facilitate the process of involvement of municipalities and local stakeholders in a way that is more effective and efficient, hence contributing to strengthen the cooperation activities within its territory and consolidate its relational competence.

1.2.4 Hypotheses

. Italian Metropolitan Cities hold the institutional competences, organisational structures and relevance to territorial development dynamics that would be necessary to efficiently territorialise the EU cohesion policy.

. The fragmentation of competences and roles within the very broad territory of CMTo limits the effectiveness of metropolitan governance and of the EU cohesion policy.

. MCs are institutional bodies performing strategic and spatial development functions, but their relevance as metropolitan bodies is not yet properly acknowledged in the institutional architecture of the EU cohesion policy.

. Neither the regional nor the municipal level are adequate to represent metropolitan development goals and territorialise the EU cohesion policy in metropolitan areas.

. Metropolitan areas’ needs and goals are not sufficiently represented in the definition and implementation of the EU cohesion policy.

. A more direct role of CMTo in planning and management of cohesion funds would increase the impact of the cohesion policy on metropolitan development goals.

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1.2.5 List of actors / processes

Table 1.2 List of actors to engage

Actor Body Role Reason

Italian Agency for Territorial Co- Presidency of the Council of Technical Key role in the manage- hesion Ministers ment of cohesion policy and implementation of European and national programmes

Direzione Coordinamento Politi- Regione Piemonte Technical Coordination of Euro- che e Fondi Europei – Settore pean Structural Funds Coordinamento Fondi Strutturali and Cross-border coop- Europei e Fondi Transfrontalieri eration Funds Europei

Direzione Competitività del si- Regione Piemonte Technical ROP ERDF: Inner areas, stema regionale - Settore Svi- Digital Agenda, Inte- luppo sostenibile e Qualifica- grated territorial pro- zione del Sistema produttivo del grams territorio

Direzione Agricoltura e Cibo – Regione Piemonte Technical RDP - LEADER/CLLD Settore Programmazione e coordinamento sviluppo rurale e agricoltura sostenibile

Direzione Ambiente, Energia e Regione Piemonte Technical Spatial and landscape Territorio – Settore Territorio e planning paesaggio

Direzione Ambiente, Energia e Regione Piemonte Technical Spatial planning Territorio – Settore copianifica- zione urbanistica area nord- ovest

Direzione Sviluppo Economico – Metropolitan City of Turin Technical settore Progetti e programmi Eu- ropei e Internazionali

Direzione Generale - Pianifica- Metropolitan City of Turin Technical zione, Programmazione e Con- trollo Strategico – Dipartimento territorio, edilizia e viabilità

Programma Mip - Mettersi in Metropolitan City of Turin Technical Regional system to sup- proprio port business creation and self-employment in Piedmont (ROP FSE)

Direzione Attività Produttive Metropolitan City of Turin Technical Intermediate Body ESF

Direzione Istruzione, pari oppor- Metropolitan City of Turin Technical Intermediate Body ESF tunità e Welfare

Area Pianificazione e Controllo Agenzia della Mobilità Pie- Technical In charge of public montese transport in the MC

LAG - Escartons e Valli Val- CLLD Leader desi

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Actor Body Role Reason

LAG - Valli del Canavese CLLD Leader

LAG - Valli di Lanzo, Ce- CLLD Leader ronda e Casternone

Gruppo tecnico di valuta- CLLD Leader zione Leader

Unions of Municipalities Mayor

Source: authors’ own elaboration

1.2.6 Ongoing policymaking processes

The following ongoing policymaking processes may be worth to engage with through participant observation:

. Strategic Metropolitan Plan . Metropolitan Genearl Spatial Development Plan . Metropolitan Sustainabile Urban Mobility Plan . Metropolitan Agenda for Sustainable Development

1.3 References

Agnoletti C., Ferretti C., Lattarulo P., Massaro M., 2016, Strumenti per l’autonomia finanziaria delle Città metropolitane, EyesReg, Vol.6, N.6. Available at: https://www.eyesreg.it/2016/strumenti-per-lautonomia-finanziaria-delle-citta-metropolitane/ Boggero, G., 2016. The Establishment of Metropolitan Cities in Italy: An Advance or a Setback for Italian Regionalism?. Perspectives on Federalism, 8(3), E-1. Servizio Studi Camera dei Deputati, 2020. La fiscalità delle province e il Fondo sperimentale di riequilibrio. Available at: https://www.camera.it/temiap/documentazione/temi/pdf/1129942.pdf?_1577918363720

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Barcelona Metropolitan Area

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2 Barcelona Metropolitan Area

2.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy

2.1.1 Metropolitan governance and institutional architecture

2.1.1.1 Metropolitan areas in Spain

In the Spanish context, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) is the only metropolitan government (together with an unsuccessful attempt to create the Vigo Metropolitan Area in Galicia). The current legal framework grants Autonomous Communities the competences to create, modify and abolish metropolitan areas. However, neither regional governments nor the central government have been very active in the creation and consolidation of such entities (Martí-Costa, 2018). In fact, Spain’s model of local government has tradi- tionally not favoured the creation of supra-municipal bodies of government (Heinelt & Kübler, 2005; Tavares & Feiock, 2017). There are generalized resistances and a lack of interest for the consolidation of metropolitan institutions from the various levels of government, either local, regional, and national (Hildenbrand, 2017). And particularly, there is a low confidence among local political elites towards the most institutionalized models of metropolitan governance, that are seen as interfering with local autonomy (Medir et al., 2018).

2.1.1.2 Social and economic characteristics of Barcelona metropolitan region

The metropolitan area is composed of 36 municipalities (the municipality is the smallest administrative unit): Barcelona and 35 contiguous municipalities, with a total population of 3.2 million in a total area of 636 km (Map 2.1). The population density is 5,093 inhabitants per km2, and the 52% of the territory is forest, beaches and unoccupied land, 20% is dedicated to residential uses, and 7% to industrial use (the rest is dedicated to infrastructures, facilities, parks). The population is equally distributed between the municipality of Barcelona (1,636,762 inhabitants, 49.7%) and the rest of the 35 municipalities (1,654,892 inhabitants), showing a great difference between the central municipality and the rest: the second largest municipality is L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (264,923 inhabitants representing 8% of the total metro population), and the smallest is La Palma de Cervelló (2,954 inhabitants and 0.1% of the total population). By gender 51.5% of the AMB population are women and 48.5% are men. Life expectancy for men is 79.25 years and for women is 85.12 years. There is a significant share of foreign population (22% in 2019), and from other regions in Spain (19%). Although, most residents have been born in the same AMB, 54.2% and only 5% are from other parts of Catalonia. In relation to the economic structure, labor is mainly concentrated in service activities (86% in 2019), as expected for metropolitan areas. In addition, almost half of workers are employed in knowledge-intensive activities (47.4%), which is a higher share to that of Catalonia (42%). Industry represents 9.3% of the working population and construction is the 4.6%. In Gross Value-Added terms the distribution is similar: services 84%, industry 12% and construction 4%. In the context of Catalonia (this is, NUTS2, which includes Barcelona NUTS3, which includes the AMB, the municipalities that are part of the AMB represent the main agglomeration of population and economic activity. Specifically, 43% of the total Catalan population live in an area that represents 2% of the territory of Catalo- nia. However, it represents 52% of jobs and 52% of the total GDP. In relation to Spain the AMB represents 7% of the population, and 9% of the national GDP. It should be noted that the territory of AMB is characterized by an intense relationship with the surrounding territory in terms of economic and labour market, but also leisure and other non-commercial relations. In fact, it can be argued that the AMB is a very prominent and central part of a larger functional metropolitan area. Actually, Barcelona’s FUA comprises 135 municipalities adding up more than 5 million inhabitants, see Map 2.1. Besides, if we take into account labour mobility flows the functional metropolitan area of Barcelona would have a much larger dimension: up to 164 municipalities and 5,155,174 inhabitants, representing 67% of the population and around 70% of the GDP of Catalonia.

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Map 2.1 Barcelona Metropolitan Area

Click or tap here to enter text.

Eurostat has recently published statistics for Metropolitan Regions. They consider territories within one or more NUTS3 representing agglomerations of minimum 250,000 inhabitants. In all 28 EU countries, Eurostat identifies a total of 288 Metropolitan Regions in 2016. In the case of Barcelona, the Metropolitan Region corresponds to the province of Barcelona (Map 2.1), being the 4th Metropolitan Region in terms of population and 8th in terms of GDP of all European Metropolitan Regions. In conclusion, the AMB is a part of a much larger metropolitan area. That is, some municipalities are not integrated in the metropolitan authority even though they are part of the functional region. That poses some relevant problems in terms of coordination and de facto effectiveness in implementing metropolitan-type policies. This can be clearly seen in the following map (Figure 2.1). AMB municipalities have strong relations, not only between them, but also with other municipalities located outside the AMB, that is the outer Metro- politan Region ring.

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Figure 2.1 Labor mobility flows: the larger metropolitan functional area of Barcelona

Source: IERMB from population census 2011, INE, and ICC (Institut d’Estudis Cartogràfic de Catalunya).

2.1.1.3 The evolution of metropolitan governance in Barcelona

The current institutional model of the AMB is defined by the Law 31/2010 of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. However, it has been preceded by other metropolitan bodies, the most important one being the Met- ropolitan Corporation of Barcelona (MCB), a body for urban planning created in 1974. The MCB was abolished in 1987 by the Catalan parliament due to a combination of the political struggles between local and regional leaders, and what was perceived as an excessive power gained by the metropolitan corporation (Tomàs, 2017b). The political and personal leadership of the mayor of Barcelona, Pasqual Maragall, was seen by other local and regional powers as excessive presidentialism and a use of the metropolitan entity as a political platform. Particularly, in the years after the Spanish transition, in which the decentralization process was still under constructions and regional governments were assuming and consolidating their powers, the role of the MCB, and Maragall particularly, raised some reluctance about the metropolitan government becoming a counter- weight to the Catalan government. That coincided with an international context in which the economic recession in the early 1980s and the rise of Tatcherism did not favored an agenda of metropolitan reform and consolidation. In those same years, not

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only the MCB but many of the most iconic metropolitan governments created during the 1970s were abolished: Greater London, Greater Copenhagen, Rotterdam… (Sharpe, 1991; 1995). After its abolition, the tasks and responsibilities that once were granted to the MCB were assumed by three sectorial entities: the Metropolitan Transport Entity for Transport, the Metropolitan Entity of Water and Waste Treatment and the Association of Municipalities of the Metropolitan Area. In the 2003 regional elections, the win of a left-wing coalition leaded by the former mayor of Barcelona himself put the metropolitan reform again high in the agenda. During the process of institutional design, the main will among many regional and local political elites was to limit the powers and centrality of Barcelona and to lower the political profile of the outcoming metropolitan entity. In this sense, the will to re-build a metropolitan government was more related to a pragmatic interest for policy and service coordination rather than a desire to build metropolitan political power (Tomàs, 2017b).

2.1.1.4 The Metropolitan Authority of Barcelona

In 2010 the Catalan parliament passed the Law 31/2010 which constituted the current AMB. The framework that offers the Law 31/2010 regarding its tasks and prerogatives shapes a true “local government” at the metropolitan scale (Font, 2018). The Law grants the AMB a broad framework for action through both exclu- sive competences and those that can be delegated from municipalities and upper-level administrations (urban planning, mobility and public transport, environment, housing, economic development and social policies). Nevertheless, the government action of AMB goes beyond the powers included in the Law such as is the case of international relations and development cooperation. The Law also defines its governing bodies and funding. However, it still has little fiscal autonomy and a fragile source of democratic legitimacy. First, its bodies of government are indirectly elected and there are few mechanisms and spaces for public participation and deliberation. The metropolitan government is constituted by three bodies: the Metropolitan Council, the President and its vice-presidents, and the Council of Mayors. The main decision-making body is the Metropolitan Council, formed by the mayors and councilors elected in the local elections. Among other powers it is responsible for the election of the President among their members. In this respect, the AMB lacks democratic legitimacy based on the direct election of its governing bodies. Instead its main source of legitimacy lies in its ability to manage and provide effectively public goods and services. Second, the AMB is mainly funded by transfers from municipalities and by its own taxes (Tomàs, 2017a). The Metropolitan Council is responsible for the approval and modification of the budget. Despite its relevance in terms of population and GDP, the AMB is financially weak in contrast to other administrations in the area of Barcelona (see figure).

Figure 2.2 Budget by level of government in Barcelona, 2019

3000

2500

2000

1500 2654 1000M€

500 751 955 0 Metropolitan Area Province Municipality Source: Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, Provincial Deputation of Barcelona, and Barcelona City Council.

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On the other hand, there are several governance instruments at both the metropolitan area and region. The AMB owns sectoral plans and programs in relation to hard policy areas such as urban planning (PDU), mobility and transport (PMMU), waste management (PREMET25), or climate and energy (Pla Clima). In addition, all these plans and programs have been first experiences of public participation at the metropolitan level, but they have not functioned in a coordinated way. There are other sectoral participation bodies owned by the metropolitan government –or dependent bodies, such as the Economic Reactivation and Reindustri- alization Table or the MTA (Metropolitan Transport Authority) Mobility Council. Finally, there has been not developed a strategic plan at the metropolitan area level, though there have been some attempts to do so. At the regional level (MRB), there are two major governance instruments. The Catalan government owns the territorial plans, which at the metropolitan level is the Metropolitan Territorial Plan of Barcelona and it is mandatory for both the local and metropolitan authorities. The only instrument of governance in the metropolitan region in relation to other soft policies is the metropolitan strategic plan 2030. It is owned by the Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan (PEMB), a public-private association composed by public administration and the main economic and social agents in the metropolitan region (see table 2.1).

Table 2.1 Main plans and programmes in the metropolitan area/region

Plan/programme Level Responsible Focus Time frame Statutory Metropolitan Territorial Sectorial (land use) Approved in Regional Catalan gov Yes Plan of Barcelona – Spatial planning 2010

To be ap- Barcelona Strategic Plan Comprehensive – Regional AMB proved in No (PEMB) Strategic Plan 2021

Mobility Plan (Pla Direc- Regional Catalan gov Sectoral -Mobility 2020-2025 Yes tor)

Metropolitan Action Plan Comprehensive – Metro AMB 2019-2023 No (PAM) Government Plan

Draft ap- Metropolitan Urban Mas- Sectoral - Urban- Metro AMB proved in Yes ter Plan (PDU) ism 2020

Metropolitan Urban Mo- Sectoral – Urban Metro AMB 2019-2024 Yes bility Plan (PMMU) mobility

Metropolitan Programme for Prevention and Man- Sectoral – Waste agement of Resources Metro AMB 2019-2025 No management and Municipal Waste (PREMET25)

Climate and Energy Plan Sectoral – Energy Metro AMB 2018-2030 No (Pla Clima) and environment

Source: IERMB.

All being said, after 10 years of the consolidation of the AMB, the current governance model is not ideal and is continuously being examined (PEMB, 2019). The most relevant debates around the metropolitan governance in Barcelona are the territorial scope, the full deployment of its responsibilities and its sources of democratic legitimacy.

First, it is now clearer than ever that the divergence between the MRB and the actual institutional arrangement of the AMB interferes in the adequate provision of services and the policy-making process. Moreover, the AMB does not include major metropolitan poles in the region such as the Terrassa-Sabadell pole or

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cities like Mataró and Granollers, which can barely participate in the decision-making of relevant and strategic issues to them. In this sense, there is a raising need for scaling up metropolitan governance instruments and for reconsidering the relations between the AMB and the MRB of the 5 million people. Second, once many metropolitan responsibilities are solidly consolidated (mostly hard policies, such as planning mobility, and waste management) there is a need for a second wave of policy deployment. In particular, there is a special potential in the deployment of social policies, in areas such as social and territorial cohesion, housing and economic development. In this sense, it is also necessary to strengthen the financial autonomy of the AMB. Finally, and in relation to the deployment of new policy areas, there is a need to strengthen the democratic pillars of the metropolitan governance in the Barcelona region. In this regard, there is a revival of the debates about the direct election of its bodies of government (particularly the Metropolitan Council and the President), and the development of a coherent and integrated system of public participation.

2.1.1.5 Metropolitan reaction to the Covid19

The COVID-19 has had a strong impact on the social and economic life of the metropolitan area of Barcelona and its citizens. The socio-economic context caused by the pandemic increases the need to establish and implement policies aimed at social and territorial cohesion, and to implement corrective measures to adapt to the new social, economic and financial contexts. The AMB has the aim to give maximum support to municipal initiatives that mitigate the effects of the crisis caused by the pandemic and, to deal with the situation, is developing a series of measures in relation to the exercise of its powers (included in article 14 of the Law of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona). Next are presented the most outstanding of these measures. It should be noted that although the first two were planned before the covid-19 pandemic (the environmental Sustainability Plan and the Program to improve the natural and urban landscape), the total amount of the investment has been doubled in response to it, reaching a total budget of 118.4 million euros.

(1) Environmental Sustainability Plan

The Environmental Sustainability Plan is an investment plan that aims to promote shared development projects between municipalities and the AMB to strengthen sustainable urban mobility policies and adapt them to new requirements arising from COVID-19, as well as promoting the ecological and energy transition. Actually, this plan is a compilation of measures AMB was already working on from different departments of the institution in the field of sustainability, that have been integrated and reinforced in a single Plan. The total budget of the Plan amounts to 110 million euros, divided in two programs: - the Program of investments endowed with 100 million euros which incorporates the AMB’s investments for the municipalities, either in direct execution or in cooperation with the town councils. This program will be deployed in 35 municipalities of the AMB, not including Barcelona - and the Program of projects and technical assistance, endowed with 10 million euros, which com- plements the direct work of the AMB in projects with external technical tasks linked to the Plan.

It is worth to mention that the allocation of these funds is characterized by the aim to be proportionate and, at the same time, to compensate for the inequalities that exist between metropolitan municipalities. The desire for proportionality is reflected in the allocation of a larger part of the resources based on the weight of the population of each municipality on the total population of the AMB (not including the municipality of Barcelona, due its size has a specific treatment). On the other side, in order to compensate for inequalities between municipalities, a part of the resources is allocated inversely proportional to the socio-economic level of each municipality. To do this, the data on the gross family income available per inhabitant for the year 2018 is taken as an indicator, which is weighted according to the respective population and it is applied to inverse way.

(2) Program of actions to improve the natural and urban landscape

The purpose of this Program, endowed with 8.4 million euros, is to invest in metropolitan river areas, recover degraded areas and integrate infrastructure. The ultimate goal of these investments is to consolidate, recover and improve the metropolitan green infrastructure, which in recent years has become a reference as

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a social and leisure space for the citizens of the metropolis of Barcelona and that, during this pandemic, has ratified and increased its importance. In this filed the AMB has a metropolitan tradition and experience of planning and managing open spaces from a supramunicipal perspective. The Program is part of the Metropolitan Investment Plan for the municipalities of the AMB for the period 2020-2023 and most of its projects will be co-financed, in part, by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The selection and financing of the projects will be by competitive concurrence: the city councils can present proposals and the AMB will study them and will choose the best ones based on criteria of metropolitan or plurimunicipal interest. Once the projects have been selected, the AMB will finance 50% of the cost and the city council will provide the other 50%. Subsequently, the AMB will draft the executive projects and will be responsible for the execution of the works.

(3) Metropolitan plan to support social cohesion, the local economy and the co-production of services (ApropAMB)

Another plan is the Metropolitan Plan to support social cohesion, the local economy and the co-production of services (named ApropAMB), which is structured in 3 programs and 8 lines of work. The three programs are: (1) Social policy reinforcement network; (2) Educational, digital and inclusive reinforcement; (3) Support to the networks of economic activity of the municipality. The ApropAMB Plan is endowed with a total of € 16,600,000 and prioritizes financial support for municipal initiatives presented within the framework of its three programs. Prior to the calculation of the variable allocations, a fixed amount of € 30,000 is guaranteed for each city council.

(4) Board for Economic Reactivation and Reindustrialization in the MAB

The Department of Social and Economic Development of the AMB launched on October 1 the Board for Economic Reactivation and Reindustrialization in the AMB. It is a participatory process mainly aimed at social agents, business organizations and unions, elected municipal representatives, organizations with economic interest in the territory (such as the Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan), and economic development public officers. The current Metropolitan Action Plan had already anticipated the implementation of this board, but the current situation, especially as a result of the deep crisis derived from the Covid19 pandemic, has strengthen the need to develop measures to face this severe and unprecedented situation. The main goal of the Board is to raise debates on the situation of the economy in the metropolitan territory taking into account the impact of the Covid19. In particular, its primary goals are to identify challenges and propose measures, that both municipalities and other social and institutional actors could implement, to strengthen the economic fabric, and build spaces that fosters economic growth and job creation. The initiative has a special focus on economic development, and inclusive and sustainable growth. Nevertheless, other proposals might be taken into account, particularly cross-cutting ones that bring together topics such as urban planning, mobility, energy, communications, the environment, and innovation, among others. Also, one of the side effects of this initiative could be an enhancement of the collaboration between metropolitan municipalities, as well as with other entities, that could result in an improvement on the metropolitan governance as a whole. The Board as such will not make use of any EU fund but is expected to identify projects and measures that will be considered for the EU recovery fund and, if necessary, the European Stability Mechanism.

2.1.2 The institutional architecture of cohesion policies in Spain

2.1.2.1 Introduction For the 2014-2020 period, the Common Strategic Framework establish the common goals at the European level. These goals are directly linked to the Europe 2020 strategy for a “smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”. And they are translated into actions from the diverse funds, including the ERDF, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Funds –in this period Spain does not receive Cohesion Funds. Following these principles each member State has to process a Partnership Agreement (PA) in collaboration with national social and economic actors, and in dialogue with the European Commission. Each PA

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establish the national strategy and priorities for these European funds, and particularly the specific goals of each fund, and the mechanisms to guarantee its effective and efficient execution. At the national level the programming process is the administrative mechanism by which the responsible authorities organize and allocate the funds in several multi-annual Operational Programmes (OP). For both the PA and the programming process, the State organizes a partnership with regional and local authorities, and economic and social agents. Each OP includes own strategic priorities and actions, the financial allocations, and evaluation and control systems. In addition, OP are built in specific geographical areas by the State member and other responsible authorities, either at the cross-border, national or sub-national level, depending on the governance arrangements in each member state. In the case of Spain, Operational Programmes are at the regional level (Regional Operational Programmes), that is the Autonomous Communities, and there is one multi-regional Operational Programme (or POPE) for the whole country. Currently there are two multi-regional Operative Programmes, one related to ERDF and other related to ESF. Also, Spain participate in a number of cross-border interregional programmes, such as the Interreg MED or Interreg Sudoe. In the 2014-2020 programming period Spain managed in total 22 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) operational programs, and 23 European Social Fund (ESF) operational programs. In total € 28.6 billion, from which the Catalan regional government is responsible of € 1.5 million.

Figure 2.3 Main plans and programmes in the metropolitan area/region

Source: IERMB from Parralejo Rodríguez & Vega Collado, 2012.

2.1.2.2 Regional and Urban Programmes

The Catalan ROP is focused in three priority area from the Europe 2020 strategy: innovation and knowledge (37% of the funding); business dynamism (47%) and green economy (16%). The green economy priority area is the most relevant for urban areas, in particular for the promotion of sustainable urban mobility. While local governments have had an active role during the elaboration and deployment of OP, that of the metropolitan government has been very limited (AMB, 2016, p. 22):

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The Barcelona Metropolitan Area did not play any role whatsoever in the different programming stages of the regional Operational Programmes in the period 2007-2013. Later, in the period 2014- 2020, the institution was called upon to participate in two meetings with the regional Managing Authority in the field of housing, and was consulted, albeit in a very informal way, with regard to public transportation and mobility. The institution is of the opinion that in Catalonia, as well as in Spain, there is no consideration given to big cities and metropolitan areas with respect to EU Struc- tural Funds. However, for the first time in the 2017 the Catalan regional government and the AMB reached an agreement by which the metropolitan government would manage 30 M€ ERDF under the Catalan ROP. That has been considered the biggest milestone in this 2014-2020 period in relation to European funding in metropolitan policies. The Catalan government reached this agreement with the AMB due to the alignment of the Metropolitan Action Plan 2019-2023 with the ROP priority areas. The funds are meant to strengthen already existing metropolitan projects, with a special emphasis in three areas: improving the use and quality of ICT in public services management and economic development; increase the energy efficiency of public buildings and infrastructures owned by them and by metropolitan councils; and the conservation, protection and development of natural systems. Beyond this agreement, the most relevant cohesion policies in relation to urban and metropolitan areas are the so-called urban ERDF. In the current period 2014-2020, urban development actions are carried out within the framework of four main programmes: Integrated Sustainable Urban Development Strategies (EDUSI in Spanish), URBACT, Innovative Urban Actions (UIA), and Singular Low Carbon Economy Projects (EBC). AMB is currently beneficiary of two of these projects. In order to contribute to the proper development of these programmes there are several thematic networks. In this case, the one responsible for the urban projects is the Urban Initiative Network (RIU in Spanish). The RIU functions as a coordination mechanism between the PA and POPE managing authorities (central government) and other agents, mainly regional and local governments. It is mainly responsible for the promotion and support in the management and evaluation of the funds, and as a communication instrument for results dissemination and sharing best practices.

Table 2.2 Urban ERDF programmes, goals and topics

Programmes Primary goal Main topics

 E-government & smart cities Financing integrated actions for sustainable  Efficiency and renewable energy urban development implemented by cities,  Cultural heritage EDUSI sub-regional or local bodies (art. 7 Regula-  Urban environment tion 1301/2013 on the ERDF)  Economic and social regeneration in deprived urban areas

 Improve capacity for policy delivery and Promoting local authorities networks in order participation URBACT to foster sustainable integrated urban devel-  Improve policy design opment. Three types of intervention: transna-  Improve policy implementation tional exchanges, capacity building, and dis-  Sharing knowledge and know-how semination

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 Air quality  Circular economy  Climate adaptation  Demographic change  Digital transition  Energy transition Testing innovative and unproven solution to  Housing UIA urban challenges  Integration of migrants and refugees  Jobs and skills (local economy)  Sustainable use of land and nature-based solutions  Urban mobility  Urban poverty  Urban security

Implementing low-carbon projects at the lo-  Energy saving and efficiency EBC cal level with an impact in reducing emis-  Sustainable urban mobility sions  Use of renewable energies

Source: IERMB.

At the metropolitan level in Barcelona, these are mainly developed by local authorities (see figure). Interest- ingly there is some level of coordination between metropolitan municipalities. For instance, the municipalities with an EDUSI in the metropolitan area have created a Metropolitan Newtork of EDUSI Cities8 in order to share experiences and best practices. AMB also participates in this network. However, we shall also note that the AMB, through the International Relations and Cooperation Area, has been an active partner in few of such programmes. First, it has partnered in a couple of projects under the URBACT programme (see table 2.3). In addition, through the participation in cross-border programmes (In- terreg MED and Interreg Sudoe), the AMB has also partnered in several projects such as MED MADRE (urban and peri-urban agriculture), SMART MED (smart tourism), GO-SUMP (sustainable urban mobility), or NanoSen-AQM (air quality monitoring)9

Table 2.3 Urban programmes in the Barcelona metropolitan area/region (URBACT, EDUSI, UIA)

Pro- Territorial Actions Lead partner gram scale RiConnect- Rethinking mobility infrastructure to recon- nect cities URBACT AMB Sub>urban. Reinventing the fringe Space4People - Co-creative planning processes to as- sess, evaluate and improve public space use for URBACT Badalona transport to create more attractive, accessible, inclusive and livable public spaces for people Metro. Area EDUSI Barcelona - Eix Besòs EDUSI B-MINCOME - Combining guaranteed minimum income and active social policies in deprived urban areas UIA Barcelona GBG_AS2C - Blue, Green & Grey. Adapting Schools to Climate Change Boosting Social Innovation-in European Cities URBACT

8 https://edusi.santboi.cat/2018/07/09/xarxa-metropolitana-de-ciutats-edusi/ 9 https://www.amb.cat/en/web/amb/area-internacional/programes-i-projectes 32 ESPON // espon.eu

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Genderedlandscape- Mapping the gendered landscape - A sustainable and tailor-made method for inclusion and urban development Pooling the urban commons as civic patrimony Stay Tuned! - Boosting the Frequency of Qualification URBinclusion - Co-creating new implementation solutions for poverty reduction in deprived urban areas Play and the City: an innovative paradigm for social in- URBACT Esplugues de Llobregat clusion, sustainability and place-making GAVIUS – From reactive to proactive public administra- UIA Gavà tions Music schools for social change URBACT L’Hospitalet de Llobregat EDUSI Sant Boi de Llobregat EDUSI Sant Boi de Llobregat EDUSI Santa Coloma EDUSI Santa Coloma de Gramenet ON BOARD_ Connecting cities through Education URBACT Vilawatt - Innovative local public-private-citizen partner- Viladecans UIA ship for energy governance BLUegrowth cities in ACTion URBACT Yes We Rent! - Leveraging vacant private property to Mataró UIA build up a cooperative affordable housing scheme AGRI-URBAN. European network for the promotion of URBACT Mollet del Vallès agri-food employment in small and medium-sized cities Metro. EDUSI Sabadell EDUSI Region Sabadell Get into the swing of the City! URBACT ALT/BAU – Alternative Building Activation Units URBACT Vilafranca del Penedès Tech Revolution URBACT Vilanova i La Geltrú

Source: IERMB from Red de Iniciativas Urbanas (RIU).

2.2 Objectives and policy needs

2.2.1 Policy needs

The policy needs of the AMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Area) are stated in the Terms of Reference, in the METRO Project Proposals, and in the meeting with the AMB: recommendations concerning the capitalization of the work developed under the present cohesion policy programming period (particularly in relation to the agreement with the Government of Catalonia concerning ERDF co-funded metropolitan projects), and projects under development in the framework of the European Territorial Cooperation goal. Actually, the AMB is very eager to show that effective metropolitan policies can be made at the metropolitan scale through cohesion funds. That is expected to strengthen the role of the AMB in the negotiation of the renewal of the agreement with the Catalan government for the period 2021-2027, a negotiation process which will start soon. In this regard, the AMB is interested to know, through our international benchmarking, other cooperation forms (agreements, co-funding mechanisms, etc.) between regional/central governments and metropolitan entities in order to access and manage European Funds. AMB is interested to know (in a more operational way) how other metropolitan entities manage the access to funds in order to incorporate some best practices.

The AMB is fully aware of the added value that cohesion policy provides to the implementation of metropolitan policies, given the recent creation of the entity by the law in 2010, and particularly by the powers it grants in mobility, environment, and economic development. Nevertheless, AMB would like to have deeper knowledge on the impact of European projects over two important issues to enhance the metropolitan governance in Barcelona: a) the modes of engagement between municipalities and the AMB through European funded projects, and b) its insertion with strategic or sectorial metropolitan plans managed by AMB. Regarding the first point, it is worth noting that part of the allocation of funds to the different European projects is done in a competitive way (unlike previous years and other funds where the role of the AMB was more passive, simply distributing the funds between municipalities). This process requires a greater degree of participation and cooperation by metropolitan municipalities, that is they need to take a more active role in the process. Regarding the second point, it is highlighted the lack of a strategic plan at metropolitan level

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that would provide better criteria in the selection of European projects. Nowadays, European projects seem to have their own rationality and the link to the main policy goals of the AMB is not always clear. The AMB is one of the main promoters of the European Metropolitan Authorities (EMA) and its first forum was celebrated in Barcelona in 2015 with the aim to advocate for a metropolitan dimension being acknowledged in EU policies. The results of the project and the Forums promoted by it should a) empower EMA to become a relevant stakeholder in the negotiations of the Cohesion Funds and b) the needs of metropolitan areas will be included in the Policy Goals of the Cohesion and Regional Funds. Beyond the Cohesion Policy, the results of this project could also contribute to recognize Barcelona and other Spanish big cities as important actors in the negotiations with Spanish Government for the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

2.2.2 Preliminary hypothesis

Based on a first talk with the responsible of the AMB and the first insights about the Barcelona case, we launch the following preliminary hypothesis: A/ The agreement between the MAB and the Catalan Government for the management of 30M€ ERDF funds for metropolitan projects has been an important milestone in the Barcelona experience. This agreement enables the metropolitan authority to take profit of the ERDF for metropolitan projects and reinforce some of their lines of action. B/ Regarding the relationship between metropolitan local governments and the Metropolitan Authority, the assignment and management of European funded projects has reinforced metropolitan governance and cooperation. The management of these projects might help to transit from bilateral relations (MAB-municipalities) to more cooperative and multilateral relations (local government X + local government Y + local government Z + AMB as a fund provider and facilitator of the cooperation for projects). C/ The selection of the metropolitan projects funded by ERFD could be improved with a more strategic view of the Barcelona’s metropolis needs. Currently, the selection of the ERFD funded projects seems to be based on prioritize current AMB sectorial projects whose topics are more aligned with the priorities of ERFD funds. D/ The fact that the MAB institution includes only a part of the municipalities of the much larger functional metropolitan area of Barcelona, may reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of the social cohesion policies implemented by MAB; therefore, it would be convenient to incorporate or at least take into account the effects that these policies may have on the larger metropolitan territory

2.2.3 Actors and modes of engagement

Building on the institutional configuration provided in the previous sections, and in order to provide an answer to the policy needs presented in section 2.2, we provide a first list of actors that our analysis should engage with:

Table 2.4 List of actors to engage

Unit/position Institution Level Reason

Generalitat de Catalu- Partner of the AMB ERFD agreement. Economic Affairs Dep. Federal nya Catalan ROP responsible International Relations Coordinator manager of the metropolitan AMB Metropolitan and Cooperation Area projects ERFD funded Executive manager of some ecology Ecology Area AMB Metropolitan metropolitan projects ERFD funded

Social and Economic de- Executive manager of some social cohe- AMB Metropolitan velopment Area sion metropolitan projects ERFD funded

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Executive manager of some social cohe- Territory Area AMB Metropolitan sion metropolitan projects ERFD funded Engaging with the seminar on the needs Office of the Barcelona’s Private association of the metro-region and the role of re- Regional Strategic Regional Plan (public funded) gional cities in the Reconstruction and Resilience Plan

Core metropolitan city. Has its own Barcelona city gov- Local agreement with Catalan Government to Director of International ernment manage ERFD funds Relations Medium city in the metro area. Active in Office for Strategic Pro- Gavà city government Local applying and managing European projects jects. Director of the Area of Al- Medium city in the metro area. Active in St. Boi LLobregat city liances, Innovation and Local applying and managing European pro- government Internal Government jects. Director of Internal Ser- Santa Coloma de Medium city in the metro area. Active in vices, Innovation and Uni- Gramanet city Local applying and managing European pro- versities Government jects. Large city in the metro area. Active in Office for Strategic Pro- Hospitalet de Llobre- Local applying and managing European projects gat city Government jects. Large city government in the metro area. Badalona city govern- Local -- Active in applying and managing Euro- ment pean projects.

Source: IERMB

A preliminary interview has already been done with the International Relations and Cooperation Area of the AMB, our main stakeholder, and currently we expect to have at least three more interviews along the project. We also have collected (and will continue) relevant documentation in relation to ERFD projects managed by the AMB. To develop our case study, we will conduct semi-structured online interviews based on a common interview protocol for all actors in the list. During this first round of interviews new actors might be identified as relevant and added to the list. A petition of relevant documentation will be asked at the end of each interview. Most of the contacts will be facilitated by the International Relations Area. The main channel of engagement will be by email and phone. In the case of the Economic Affairs Department of the Catalan Government, we will count with the direct support of the International Relations Area. Under the Barcelona Regional Strategic Plan framework, we will propose an online seminar aimed at discussing the needs of the metro region in relation to the Reconstruction and Resilience Plan, and the role of the main metropolitan cities in the region regarding the Plan. The seminar will be an opportunity to get opinions and perspectives from other local governments in the region.

2.3 References

AMB, 2016. Management of EU Structural Funds by European Metropolitan Areas and Cities, Barcelona: AMB. Font, T., 2018. Cap a un govern local metropolità: el potencial de la Llei de l'Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona. Papers. Regió Metropolitana de Barcelona, pp. 72-79. Heinelt, H. & Kübler, D., 2005. Metropolitan Governance. Capacity, democracy and the dynamics of place. Oxford: Routledge. Hildenbrand, A., 2017. El abandono de la cuestión metropolitana en España. Revista Iberoamericana de Urbanismo, pp. 25-46.

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Martí-Costa, M., 2018. Els reptes de la governança metropolitana de l'àrea de Barcelona. Papers. Regió Metropolitana de Barcelona, pp. 10-15.

Medir, L., Magre, J. & Tomàs, M., 2018. Mayors' perceptions on local government reform and decentralization in Spain. Revista Española de Ciencia Política, pp. 129-155. PEMB, 2019. Quines polítiques per a quina metròpoli? Reptes i proposts per millorar el govern, els serveis i la participació en l'àmbit metropolità de Barcelona, Barcelona: PEMB. Sharpe, L., 1991. The rise and fall of the metropolitan authority. ICPS Working Papers. Sharpe, L., 1995. The government of world cities: The future of the metro world. Chichester: Wiley.

Tavares, A. & Feiock, R., 2017. Applaying an Institutional Collective Action Framework to investigate intermunicipal cooperation in Europe. Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, pp. 1-18. Tomàs, M., 2017a. Explaining Metropolitan Governance. The Case of Spain.. Raumforsch Raumordn, pp. 243-252. Tomàs, M., 2017b. Governar la Barcelona real. Pasqual Maragall i el dret a la ciutat metropolitana. Barcelona: Fundació Catalunya Europa.

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Brno Metropolitan Area

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3 Brno Metropolitan Area

3.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy

In the Czech Republic, there is no formal institutionalization of metropolitan government or metropolitan cooperation. Since the 2014, the Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI), a new instrument of the Cohesion Policy (2014–2020), initiated, stimulated and supported metropolitan cooperation. It aims to support integrated territorial development in functional urban areas through joint financing from multiple funds (with different thematic objectives). The metropolitan perspective of the European Commission (EC) pursued with the aid of ITI opened the door for metropolization in the Czech Republic and started to alter existing practices on national and local levels.

3.1.1 National framework for metropolitan cooperation: the initiating role of ITI

The articulation of the EC’s perspective has influenced the Czech regional development policy in a threefold way. First, in order to implement the territorial dimension in urban regions, the Ministry for Regional Devel- opment (MRD) decided to address regional development through the territorial frame of functional areas (MRD, 2013: 4). It has opened new interpretations and conceptualizations of the Czech territory in a newly designed territorial typology consisting of core growth10 areas, stabilized areas and peripheries. In particular, the category of core growth areas included ‘metropolitan areas with a population exceeding three hundred thousand, settlement agglomerations with a population between one and three hundred thousand, and smaller regional centres’ (ibid.: 55-6). Second, the implementation of ITI, as the core instrument of metropolitan policies, was declared in the Part- nership Agreement for the Programming Period 2014–2020 with an aim to seek ‘greater territorial integration of the core areas of the most important metropolitan areas and agglomerations with their wider hinterland in order to efficiently use their economic and human potential’ (MRD, 2014a: 211). Consequently, the MRD defined ITI as a tool to implement the territorial dimension within metropolitan areas (MRD, 2014b) and selected cities and their regions, it specified development directions and ensured the mandatory minimum financial allocation for the implementation of integrated development within metropolitan and urban regions (MRD, 2013: 110). The partnership agreement along with the Regional Development Strategy of the Czech Republic (MRD, 2013) and the National Territorial Dimension Document (MRD, 2014b) were the key documents of the Czech government, which started advocating for a metropolitan dimension through ITI implementation. Third, the European Commission also advocated for empowering metropolitan cities through a devolution of responsibility to local governments. Responding to this recommendation, the MRD suggested that cities and agglomerations could voluntarily decide whether and how to implement the ITI. The MRD legally empowered the local level to define and delimit their metropolitan regions, design development objectives and manage developmental activities. The cities implementing ITI had to elaborate their integrated strategies in wide collaboration with key actors in their territory, thus forming a regional stakeholder community, and negotiate common regional concerns. In the absence of legal regulation of metropolitan cooperation in the country, local partners of ITI signed memorandums of cooperation. ITI implementation thus rests on voluntary cooperation of individual actors.

3.1.2 The implementation of metropolitan cooperation

On the national level, MRD, Department of Regional Policy is responsible for the implementation of ITI, i.e. for coordination, methodological support, formal assessment, monitoring and evaluation of ITI strategies.

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The particular ITI holders, i.e. city authorities, are responsible for the design of ITI strategy, its management, coordination and monitoring. In practice, the holders of ITI delimited the metropolitan area, articulate the needs of actors, and monitor the absorption capacity for financing. During the implementation period they prepare calls for applicants, define the criteria for eligibility and assessment and cooperate with ITI-intermediate bodies that were established for Operational programmes (OP) with ERDF contribution. The ITI holder appoints ITI manager, who is responsible for the design of ITI/metropolitan strategy and coordinates its implementation. The implementation is overseen by a steering committee composed of key stakeholders, e.g. city holder, region and municipal political representatives, representatives of other the- matically concerned stakeholders. It issues compliance for individual integrated projects with the ITI strategy. Thematic objectives of the strategy were identified by working groups. They contribute to the implementation by discussing and reflecting upon project proposals and communicating with applicants. Lastly, there are managing authorities (MA) of contributing Operational Programmes (OPs) - national ministries. They defined financial allocations and eligible thematic activities, assessed the ITI strategies and ver- ified procedures and decisions on project selection of ITI intermediate bodies (Feřtrová, 2018). The thematic scope of metropolitan cooperation has been so far strongly influenced by the eligible activities offered through the national OPs. Nevertheless, the selection of the thematic objectives for metropolitan development was the result of bottom up participatory processes. The territorial needs were analysed and assessed by the ITI holder in cooperation with a variety of local stakeholders and thematic working groups who possessed particular territorial knowledge.

Figure 3.1 The institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation on the city level

Source: authors’ own elaboration

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3.1.2.1 Geographical and thematic scope of cooperation in Brno metropolitan area

In 2014-2020, the area of Brno ITI/Metropolitan Region was composed of 167 municipalities with population 609 thousand and territory of 1712 km2. The newly delimited area of Brno Metropolitan Region for 2021- 2027 and application of ITI (in 2020) consists of 184 municipalities with population 696 500 and territory of 1978 km2. The population increased due to inclusion of towns Blansko and Vyškov into the ITI region. The core of the metropolitan region is the city of Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. Its hinterland is composed of small industrial towns and rural municipalities

Map 3.1 Brno Metropolitan Area

Source: authors’ own elaboration

The strategy for BMA ITI 2014-2020 identified four objectives of the metropolitan area development: (1) competitiveness and education, (2) social cohesion, (3) smart mobility and (4) environment. The objectives represent a variety of actors involved in metropolitan cooperation mostly from local and regional but also national scale. Majority of them are from public sector complemented with organisations from non-profit sector, academia and supplemented with selected umbrella organisations of private sphere (such as regional chamber of commerce). The first objective aims to support the availability and quality of infrastructure and services for the development of competitive industries in BMA. Further, it aims to increase the equipment, quality and relevance of the human resources training system, following the definition of the region's Smart Specialization Strategy. The strategy welcomes projects concerning infrastructure and services for innovation and new industries, support of innovation services for start-ups, application of R&D results for companies, capacity building and quality of lifelong learning facilities, and quality of human resources, such as pre-school education and key competencies from initial education. This objective groups actors from public and private sector on regional, local and eventually national scale: statutory city of Brno, towns and villages in BMA, South Moravian region, 40 ESPON // espon.eu

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Group of entrepreneurs, Chambers of commerce, Business entities, South Moravian Innovation Centre and NGOs (SCB 2015:192). The second objective aims to strengthen social cohesion in the territory of BMA and increase the availability of quality social and related services that will meet the needs of its inhabitants. The projects should focus on improving and developing a network of social and related services, replenishing the capacities of the infrastructure of these services and building of social housing. Variety of stakeholders from national, regional and local scale participates in this objective: the statutory city of Brno, the cities and municipalities in BMA, Agency for social inclusion, the South Moravian region, and non-profit sector (SCB 2015:194). The third objective focuses on increasing mobility and safety in transport. To achieve these, the projects have to develop public transport terminals and P + R systems, urban and suburban public transport infrastructure, means of public transport, transport telematics and information systems, regional road network connected to the TEN-T network, bicycle and pedestrian transport. The network of actors is mainly formed by public sector (regional and local level): the statutory city of Brno, the towns and villages in BMA, the South Moravian region, Integrated transport system of the South Moravian region, Administration and maintenance of roads of the South Moravian region and the carriers in the field of public passenger transport (SCB 2015:189). The fourth and last objective responds to the need to decrease environmental load and to eliminate environmental risks. Projects that deal with the water protection and purification, the water supply, the flood control measures, the analysis, studies and plans for flood prevention, the reduction of air pollution in the area, the waste prevention, the material and energy use of waste and the residential greenery are inclusive for funding. Local and regional actors are gathered in this objective: the statutory city of Brno, the towns and villages in BMA, the South Moravian region, Brno Waterworks and Sewerage, a.s., Vodárenská akciová společnost, a.s., Povodí Moravy, s.p., SAKO Brno, a.s. (SCB 2015:190).

Figure 3.2 Brno Metropolitan Region: delimitation 2020 (for 2021-2027) and comparison with 2013-2020

Source: authors’ own elaboration

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3.1.2.2 Metropolitan financing and budgeting

Brno ITI funding is provided from five operational programs: the Integrated Regional Operational Programme (IROP), Transport (OP T), Environment (OP E), Employment (OP Emp) and Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness (OP EIC). Three ESI funds (ERDF, ESF and CF) contribute to the integrated projects with the co-financing rate of 85 %. Local/regional/national authorities contribute the remaining 15 %. The budget from ESIF for ITI of BMA is ca 200 million EUR: ERDF (107,8 million), ESF (4.4 million) and CF (83.3 million) (Feřtrová, 2018; metropolitni.brno.cz). The absorption estimation during the strategy preparation defined the funding needs for each objective of the ITI strategy. The MRD afterwards negotiated with each MA of OP to agree upon a reserved financial allocation for the ITI. The financing is allocated directly to particular applicants of selected projects. The metropolitan structure hence works as a mediator between applicants and MA of OPs. The executive team of ITI manager is financed from the Operational Program Technical Assistance 2014- 2020 under the project The ITI BMO 3 Management Project (CZ.08.1.125 / 0.0 / 0.0 / 15_003 / 0000233). The ITI intermediate body is also supported from the Operational Program Technical Assistance 2014-2020 under the project Intermediate Body ITI 2 (CZ.08.1.125 / 0.0 / 0.0 / 15_003 / 0000159). Compared to regular projects, the integrated project have to fulfil more demanding evaluation criteria and approval process (hearings before the ITI Working Group and Steering Committee). On the other hand, it competes for the support only with comparable projects from the territory of the Brno Metropolitan Area, which are actively coordinated and enhanced with the aim of fulfilling the territory’s vision.

3.1.2.3 Metropolitan level spatial development, governance and planning tools

Besides the ITI implementation, there is no other explicit policy or instrument for metropolitan cooperation. However, the ITI management began to play wider role in metropolitan coordination moving beyond the initial ITI objectives. To articulate metropolitan needs they commissioned a broader analysis of the metropolitan territory and a survey among mayors of municipalities in BMA focused on metropolitan issues and metropolitan cooperation. It also participates in foreign projects and foreign networks (METREX, EUROCI- TIES –WG Metropolitan areas), organises activities to promote metropolitan cooperation (for example, the conference “Benefits of metropolitan cooperation”, etc.), and participates in activities towards the institutionalization of metropolitan cooperation in the Czech Republic (PS MV, TAČR-METROSPOL project). In March 2020, the ITI Steering Committee approved the establishment of an additional horizontal working group to address cross-cutting issues of BMA, development of cooperation and institutionalization of the Brno metropolitan area. The other strategic documents on the city and regional levels have begun reflect metropolitan scale and refer to the Brno metropolitan Area and ITI (e.g. The Development Strategy of the South Moravian Region 2021+, The Strategy Brno 2050, The Plan for sustainable urban mobility of the city of Brno, The Regional Innovation Strategy of the South Moravian Region 2021–2027, The concept of housing development in the city of Brno).

3.1.2.4 The changes in the programming period 2021-2027:

For 2021-2027, the ITI implementation structure will be simplified. Most importantly, the intermediate body of MA OP will disappear. The co-financing rate from ESIF funds will change with lower rate of the ESIF participation than in the current period. The metropolitan strategy aims to include other issues beside the ITI objectives and the metropolitan management will seek other than ESIF funding to cover these needs.

3.1.2.5 Metropolitan cooperation and COVID-19

There were no specific metropolitan activities to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and its impacts.

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3.2 Objectives and policy needs

3.2.1 Most efficient governance models of Cohesion policy funds in metropolitan areas Objectives and policy needs concerning the enhancement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the governance of cohesion policy at the metropolitan level

In the Czech Republic, the large cities, which are the urban centres of ITI urban functional areas, are the key strategic actors pursuing the objectives of integrated metropolitan cooperation in terms of policies, planning and investment strategies. Using the instrument of ITI they deliver concrete projects within ITI (metropolitan) territories. Aided with the knowledge of the metropolitan area needs, the ITI facilitate the use of CP funds distributed/allocated through operational programmes. However, the priorities of ESIF do not fully correspond with the actual needs of metropolitan area and fields of metropolitan cooperation. Despite the positive effect on the development of metropolitan cooperation, towards the end of 2014-20020 there was expressed a need to simplify or unify the implementation process. The diverse implementation structures for the ERDF flow, ESF and CF (i.e. mandatory intermediate body) complicates the ITI implementation mechanism. Within ESPON METRO, Brno intends to share their experience with the governance of cohesion policy at the metropolitan level. The primary objective for metropolitan governance and cooperation since 2021 is to enhance metropolitan cooperation beside the funding from ESIF and broaden thus not only the scope of metropolitan cooperation but build its legitimacy above the Cohesion Policy instrument of ITI. The objective of metropolitan management in Brno is to legitimize the position of strategic metropolitan leader (in the context of many suburban municipalities and other actors decisive for metropolitan development), while pursuing the metropolitan agenda as common agenda for all municipalities in metropolitan/urban/ITI territory.

Another objective is to strengthen the strategic position in the relation to national government in order to gain more discretion powers and financial resources to pursue the metropolitan development.

3.2.2 Added value of applying Cohesion Policy to metropolitan policies Objectives and policy needs concerning the added value that cohesion policy could provide in implementing metropolitan policies and achieving metropolitan spatial development goals.

First, the key added value of CP is that it fosters metropolitan dimension, integrated development in metropolitan areas, and through ITI provides initial institutional arrangement for launching metropolitan cooperation and learning mechanism of metropolitan collaboration. Therefore, the key objective is further utilize the vehicle of ITI to foster metropolitan cooperation and along with other tools promote the institutionalization of metropolitan policies. Second, the fulfilment of metropolitan policies requires European and national governments supporting urban and metropolitan dimension by increasing the 5% minimum mandatory financial allocation.

Third, another objective is to overcome the existing fragmentation of territorial governance in metropolitan and urban regions through the application of integrated approach of the ITI, which already proved to be enhancing metropolitan cooperation. Third, the EC, MRD as well as the City of Brno as the holder ITI are using the instruments of CP including ITI to influence the objectives of local projects advocating for the more general and long-term policy goals formulated at EU level and their integration into concrete local projects. While the local projects sometimes seem not to match the EU priorities, there is learning how to articulate local needs in the light of EU objectives.

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3.2.3 Role of Cohesion policy in the creation of metropolitan governance structures or cooperation practices

The establishment and use of ITI initiated the cooperation in Brno metropolitan area and framed it within CP. However, they key drive of metropolitan cooperation using the ITI has been financial incentives of CP. The standard government decision-making largely abstracted from metropolitan dimension, keeping ITI as specific tool rather than mainstream policy strategy. Nevertheless, there has been important signs of bottom-up interests to sustain and enhance metropolitan cooperation, which is now framed and supported by the new national strategy of regional development. The key policy need and objective is mainstreaming of metropolitan dimension through the strengthening the formal/informal metropolitan cooperation outside the ITI so the metropolitan thinking and acting will become an integral element of decision making on both local/urban and national levels.

3.2.4 List of hypotheses

(H1) Cities can succeed in legitimizing their role of metropolitan leader on the national level, and be accepted by most local governments in the metropolitan area. Yet in the actual context of CP funds allocation, the other involved stakeholders, such as ministries and regions, will hardly withhold their powers and rights. Therefore, the metropolitan dimension will always dwarf in the context of the total financial allocations dedicated to metropolitan areas. In this context, it is crucial that the metropolitan dimension continues be articulated and enhanced from European and national levels and advocated for by the local stakeholders of metropolitan cooperation. (H2) The formal territorial fragmentation of local government in Czechia will hardly change. However, the CP and its instruments, such as ITI, can help to foster mechanisms for metropolitan cooperation among vast number of local actors. Furthermore, it can promote learning how to incorporate EU strategic policy objectives including integrated solutions into local plans and projects.

(H3) As the framework for territorial governance is established with vested interests of powerful municipalites and regional governments, there is no scope for new level of metropolitan government. Therefore, the metropolitan cooperation shall be incorporated by alternative means of its institutionalization. These include sustain- ing specialized organisations promoting metropolitan agenda, such as metropolitan agency, as well as continuous efforts for mainstreaming of metropolitan agenda within existing local and regional government and national government structures.

3.2.5 List of actors

Table 3.1 List of actors to engage

Type of actor Setting, planning, managing the metro- Active participation in fulfilling the politan agenda metropolitan agenda Local government (cities and  Brno Municipality, Department of Stra-  Brno Municipality, Department municipalities) tegic Cooperation and Development of Implementation of European  Židlochovice Municipality Funds  Department of Environment,  Department of Transportation  Kuřim Municipality  Slavkov Municipality  Podolí Municipality  Újezd u Brna Municipality

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Regional administration  South Moravian Region,  Department of Regional Development Entities representing topics of  JIC - South Moravian Innovation cen-  Brno Public Transport Authority metropolitan cooperation: the tre public sector  Office of City Architect, Brno  Regional Development Agency  CzechInvest

Entities representing topics of  Asociation of Non-governmen- metropolitan cooperation: non- tal Organisations of South Mo- governmental non-profit sector ravian Region  Diocesan Caritas Brno  Union of Šlapanicko municipalities Entities representing topics of  Regional Chamber of Commerce, metropolitan cooperation: the Souh Moravia private sector

Source: authors’ own elaboration

3.2.6 Modes of engagement

Direct interaction with the stakeholders, aimed at the collection of data and documentation.

. Existing and ongoing with the municipal government of Brno and ITI manager . Newly used depending on the questions and issues to be addressed Semi-structured interviews, based on a common interview protocol to be developed by the consortium (that may be adapted case by case as a consequence of the specific needs and objectives of each stakeholder).

. Yes, as defined within consortium and interviews with actors declared in collaboration with the ES- PON Metro stakeholder (ITI Brno) Focus group, to engage different actors to discuss around a (number of) specific topics.

. Provided there is specific need/issue to use focus group. We recognize its value in the initial phase of the project to rise a list of questions and issues, build legitimacy of researches and open paths for interviews. However, due to current Covid situation and lock-down in the country, the use of Focus Group is unlikely. Instead, we have to rely on more in-depth interviews with key stakeholders. Participatory observation in the context of relevant policy processes that are ongoing throughout the lifetime of the project.

. We can refer to participatory observation over a long-term period prior the project that will be, of course, prolonged during the project realization.

3.3 References Feřtrová, M. (2018) Integrated Territorial Investments in the Czech Republic: A New Tool for Metropolitian Areas. European Structural & Investment Funds Journal 6.1, 13-19. MRD (Ministry of Regional Development) (2013) Strategie regionálního rozvoje ČR 2014-2020 [Regional Development Strategy of the CZ 2014-2020] [WWW document]. URL https://www.mmr.cz/getmedia/a9fc8be4-58a0-4137-9c6d-f9a05466a115/SRR-2014-2020.pdf.aspx?ext=.pdf (accessed 10 Octo- ber 2015). MRD (Ministry of Regional Development) (2014a) Partnership Agreement for the Programming Period 2014- 2020 Czech Republic [WWW document]. URL https://www.dotaceeu.cz/getmedia/4589b39c-4215-4f0b- 914d-b296678db1c8/Partnership-agreement-technical-revision-approved-by-the-EC-on-13-April- 2016.pdf?ext=.pdf (accessed 26 April 2016).

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MRD (Ministry of Regional Development) (2014b) Národní dokument k územní dimenzi, verze 1.0 [National Territorial Dimension Document, version 1.0] [WWW document]. URL http://www.dotaceeu.cz/getmedia/c3defef3-c989-47f2-9240-0fdcbf570ca3/NDUD_aktualizace.pdf?ext=.pdf (accessed 26 October 2015). SCB (Statutory City of Brno) (2015) Integrovaná strategie rozvojeBrněnské metropolitní oblasti pro uplatnění nástroje Integrované územní investice (ITI) [Integrated development strategy of the Brno metropolitan area for the application of the integrated territorial investment (ITI) instrument] [WWW document]. URL https://metropolitni.brno.cz/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ISR_BMO_ITI_final_bez_priloh_ZMB.pdf (accessed 18 October 2020).

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Brussels Capital Region

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4 Brussels Capital Region

4.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy

4.1.1 Metropolitan governance in Brussels

There is no metropolitan area or cooperation in Brussels, although there is a legal framework to implement one around Brussels. Indeed, such ‘metropolitan community’ has been planned by the sixth state reform in Belgium in 2011. This community is supposed to be a consensus-building organization dealing with transregional matters around Brussels such as road security or infrastructure. Spatially, it includes all municipalities of Brussels, and of the Walloon and Flemish Brabant, meaning that it should involve all three regions of the country. Regions are indeed the relevant level of authority to actually implement such metropolitan cooperation around Brussels, since such cooperation mainly focusses on issues linked to regional competencies. However, this organization has never been implemented and in any case would have no binding authority. Why is there no cooperation around Brussels despite common challenges and recurrent voices calling for the necessity to have one? To understand the absence of formal or informal collaboration at metropolitan scale, we must understand the complex institutional configuration of Belgium, especially around Brussels. Belgium has initially been built as a unlilngual centralized state from its independence, marginalizing the Flemish population. Despite the Flemish movement succeeded in getting cultural rights in all domains, regionalism has become a very strong political force after World War II, including in Wallonia. It resulted in the continuous reformation of the institutional configuration of the Belgian State since 1970. However, the foundations of this institutional configuration has been relatively stable, and Belgium has officially become a Federal state in the 1990s. Belgium is composed of three regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels), competent in domains such as territorial and economic development, and of three communities (Flemish, French and German), competent for cultural issue, including education. Among the three regions, the Brussels Capital-Region (BCR) is specific because of its bilingual status and its urban configuration. It is made of 19 municipalities, which include the historical core, the first ring of XIXth century development and the second ring mostly developed from the end of the XIXth century onwards. However, the BCR does not include the suburban areas, that is all surrounding municipalities, located in the territories of the Flemish Region or of the Walloon Region. Yet, these municipalities are nowadays deeply intertwined with the Brussels-Capital Region in at least three ways:

. from the 1950s onwards, there has been a massive movement of suburbanization towards these municipalities, resulting for example in an increasing share of French-speaking population in Flem- ish neighbouring municipalities, hence extending the « real Brussels » beyond its institutional borders. This process has led to major conflicting issue between both communities of Belgium;

. Brussels is the most important economic pole in Belgium, with more than half of its labour force coming from outside the Brussels-Capital Region. This is the result of the suburbanization process described above but also of very precocious « shuttle policies » encouraging workers to continue living in rural areas (as soon as the end of the XIXth. century), while working in Brussels;

. the third process is the suburbanization of the economy within the large urban zone of Brussels. From the 1960s onwards, we first observe a suburbanization of the manufacturing industry, and later from services, notably less qualified services. The suburban economic development also relates to personal services following the suburbanization of wealthy population. As a result of these processes, the urban area of Brussels is nowadays much larger than the official Brussels Capital-Region, but metropolitan cooperation is made very difficult by the complex institutional arrangements in Belgium, and especially around Brussels (see Figure 4.1).

The consequence of this issue is nevertheless ambiguous regarding the issue of urban governance. On the one hand, metropolitan cooperation is made very difficult politically for the reasons already mentioned. On 48 ESPON // espon.eu

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the other hand, the Brussels Capital-Region has very large competencies on a relatively extended territory, grouping 1.2 million inhabitants while the functional urban area counts between 2 and 2.5 million people. Because of its large autonomy, Brussels is thus in a different situation than many metropolises in Europe. So Brussels has large competency on a significant part of its urban area (19 municipalities grouping 1200000 inhabitants, corresponding to more than half of the population of the functional urban area) but metropolitan cooperation, which should include suburban areas, is nearly inexistent and politically very complicated to implement.

However, in some very specific domains in which transregional cooperation is nearly inevitable, we do find some cooperation. It is the case for example on the management of the Soignes Forest, which covers the three regions. It is also the case for some aspects of mobility (Noordrand) or around the NATO zone, also at the border between the Brussels and Flemish regions. It is also interesting to note the existence of an interregional forum on spatial planning created in 2013 where the 3 regional administrations in charge of spatial planning meet to exchange information or launch common study, such as the study on Brussels metropolitan landscapes. In the Brussels suburbs, both territorial development and management of the EU funds are competencies of the Walloon and Flemish Regions. This means that any metropolitan cooperation should involve the three regions of the country, as well as other relevant institutional actors such as the province of Flemish and Walloon Brabant.

Map 4.1 Brussels Metropolitan Area

Source: authors’ own elaboration

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4.1.2 Cohesion policy in Brussels

4.1.2.1 The institutional architecture of cohesion policy in Belgium and Brussels

The federal state of Belgium is the first brick in the institutional architecture of European funds ; Belgium negotiates the programmes and priorities for the pluriannual period. However, in practice, in these negotiations, Belgium is de facto represented by each Region in turn. In the course of this process, the three regions have agreed on a common position to negotiate at the EU level. The allocation of funds between the three regions is mostly constrained by the application of EU criteria and is thus function of the level of development and so on. However, in practice, there is a little margin since the allocation of funds result from a negotiation between the three regions. Once the money received, the Regions have the full management of European funds at least for ERDF. In Brussels, it means that the Brussels Capital-Region fully manages European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) on its limited territory of 19 municipalities. This is very different from the other cities in Belgium which are included in much larger regions (Wallonia and Flanders) and have thus much more limited room in the management of these funds. This management also includes some latitude in defining the priorities in the use of ERDF. In contrast, European Social Funds (ESF) has a more complex management which include Regional institutions, such as ACTIRIS which is in charge of unemployed activation in Brussels, but also transregional (communities) management, for example in the field of training. Since there is no metropolitan cooperation, its involvement in the governance of EU funds is irrelevant in Brussels.

Figure 4.1 Simplified institutional architecture of the cohesion policy (mainly ERDF) in Brussels

Source: authors’ elaboration on the base of interviews

4.1.2.2 Bodies that are responsible for developing implementing these tools, and for monitoring their implementation

In concrete, the « Brussels international » administration of the Brussels Capital-Regional manages the ERDF, while there are, as already mentioned, three authorities managing ESF, ACTIRIS being the administration in charge for the part of ESF directly dependent from the Brussels-Capital Region. The allocation of these funds is made through call for projects: public, private or associations can answer the calls. The municipalities have no role to play in the management of the funds, even if selected projects are planned on their territories. However, they can answer themselves to the call for projects. Further analyses are possible to know the share of the different types of actors in the use of European funds.

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4.1.2.3 The thematic scope of these tools.

« In line with the objectives set at European level by the “Europe 2020” strategy, the 2014-20 programme will contribute to the financing of projects aimed at strengthening the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the Brussels-Capital Region » (Dessouroux, 2020). The Region has defined 4 priorities, adapted from the European framework11:

. increasing research and improving the transfer and promotion of innovation (axis 1); . strengthening entrepreneurship and improving the development of SMEs in promising sectors (axis 2);

. supporting the development of a circular economy through the rational use of resources in promising industries (axis 3);

. improving the quality of life of deprived neighbourhoods and their population (axis 4).

The importance of each priority is detailed in table 4.1.

Table 4.1 Allocation of ERDF in the Brussels Capital-Region

Priority Thematic ob- Aid from the Union National contribution Total funding Funding axis jective Amount in € Amount in € Amount in € 1 ERDF 1 17,268,166.00 17,268,166.00 34,536,332.00 2 ERDF 3 34,688,808.00 34,688,808.00 69,377,616.00 3 ERDF 4 21,812,420.00 21,812,420.00 43,624,840.00 3bis ERDF 6 3,635,403.00 3,635,403.00 7,270,806.00 4 ERDF 9 14,541,612.00 14,541,612.00 29,083,224.00 AT ERDF N/A 3,831,099.00 3,831,099.00 7,662,198.00 TOTAL ERDF 95,777,508.00 95,777,508.00 191,555,016.00

Source : http://www.europeinbelgium.be/en/brussels-capitalregion-erdf

Compared to previous programmes, there has been a shift from « social cohesion » to strategies more oriented toward economic competititveness and innovation. This shift also appears in the geography of the funds: until the 2007-2013 programme, most funds were allocated to deprived neighbourhoods, along the Brussels canal zone. This geographical constraint has nearly completely disappeared in the 2014-20 programme, except concerning the fourth axis for which the BCR still limits the geographical area. In addition, European Social funds is managed through ACTIRIS – the Regional organization in charge of employment policies - and focusses on the integration to the labour market through three major axes12:

. Priority axis 1: Durable integration of young people in to the job market; . Priority axis 2: Access to work for everybody; . Priority axis 3: Improving the vocational integration of persons who are excluded or at risk of exclu- sion. However, it does not cover the whole ESF in Brussels, since as mentioned before, a part of ESF is managed by Flanders and the French Community of Belgium (Brussels-Wallonia Federation. Table 2 gives the funding of the three axes.

11 http://www.europeinbelgium.be/en/brussels-capitalregion-erdf 12 http://www.europeinbelgium.be/en/brussels-capitalregion-esf ESPON // espon.eu 51

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Table 4.2 Allocation of ESF in the Brussels Capital-Region

Priority Contribution of Contribution of Funding Thematic objective Total Financing axis the Union the Region ESF TD8 9.382.253 9.382.253 18.764.506 AXES 1 YEI TD8 5.871.109 5.871.109 11.742.219 AXES 2 ESF TD8 21.276.845 21.276.845 42.553.691 AXES 3 ESF TD9 12.944.976 12.944.976 25.889.953 Total 98.950.370

Source: http://www.europeinbelgium.be/en/brussels-capitalregion-esf

4.2 Objectives and policy needs

Given the absence of metropolitan governance in Brussels « the enhancement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the governance of cohesion policy at the metropolitan level » and reflections concerning « the added value that cohesion policy could provide in implementing metropolitan policies and achieving metropolitan spatial development goals » are not relevant. In this context, the emphasis for Brussels should be put on « favouring the institution and consolidation of metropolitan governance structures and cooperation practices », in particular if and how cohesion policy could be relevant to implement metropolitan policies and achieving spatial development goals. Hence, for the Brussels Capital-Region (BCR), the authorities in charge of the EU funds, cohesion policy may be used as a leverage to developing metropolitan cooperation. Indeed, territiorial development does not stop at the Brussels regional border, and more cooperation is needed with the two other regions (Flemish and Walloon Regions) and all municipalities strongly connected to the BCR. More precisely, in the Bel- gian/Brussels context, EU funds may help in favouring the institutional actors to cooperate whenever necessary (mobility issue for example). The second major objective for the Brussels Capital-Region is more directly related to the actual use of EU funds. It aims at better supporting the regional strategy of territorial development as well as area-based approaches as implemented in the BCR, notably through territorial tools proposed by the EU. Hence, the way tools like ITI has been used elsewhere is of decisive importance for the BCR. In a more general political perspective, also in relation to the work of EUROCITIES, the BCR pleads for a better recognition of metropolises in the cohesion policy, notably a more developed role for cities in the management of EU funds.

4.2.1 List of hypotheses

The basic hypothesis is that EU cohesion funds may be an efficient tool to encourage authorities involved – that is mainly the three Regions but also muncipalities – to implement metropolitan cooperation in all relevant matters. These relevant matters are those where strong connections suppose that decisions taken by one of the authorities may impact the others (mobility, territorial development, …).

4.2.2 List of actors

. Perspective Brussels (stakeholders of the project). This public institution is responsible for the territorial development in the Brussels Capital-Region; . Service public régional de Bruxelles - Bruxelles International. Bruxelles international is part of the Regional administration wich is directly managing the EU funds, notably by selecting the projects implemented using EU funds; . ACTIRIS. This institution manages the part of ESF dependent from the Brussels Capital Region.

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To achieve territorial cooperation at the metropolitan level in Brussels, the other relavant actors are related to the Flemish and Walloon regions, which manage EU funds: . Flemish Region - Vlaams-Europees Verbindingsagentschap, that is the part of the administration managing European funds in Flanders; . Walloon region is the managing authority of the EU funds in Wallonia, including the Walloon suburbs of Brussels. In addition, municipalities are also involved through answering calls for tender. Some of these municipalities have services specialized in the management of EU funds. So, we aim to include them in the process.

Table 4.3 List of actors to engage topic organisation body role planning perspective brussels Brussels-Capital Region stakeholder - planning agency planning omgeving Flanders Region planning department planning SPW territoire Wallonia Region planning department

SPRB- Brussels international - Managing authority for the cohesion fund ERDF Department Brussels-Capital Region ERDF funds in the BCR Managing authority for ESF cohesion fund Actiris Brussels-Capital Region funds in BCR

Brussels-Wallonia Fed- Managing Authority for ESF cohesion fund Agence FSE eration and COCOF funds in Wallonia and Brussels Managing authority ERDF funds cohesion fund SPW- SG Wallonia Region Wallonia

Managing authority for ESF funds in Flanders and for dutch cohesion fund ESF Vlaanderen Flanders Region speaking brussels?

Flanders innovation and enter- Managing authority ERDF funds cohesion fund preneurship Agency Flanders Region Flanders cohesion fund and Brulocalis - european projects Association of Bussels informing Brussels municipali- planning department municipalities ties

Source: authors’ elaboration

4.2.3 Modes of engagement

For Brussels, we will favour the following methods in a first step: . Direct interaction with the stakeholders, aimed at the collection of data and documentation;

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. Semi-structured interviews, based on a common interview protocol to be developed by the consortium (that may be adapted case by case as a consequence of the specific needs and objectives of each stakeholder). In a second step, we plan to have focus group between the three relevant regional organizations in the governance of ERDF in order to have a deeper reflection on obstacles to metropolitan cooperation and how they could be overcome.

4.3 References

DENY E. & ROUSSEAU S. (2004), Objectif 2 en Région de Bruxelles-Capitale. Les Fonds structurels euro- péens investissent la ville, Ministère de la Région Bruxelles-Capitale-DES, Éditions IRIS, n°40, 66p. DUKES T. (2008), The URBAN programme and the European urban policy discourse: successful instruments to Europeanize the urban level?, in: GeoJournal, 72, pp. 105-119 ; DOI 0.1007/s10708-008-9168-2

GILISSEN J. (2007), Objectif 2 et Urban II: des fonds structurels européens pour la Région, in: Bruxelles en Mouvements, 197, pp. 2-5. HUBERT G. (2009), European funds in Brussels: from principles to practices, in : Brussels Studies, Collec- tion générale, n° 33, mis en ligne le 21 décembre 2009, consulté le 10 janvier 2020. URL : http://jour- nals.openedition. org/brussels/736 ; DOI : 10.4000/brussels.736 VAESEN J., (2008), “Intergovernmental relations in Brussels: COMPLEX interdependencies? The case of urban regeneration and the European funds, 1994 2006”, Acts from the interuniversity and international colloquium, Brussels and Europe, Brussels, 18 & 19 December 2006.

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Lisbon Metropolitan Area

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5 Lisbon Metropolitan Area

5.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy

5.1.1 Institutional configuration

The Portuguese sub-national administrative structure is composed of three administrative levels, parishes [freguesia], municipalities [município] and administrative regions. Over time, municipalities have assumed the status of effective local authority, given that the regional level lacks autonomy from central government (exceptions for the Madeira and Azores Archipelagos), and that parishes lack effective capacity and scale to intervene in development effectively. The regional level in Portugal mainland was controlled by the Central Government through five Commissions of Coordination and Regional Development [CCDR - Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional], the main authorities responsible for implementing the Cohesion Policy at NUTS2 regional level. Overall, the administrative model of the Portuguese State follows the tradition of a Napoleonic and Jacobean matrix of public administration (Fadigas, 2015). Recent administrative reforms result in the formation of a sub-national level by aggregation of local authorities, resulting in new intermunicipal bodies. With the passing of the national Law no. 75/2013, September 12th, 21 new Intermunicipal Communities [Comunidade Intermunicipal], were created based on NUTS3 level divisions of the country and two Metropolitan Areas [Área Metropolitana]: Lisbon Metropolitan Area and Oporto Metropolitan Area. The Metropolitan Areas have significant assignments across a variety of domains devolved by the State (Law n. 75/2013):

. Participate in the preparation of public investment plans and programs with an impact on the metropolitan area;

. Promote the planning and management of the economic, social and environmental development strategy of the territory covered;

. Articulate municipal investments of a metropolitan scope; . Participate in the management of programs to support regional development, namely within the scope of the European funding programming cycles;

. Participate in the definition of metropolitan services and facilities networks; . Participate in public entities of a metropolitan scope, namely in the field of transport, water, energy and solid waste treatment;

. Plan the actions of metropolitan public entities. Additionally, Metropolitan Areas articulate local authorities with central administration services in the following fields:

. Utilities infrastructures and urban waste treatment;

. Health facilities network; . Educational and professional training network; . Spatial planning, nature conservation and natural resources; . Security and civil protection; . Mobility and transport; . Public equipment networks;

. Promotion of economic and social development; . Network of cultural, sports and leisure facilities

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Map 5.1 Lisbon Metropolitan Area

Source: authors’ own elaboration

The constitutive bodies of the two metropolitan areas are the Metropolitan Council [Conselho Metropolitano], the Metropolitan Executive Committee [Comissão Executiva Metroplitana], and the Strategic Council for Metropolitan Development [Conselho Estratégico para o Desenvolvimento Metropolitano]. The Metropolitan Council is the deliberative organ of the Metropolitan Area and is formed by the Mayors of the local authorities in the region. In the case of Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA), 18 local authorities’ Mayors seat in the Council (Fig. 5.1) and elect the President and two Vice-Presidents among them. The Metropolitan Executive Committee is the executive body of the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon, formed by a first secretary and four metropolitan secretaries. The ordered list of candidates for members of this body is approved by the Metropolitan Council and submitted to a vote in the municipal assemblies of the municipalities of the metropolitan area. The Strategic Council for Metropolitan Development is an advisory body to support the decision-making process of the remaining bodies in the metropolitan area. It is composed by representatives of institutions, entities and organizations in the metropolitan area. These institutions represent the business community, university, non-governmental agencies, infrastructure operators (airport and ports) from the region, as well as public administration bodies.

From 2015 on, with the extinguishing of Lisbon Metropolitan Transport Authority, LMA become responsible for public passenger transport in the region (Law no. 52/2015, June 9th).

The LMA funding mechanism is based on transfers from the Central Administration to cover transportation costs and investment, and from the 18 local authorities of the region.

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Figure 5.1 Institutional Framework for Metropolitan Cooperation in Lisbon Region

Source: authors’ own elaboration

Figure 5.2 depicts the Portuguese institutional setup where the spatial scale has a major role in what concerns administration levels (national, regional, local). Dependency is direct between government and regional entities (planning regions - spatially deconcentrated bodies). Regional entities and municipalities (political decentralised bodies) are more cooperative. It is clear from this structure that the central state is on the top of the hierarchy.

Figure 5.2 Portuguese institutional structure of cohesion policy management

Source: AD&C, 2016 and Authors

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5.1.2 Institutional architecture of EU cohesion policy

The institutional architecture of cohesion policy in the LMA consider two dimensions:

. Operational Regional Programme – the geographical delimitation of the OP of Lisbon Region in coincident with geographical delimitation of LMA. Nevertheless, the management authority of the OP is the Commission of Coordination and Regional Development of Lisbon and Tagus Valley (CCDR LVT), a deconcentrated body from Central Administration. CCDR LVT manages the OP Regional Programme of LMA and make the interface with the Alentejo and Centro Region, as the large part of the municipalities of the region are under the influence of another operational programmes (the Alentejo and Centro regional operational programmes).;

. Thematic Operational programmes. In the first case, the LMA acts as an intermediate management body entity. LMA directed the Pact for De- velopment and Territorial Cohesion [Pacto para o Desenvolvimento e Coesão Territorial], the Integrated Territorial Investment, defining their priorities, approved projects, investment and strategy implementation. In that context, the LMA manages the Integrated Territorial Development Strategy [Estratégia Integrada de Desenvolvimento Territorial] of which objectives where:

. supporting the physical, economic and social revitalization of disadvantaged communities in urban, costal and rural;

. adoption of measure to improve the urban environment; . promotion of low carbon strategies, namely in urban areas, including the promotion of mobility and . streamlining the construction/rehabilitation sector of the building and surrounding spaces as a driver of innovation, sustainability and inclusion. The role of the LMA allowed to deepen the collaborative planning process between municipalities and other entities. As the CCDR LVT is the regional entity responsible by the Operational Programme, the management, monitoring and evaluation process is integrated in this entity and not in the LMA. In conclusion, the former is the managing authority of EU funding in the region, while the latter is just an intermediate body in what concerns European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) in the region. The Portuguese spatial planning is partly aligned with the regional economic approach pursuing social and economic objectives (ReSSI, 2017). Statutory spatial planning is allocated to CCDR LVT (Reginal Plans) and to local authorities (local plans, namely Master plans and Urbanization plans). AML has no authority in this field but operates as a powerful stakeholder and influence overall regional strategies, coordinating the Integrated Territorial Development Strategy. Although AML and CCDR LVT are two separate entities with distinctive mandates, the former emerging “from below” (local authorities) and the latter originating from a “top-down” initiative (State), both are acting in the some territory and have started a fruitful collaboration in the preparation of the regional strategy that will inform the next EU programming cycle. Moreover, in October 2020 CCDRs Presidents were elected by local authorities’ Mayors and municipal assemblies’ members, reinforcing the ties between CCDRs and local authorities, ie between a deconcentrated entity of the Central Administration (CCDR LVT) and the decen- tralized political entities (local authorities), resulting in a complex institutional governance structure in the metropolitan area of Lisbon.

5.1.3 AML and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis put under scrutiny the metropolitan administration capacity to deal with the new challenges this global threat has placed to all local and regional authorities. The economic and social negative impacts are evident and the response from the metropolitan authorities’ is not only necessary but also desirable for the population and to all different stakeholders. From the LMA experience on COVID-19 reaction four main issues can be pinpointed. The first arise from the need of a multi sectorial policy coordination on COVID-19 reactions, that metropolitan administration can

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and should assume in order to a more effective response to the problems. Policy coordination is only possible in a context of enhanced role of metropolitan areas. If this role is not legal framed and is not institutional embedded in policy making it is very difficult to an effective policy coordination regarding territorial stakeholders. Related to that, was the emergence of a gap between the institutional legal competence framework of metropolitan regional administration and the stakeholders’ expectations. The mismatch between the expectations and the metropolitan authority intervention are generated by the restrictions of the legal framework, the definition of what the metropolitan administration could do and what they could not do, that caused a frus- tration feeling among different stakeholders. On other hand, the capacity to a more direct access to EU funding was another limitation that the pandemic crisis put on the table. The development of a more comprehensive approach of the legal framework on the EU funding access become crucial, namely to react to an emergency situation, where opportunity and time are critical. A new European framework became a need that must be discussed.

Finally, the communication exchange network among metropolitan authorities is a positive initiative to a more effective field intervention on COVID-19. But it must be maintained beyond the actual emergency state in order to discuss and exchange experiences on the attributions and competences that metropolitan authorities in Europe must have.

5.2 Objectives and policy needs

5.2.1 Efficiency and effectiveness of the governance of cohesion policy at the metropolitan level

Lisbon Metropolitan Area entity needs a better understanding of the participation of metropolitan areas in Cohesion policy. This is not limited to ESIF implementation in the region but critically to the policy design and related policy tools. LMA finds necessarily to discuss different conceptualization of metropolitan participation in the Cohesion policy design, instruments, and implementation, including inter-relations with Euro- pean, national and local levels. LMA is not fully recognized as an administrative level, and as such its participation in the administration of EU Cohesion policy takes place in the scope of CCDR LVT’s stakeholders. AML intends to have a better understanding of how metropolitan bodies can assume strategic and operational leadership in the design and implementation of Cohesion Policy ate metropolitan level. At the same time, LMA aims to strengthen its position as the relevant body to negotiate with the Central Government the design, funding and implementation of Operational Programme at metropolitan level.

5.2.2 Added-Value of EU Cohesion Policy

The scope and targeting of metropolitan aims and strategies has a clear alignment with Cohesion policy. EU funding can be a powerful boost to deliver metropolitan policies and increase the value-added of EU intervention. The institutionalization of LMA was a crucial step on the legitimization of the metropolitan body as an official player in the metropolitan area. Managing ITI helped to overcome metropolitan fragmentation of territorial governance and to establish integrated projects at supra-municipal level. The involvement of AML can contribute to the territorialization of public policies, meaning that LMA is advocating its role as a leader of public policies in the metropolitan area, from designing to implementation and monitoring phases.

5.2.3 Added-Value of Cohesion Policy in the consolidation of metropolitan governance structures and cooperation practices

There is an evident added-value of Cohesion policy in favouring the consolidation of metropolitan governance structures. In the case of LMA, its participation in the managing of a small part of EU funds of the Regional Operation Programme has been an incentive to increase cooperation practices among CCDR LVT and LMA entities, which can be seen in the recent example of collaboration in the definition of the regional strategy for the next programming cycle. Sharing responsibilities of EU Cohesion Policy among different entities implies strong coordination by regional and metropolitan bodies. LMA is very much interested in

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findind good practices across metropolitan areas in Europe that can be scaled up and adapted to the Lisbon metropolitan area.

5.2.4 List of hypotheses

Considering the three policy questions, we can derive the following claims in this research project.

. Including metropolitan areas in the governance of Cohesion policy can improve efficiency and effectiveness but the articulation of geographical and administrative scales is critical to achieve positive results. Since EU Cohesion policy operates through a cascade logic, from the EU level to the regional level, a more nuanced relation is expected to be put in place, one that combines “top- down” with “bottom-up” approaches.

. Metropolitan areas the appropriate scale to generate higher value-added of EU intervention due to large population and economic activities concentration, contributing to the territorialization of public policies.

. Cohesion policy can improve metropolitan governance and consolidate cooperation practices between variegated stakeholders from the region, state and EU levels.

5.2.5 List of actors

Below is the list of possible actors to consider in the study Business organisations:

. AIP-Associação Industrial Portuguesa - Câmara de Comércio e Indústria . CAP-Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal . CCSP-Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal . CIP-Confederação Empresarial de Portugal

. CPPME-Confederação Portuguesa de Micro, Pequenas e Médias Empresas Infrastructure operates/regulators:

. AMN-Autoridade Marítima Nacional . ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal . APL-Administração Porto Lisboa . APSS-Administração Porto Setúbal e Sesimbra . EP-Estradas de Portugal Central government entities:

. ADC-Agência para o Desenvolvimento e Coesão . ANPC-Autoridade Nacional de Proteção Civil

. APA-Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente . ARSLVT-Administração Regional de Saúde de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo . CCDRLVT-Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo . DGE-Direção Geral de Energia e Geologia . DGEST-Direção Geral dos Estabelecimentos Escolares . DGPC-Direção-Geral do Património Cultural . DGSS-Direção-Geral da Segurança Social . DGT-Direção Geral do Território

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. DRAPLVT-Direção Regional de Agricultura e Pescas de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo . ERT-RL-Entidade Regional de Turismo da Região de Lisboa . IAPMEI-Instituto de Apoio às Pequenas e Médias Empresas . ICNF-Instituto de Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas . IEFP-Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional . IMT-Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes . IPDJ-Instituto Português do Desporto e Juventude . IPMA-Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera Civil Society Organisations:

. LPN-Liga para a Proteção da Natureza

5.3 References

AD&C (2016). Portuguese Regional Policy within EU Regional Policy. paper presented by Duarte Rodrigues, Bogota. [https://www.oecd.org/effective-public-investment-toolkit/Portguese-regionalpolicy.pdf] EIDT-AML (2015). Estratégia Integrada de Desenvolvimento Territorial para a Área Metropolitana de Lisboa. AML, Jan. 2015. ReSSI (2017). Regional Strategies for Sustainable and Inclusive Territorial Development: Regional Interplay and EU Dialogue. ESPON (https://www.espon.eu/ressi). Websites: Área Metropolitana de Lisboa https://www.aml.pt/index.php

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Lyon Metropolitan Area

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6 Lyon Metropolitan Area

6.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy

6.1.1 Brief report of the institutional features of metropolitan cooperation

6.1.1.1 The institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation (if any) and its level of formalization in the country. The management of metropolitan areas has been the topic of intense academic and political debates for over half a century (Lefèvre, 1998; Kantor and Savitch, 2010; Tomàs, 2020). Metropolitan government emerges through institutional arrangements that are always specific to the country and / or the territory considered. In some countries, metropolitan policies are simply the result of coordination between existing levels of local government, whether these have the same powers (municipalities, for example) or not (region, province, county, etc.). A second typical institutional form is an agency which is assigned the competence to manage a metropolitan service (public transport, waste management, etc.) over a large territory. Other metropolitan governments are entities which were explicitly created by a national law, such as the citta metropolitane in Italy or the métropoles in France. Such entities which have a legal form, they operate based on formal rules and have a permanent character rather than being single-project oriented.

Regarding France, the reasons for the creation of métropoles are twofold. First, the basic level of local government is fragmented. There are 35,000 municipalities, 86% of them having less than 2,000 inhabitants. As a consequence, the successive national governments have pushed all municipalities to engage in voluntary groupings of intermunicipal cooperation (called EPCI). Métropoles were created in the mid-2010s and they are the latest form of EPCIs. We can even say that they are the heirs of the pre-existing communautés urbaines (designed for large cities by the national government in the mid-1960s), especially regarding their competences and their boundaries (see 1.1.2.). Another reason is that the 2008 global crisis has prompted national governments (right and left) to adopt austerity measures and to introduce (territorial) reforms in order to meet the conditions imposed by EU economic governance agreements inaugurated after the euro- zone crisis (Pasquier, 2016). The finances of French local governments have been forced to austerity, first due to a reform of the business tax in 2010 which caused a decrease in local taxation revenue, second by an unprecedented decrease in state grants (-11 billion euros from 2015 to 2017). In parallel, two successive reforms of local authorities were carried out between 2010 and 2016. They included (i) the reduction of the number of regions through mergers, (ii) comprehensive national coverage of intercommunal cooperation, and (iii) the creation of métropoles. The latter achievement shows a remarkable continuity between the government of right and left, which have succeeded one another in France in the last ten years. In 2010, a law made possible the creation of a new type of EPCI - called a métropole - for any municipal grouping of more than 500,000 inhabitants. The competences were those of a communauté urbaine, to which were added by legal transfer, or by agreement, competences of the departments and regions. However, only one métropole was created subsequently, in Nice. In 2014, the loi de modernisation de l’action publique territoriale et d’affirmation des métropoles (literally the ‘law for the modernisation of territorial public action and affirmation of the metropolises’), often called MAPTAM law, designated eight métropoles in addition to Nice. Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Nantes, Rennes, Rouen Strasbourg and Toulouse were selected on the basis of their com- munauté urbaine status and their having more than 400,000 inhabitants in a city-region of more than 650,000 inhabitants. Later on, ten more métropoles were subsequently added to the list, including some with much less population and economic potential (like Brest, Nancy, Toulon…) (Demazière et al., 2020). The three largest French cities (Paris, Marseille and Lyon) have their own bespoke arrangements and illustrate a complex set of actors between the State and certain local authorities. Under President Sarkozy, the national government launched the idea of a metropolitan government for Greater Paris, combining two aims: on the one hand, grouping together independent municipalities, on the other hand, reinforcing the weight of the Parisian metropolis on a European and world scale. But it met the opposition from many concerned municipalities and from the Ile-de-France region. However, this project was pursued by the socialist government after 2012. The métropole du Grand Paris (Greater Paris metropolis) was legally created on 1 January

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2016 as an EPCI grouping Paris, the 123 municipalities of the three neighbouring departments and 7 other communes. Similarly, in the South of France, the metropole of Aix-Marseille Provence was created in 2016, even though it was the object of strong opposition from many mayors. In both cases, the métropole is considered to be politically weak since the main competences remain in the hands of the municipalities or pre- existing EPCIs. On the contrary, the second city-region in France, Lyon, shows a bottom-up approach to metropolitan government. As early as in 2012, Gérard Collomb, Mayor of Lyon and President of the EPCI Grand Lyon, and Michel Mercier, President of the Rhône General Council, have agreed to create a métropole by merging, on the territory of the EPCI, Grand Lyon and the Rhône department. The two local elected representatives, also senators, then used their influence with the parliament and the government to have the draft prepared in Lyon act by law. After the passage of the MAPTAM law, a MP declared that ‘in the bill, the Lyon chapter was not written by the Law Commission. Everything had been negotiated before by Collomb and Mercier’ (Pas- quier, 2016: 350). Second, Collomb and Mercier obtained the election by direct universal suffrage of elected representatives of the métropole. This tailor-made status is unique in France, the Metropole de Lyon being the only métropole to be a fully-fledged local authority. The direct election of the political representatives took place in spring 2020. It could provide a strong political legitimacy to the métropole over municipalities, in contrast to all other French métropoles where there is only indirect election.

In brief the case of Lyon breaks with Jacobinism according to which each level of local government must have the same rights regardless of its size and geographic location. More than a recognition of the diversity of territories, this institutional heterogeneity marks the weight of certain local elected representatives in the reform, whether they acted for or against it. The creation of métropoles by law was fully wished and anticipated by local elected officials in Lyon, whereas it was fought fiercely, in Paris and Marseille, by mayors of small municipalities or elected officials of departments who feared that these disappear. The institutional framework of MdL now consists of the following key entities: . The metropole council deliberative assembly consists of metropolitan councillors elected by universal suffrage. From 2020, the 150 metropolitan councillors are elected directly by the citizens. The council elects its president. In July 2020, Bruno Bernard was elected president of MdL, succeeding Gérard Collomb. The metropole council also elects the members of the permanent board. . The executive board consists of the of the President and 23 Vice-Presidents which have been elected by the metropole council. . The Metropolitan Council has delegated some competences to the permanent board, which consists of the President, 23 Vice-Presidents and 42 metropolitan councillors.. . The Metropolitan conference is a body coordinating Lyon Metropole and the 59 member municipalities. This body debates all subjects of metropolitan interest. The metropolitan conference draws up the agreement of metropolitan coherence between the metropole and the municipalities within six months following each renewal of the municipal councils. This framework document proposes a strategy for delegating MdL’s powers to its member municipalities, and a strategy for delegating some of the municipalities’ powers to Lyon Metropole. . Territorial conferences of mayors: They bring together several municipalities that share issues and seek to respond to them together. They are consulted for advice during the development and implementation of Metropolitan policies. There are 9 territorial conferences of mayors.

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Figure 6.1 Institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation in Lyon

Source: ESPON SPIMA (2020)

6.1.1.2 Geographical and thematic scope of metropolitan cooperation

Regarding their competences and their boundaries, French métropoles are to a large extent the heirs of the pre-existing communautés urbaines. The MAPTAM law did not mention an enlargement of the perimeter of metropolitan areas and/or provide for a mechanism on this subject, therefore leaving the mayors to decide. Of the 15 métropoles resulting from the MAPTAM law, 7 have exactly the same perimeter as the pre-existing EPCI. However, over the past decades, most of the corresponding city-regions have experienced strong demographic and economic growth and a movement of suburbanization, which would justify to consider an expansion of their territory. In the case of Lyon, the perimeter of the métropole is very close to that defined for the communauté urbaine which was created by the State in the 1969. Since then, only 3 municipalities joined the EPCI. Lyon (and other métropoles like Bordeaux or Nantes) illustrate a gap between the de jure metropolis and the de facto metropolis. The Lyon Metropolitan Area (MdL) encompasses only the core of the metropolitan area of Lyon. It consists of 59 municipalities on an area of 534 km2. In 2017 MdL has 1,385,927 inhabitants with a density of 2,485/km2. About 37.4% of the population lives in the core city of Lyon. The functional urban area consists of 498 municipalities. It has 2,310,315 inhabitants in 2016 on an area of 6,012 km².

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Map 6.1 Lyon Metropolitan Area

Source: authors’ own elaboration

The competences of the French métropoles are very significant: spatial planning; economic, social and cultural development; local housing policy; urban policy; protection and enhancement of the environment and local amenity/liveability; management of public services of collective interest. Besides, MdL merges the fields of intervention of the former intermunicipal association and of the Rhône department. The MAPTAM law considers that MdL ‘forms a space of solidarity to develop and lead a planning and economic, ecological, educational, sporting, cultural and social development project for its territory, in order to improve its competitiveness and cohesion’. Cohesion is used here as MdL has all the powers in the area of integration and protection of vulnerable groups hitherto managed by the department.

6.1.1.3 Role and participation of various social groups and of the business community in metropolitan governance and related practices.

In the mid-2000s, a number of metropolitan regions in Europe developed strategies concerning their international positioning and instruments for self-marketing (Fricke, 2020). In Lyon, economic actors such as the Chamber of Commerce and a public–private regional development agency (ADERLY) fostered the international orientation of metropolitan policies (Galimberti, 2015). Besides the Greater Lyon Development Council supports the dialogue between MdL and civil society.

6.1.1.4 Participation to policy networks at various levels.

According to Fricke, Lyon has been able to position itself as Europeanised metropolitan regions (Fricke, 2020), whereas other metropolitan regions choose to be internationally engaged only indirectly, for instance,

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via national associations and other forms of collective interest representation instead of establishing direct links or independent international units. MdL is a member of Eurocities (founding member), EMA and AFCCRE.

6.1.1.5 Information concerning metropolitan financing and budgeting.

The creation of metropoles occurred at the same time when the national government reduced its grants to all tiers of subnational government (-11 billion euros over the period 2015-2017). Nevertheless, the budget of metropoles tends to grow, which is explained by the new policy fields, but also by transfers of competences by the constituting municipalities and by the pooling of services with them, on a voluntary basis. In Lyon, due to the competences that were provided by the Rhône department, the MdL budget more than doubled between 2014 and 2016, from € 1.8 billion to € 3.9 billion. In 2018 the budget is €3.4 billion and it is €3.5 billion in 2020. In 2020, with €783.4 million, the main spending area is social expenditure (inherited from the department). Investments come second, with more than €700 million. They are the subject of a multiannual investment programming (PPI), organized for the period 2015-2020.The PPI is both a management tool and an anticipation instrument which should offer medium-term financial visibility.

6.1.1.6 Metropolitan level spatial development, governance and planning tools and relevant sectoral tools (strategic plans, financial programmes and other coordination tools).

There have been a number of strategic planning efforts in Lyon since the early 1960s, some of them a the level of the core city and others on larger perimeters. Such efforts have resulted in a number of strategic plans and inter-municipal cooperation initiatives (ESPON SPIMA, 2020). Statutory planning keeps an important role in France, even though there has been high degree of decentralization of planning responsibilities to municipalities and EPCIs. The possibility for metropolitan planning takes place through the Territorial Coherence plan (SCoT). The SCoT is the general document which is then transferred down to the local urban development plans (PLU). SCoT and PLU are both legally binding plans. Regions have been introduced by the territorial reform (2015) as the lead actors for strategic spatial planning and sustainable development. The newly mandated Regional Spatial Plans (SRADDETs) were supposed to be adopted by 2018. They are legally binding but, as they are very recent, they are considered to have much less influence than SCoTs. In Lyon, planning also takes place outside statutory planning, which is quite rare in France. Internationaliza- tion has been central in the strategies of the city in terms of economy, trade and attractiveness of urban cultural assets. A strategic vision has been drawn up in the framework of a joint effort among actors like Grand Lyon, the agency for economic development, the chamber of commerce, etc. Such vision emphasizes innovation, openness and the quality of the research institutions, with the aim of creating an environment that is attractive for new businesses and favourable for the existing ones. In this context, the SCoT is used as a strategic territorial development plan, in spite of being also a land-use plan. The SCoT elaborated in Lyon is intended to help the development of projects at the metropolitan level, such as in urban mobility and the creation of a polycentric region. However, the syndicate which has been given authority from MdL and two smaller EPCI to develop the SCoT operates on an area which is very small. The area is eight times smaller than the whole functional urban region. According to the ESPON SPIMA (2020: 119) study, ‘due to the rather complex governance structure, Lyon metropolitan area needs to find more effective mechanisms for coordination between the formalized bodies and to implement its strategic plan’.

Out of the statutory planning system, collaboration within the Lyon metropolitan area takes place through a number of bodies and initiatives, including the Inter-Scot, a programme of cooperation and dialogue on strategic planning, which currently involves 13 territories that form the Lyon metropolitan region and com- prise over 3.3 million inhabitants. Another soft space is the Pôle Métropolitain which similarly promotes cooperation between MdL and 5 EPCIs gathering altogether 2.1 million inhabitants.

6.1.2 Brief report on the local use of European funds (2014-2020 programming period)

In France, the 2014-2020 programme of the ESIF corresponds to a new stage of decentralization. Recog- nizing that regions play a key role in land use planning and regional economic development, the State has

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transferred management of the majority of European funds to them. In addition to a responsibility equivalent to that of the Regional Councils for the part of the EU funds that it continues to manage, the State retains a political responsibility which relates to the coherence and the good implementation of the funds on the national territory. ESIF represent 27.3 billion euros in France for the period 2013-2020. They are available in the form of programmes led by the regions (20.7 billion), the State (5.6 billion) and the departments (0.4 billion). Besides managing the ERDF, Regional Councils have been designated as managing authorities for 35% of the national ESF envelope, in particular for vocational training, apprenticeship and guidance. The state is the managing authority for employment and inclusion at 65%. In Rhône-Alpes, the Regional Council is responsible for ERDF credits for € 364 million. Among these credits, an agreement between the Ministry of the City and the Regions provides that 10% must be devoted to priority districts of urban policy (‘politique de la ville’). The Rhône-Alpes Region has thus decided to target € 39 million in favour of priority districts at regional level. At the end of 2014, it launched a call for applications to which the Lyon Metropolitan Area responded. MdL was selected to benefit from support of € 8 million in ERDF credits through an ITI. These credits are dedicated to supporting projects in neighborhoods in difficulty on the following themes: (i) ICT development (€ 1.5 million); (ii) competitiveness of SMEs by building ‘entrepreneurial poles’ (€ 1.4 million); (iii) energy transition through the renovation of social housing (€ 5.1 million). These ERDF credits benefit MdL for its own projects as well as the operators of the territory, especially social landlords. In the implementation, three departments of MdL are involved: housing and solidarity, urban policy, economic development. It should be noted that, by the effect of various laws, the Rhone-Alpes region received new powers in 2015 and merged with the Auvergne region. In addition, the regional elections of 2015 brought a new majority at the head of the region. These two movements, institutional and political, were able to modify the regional priorities compared to the previous mandate. According to the evaluation of the FEDER program (still in progress), the integrated character was very present over the 2007-2013 period in the PUIs, but weaker in the 2014-2020 period. The integrated approach was carried out by the intermediary bodies (namely the selected EPCIs) each in their own territory, but no longer thanks to European funds. Among the reasons identified, the devolution of fund management to the Region has narrowed the themes of EU funds to only subjects falling within regional competence. Further- more, there was no collective approach unlike in the previous period when the agglomerations agreed on the distribution of funds and relied on each other for the implementation. And there were no collective meetings led by the Region on ITIs. For the ESF, MdL was intermediary organisation. It received a global grant of 25.5 M € between 2017 and 2020. The main intervention framework of MdL was the Metropolitan Integration Program for Employment (PMI’e). With the PMI'e, voted in December 2015, the Lyon Metropolitan Area is committed to bringing together integration (former competence of the department) and economic development (historical competence of the urban community), by creating synergies in favor of employment. Within the PMI'e the ESF funds have made it possible to launch each year a call for projects supporting the initiatives of actors of integration and employment, in particular: structures of integration through economic activity, structures of- fering solutions for lifting of social or professional obstacles to employment, employers, their networks, social partners and professional branches, public or private establishments. Under the will of MdL’s elected officials, the PMI’e facilitation team financed by the ESF was integrated into the economic development department. According to the evaluation of the national operational programme that was made in December 2019, two notable effects have occurred. Internally, the coordination of the PMI'e has helped to strengthen the mobilization of MdL services in favor of integration and return to employment. For example, the development of social clauses is now an objective shared by all departments. Ex- ternally, the PMI’e facilitation operation has made it possible to develop privileged partnership links with companies, associations and integration actors. For example, MdL has initiated several initiatives in the direction of job-creating sectors (logistics, industry, digital, cleaning, personal services, etc.). In brief, the ESF has made it possible to help structure and professionalize the animation of the PMI’e within MdL services as well as at the level of partners and companies. This approach has been favored by the special status of MdL, which gives it competence in both integration and economic development. In contrast,

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ERDF had less impact due to the less important amount involved but also due to a lack of alignment of the strategies of the actors involved (MdL, Regional Council).

6.1.3 COVID-19 zoom

To help businesses cope with the COVID-19 crisis, MdL voted in April 2020 for an emergency fund of 100 million euros. The businesses concerned are those, small in size, whose activity has been interrupted (res- taurants or bars for example) or which belong to a particularly affected sector: non-food businesses, restau- rants, tourism, cultural and sports activities, events, transport-storage… This fund enabled exceptional assistance of 1,000 euros per month in spring 2020, in addition to that of the State (1,500 €). Following the elections held in June 2020, MdL's standing committee met for the first time on 14 September 2020. It adopted a series of deliberations to deal with the COVID-19 health crisis. MdL has thus decided to implement a support plan for metropolitan social and medico-social establishments and services (ESSMS) for child protection. An exceptional bonus, which can go up to € 1,000 for an overall envelope of € 2 million, will be paid to employees in this sector who took action during the health crisis. MdL is also setting up a support fund with a maximum envelope of 1,350,000 euros for these establishments. The new executive also wished to strengthen the strategy to fight against poverty, around the mobilization of 300 actors of the territory, with a budget of 7.3 million euros, half of which is supported by the MdL, with emphasis on domestic and intra-family violence, but also on the issue of access to housing, integration through employment and training of social workers. In the cultural field, the standing committee approved the allocation of an exceptional operating grant in the amount of 200,000 euros for the organization of the 12th edition of the Lumière Festival. This aid compen- sates for the disengagement of several of its private sponsors, in the context of the current health crisis.

6.2 Objectives and policy needs

The three questions that the METRO study seeks to answer are:  PQ1 | What are the most efficient governance models of cohesion policy funds in metropolitan areas?  PQ2 | What is the added value of applying cohesion policy to metropolitan policies?  PQ3 | How can cohesion policy enhance metropolitan governance? In the case of Lyon, these three questions all seem relevant. Their integration into local practices and issues is outlined below, each time leading to objectives and priorities for the study (in bold). . PQ1 | What are the most efficient governance models of cohesion policy funds in metropolitan areas?

From its origins, cohesion policy has considered the regional space as the reference scale, in connection with the objective of reducing development gaps. However, an urban dimension has emerged, with community initiative programs (such as Urban), or the fact that, in the 2014-20 programming period, a minimum of 5% of ERDF funding is reserved for integrated urban development. Consequently, the issue of inequalities shifts from the interregional level to the subregional and even the infra-urban. This urban dimension is not without effect on the subnational actors of the cohesion policy. In France, during the 2014-20 program, there has been a transfer of the management of Cohesion Policy to the Regions. But this recognition of the regional player intervened in the background of an affirmation of metropolises a major level of subnational government. In France, the use of cohesion policy funds is therefore marked by complex relationships between regions and métropoles, made up of complementarities and competition. In certain European territories, such as Brussels, London or Berlin, the regional mesh merges with the metropolitan area (Rivière, 2020). This is not the case in France, hence the relationships between actors can be more difficult. For Lyon, the preparation of the 2014-2020 programming resulted in a consultation made by the Region (then region Rhone-Alpes). To feed the OP, the EPCI Grand Lyon (then an urban community) submitted a contribution defining its priorities, corresponding to its strategic priorities at the time. We were then in a transition to the métropole absorbing the social competences of the département. It seems that the regions decided unilaterally as to the envelopes provided to the various concerned territories. In addition, there was

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no mid-term review. Even if some territories do not use totally the funds, funding to those who implement projects (including MdL) has not been increased. The institutional architecture and governance of cohesion policy could be a point of attention. What is the role of the Lyon metropolitan level in regional operational programs? What is its role in national operational programs? How and on what points are national or regional strategies and priorities aligned with those set out at the metropolitan level? For the 2021-2027 programming period, what will be the changes in the institutional architecture of cohesion policy? What will be the role of metropolitan / urban bodies in this (in terms of design, implementation, monitoring)?

. PQ2 | What is the added value of applying cohesion policy to metropolitan policies?

MdL is very active at international level and at European level in particular. However, it does not seem that there is a direct (or strong) influence of EU orientations in MdL's actions. Given its age (1969), competences and enlargement on the occasion of the creation of the métropole (2014), and because of the political legitimacy of the entity, it is understandable that MdL has developed its own strategic priorities, at the heart of what is the second largest metropolitan region in France (therefore with strong challenges). In the period 2014-2020, the use of European funds by MdL was as follows. There has been an identification of projects included in the investment multi-annual programme of MdL, which could be financed by the OP (earmarking). Moreover, over the years Directions submit projects to the Service of International Relationships which ex- amines whether they can enter the programming. A point of attention would on the tools used to program and implement cohesion policy. What are the les- sons to be learned from the ITI implemented in Lyon? How do the ITIs set up in other cities studied by the METRO project differ from the Lyon case? What is the potential for Lyon of other tools, such as CLLDs? MdL presents an interesting case since the actions falling under the ERDF and the ESF are different by their scale and by the managing authority (the State on the one hand, the Region on the other). At the implementation level, does this

Here the focus will be on the implementation "à la lyonnaise" of the cohesion policy. The International Rela- tions Department (SRI - shared service with the city of Lyon ) is located across the board from more sectoral departments. As a result, it provides monitoring, animation and connection functions with EU policies. The SRI oversees the ESF with the management in charge of integration. For the ESF, it is very structured, animated internally and very closely linked with local actors (80% of funding is allocated to them ). For the ERDF, three departments are involved: housing, city policy, economic development. Mdl also carries out projects related to the living environment and biodiversity. Although that enrolment in an ITI refers to an integrated approach, this program seems less structured and interactions with the region are considered to be limited, according to the ITI assessment report (assessment still underway). Actors external to MdL have benefited from the ERDF but the question of the support provided in setting up a project would need to be explored. More generally, we could address questions such as: How were the ITI and the ESF implemented internally at Mdl? Who were the actual bodies responsible for developing these tools and monitoring their implementation? Externally, what was the involvement of private operators and / or civil society in the development and implementation of these tools?

. PQ3 | How can cohesion policy enhance metropolitan governance?

MdL considers that there is success in the implementation of European funds, however it regrets the lack of ' assessment of the impact of structural funds in its territory. The need at this level could be addressed as part of the study METRO. Demonstration of the effectiveness and efficiency of the use of Euro- pean funds should also be made. In addition, prospectively, specifying how MdL's objectives align (and could align) with those of the EU would be relevant. The opportunity for reciprocal alignment exists since a new political majority has been ruling the métropole since the summer of 2020, which renews the intervention priorities. In parallel, the 2021-2027 cohesion policy comes in an unprecedented context of crisis linked to the CCOVID-19 pandemic, which puts into tension the rules - judged very heavy - for the use of cohesion funds. In addition, there is a strong will on the part of the new elected representatives of the city (municipality) of Lyon to seek European funds. The new mandate is geared towards transition (building renovation, new modes of transport, etc.)

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which will require considerable investment. There is a will and surely a difficulty in articulating local policies with the region-state contract, the national recovery plan, and the European plan. Strategic spatial planning is often an important means of associating diverse actors and building a common vision in time and space. Lyon has a long practice of this, at the scale of the métropole or in extended territories. Do these exercises integrate European objectives and ways of doing? Can they inform the implementation of cohesion policy? What is the link between the local priorities (linked to the local implementation of the cohesion policy), the metropolitan development strategy and spatial planning? Is this articulation formal or informal? Does it need to be reinforced?

6.2.1 List of hypotheses

Regarding the first question, we hypothesize that the recent institutional reforms in France (devolution, enlargement and empowerment of regions, creation of métropoles…) lead to new roles and to a difficult alignment of objectives regarding the use of CP funds, in a context of austerity.

Regarding the second question, we hypothesize that the philosophy of the CP funds (integrated approach) was operationalized as the projects could combine the competences of Grand Lyon (economic development, urban planning) and of the département (social aid).

Regarding the third question, we hypothesize that there is a potential for more connection between the EU objectives and processes, on the hand, and the aims and processes of strategic spatial planning in Lyon, on the other hand.

6.2.2 List of actors / processes

The following list of actors has been validated with the stakeholder, Lyon Metropolitan Area. These actors will be contacted later for an interview or participation in a focus group.

Table 6.1 List of actors to engage

Function Organisation Role Reason why it would be important to involve them in the analysis Lyon Metropolitan Political Defines the strategy for 2021-27 Vice-President in charge of interna- Area tional cooperation School frequencies Lyon Metropolitan Technical Implied in ITI 2014-20 strategy. International Relations Manager / Area Director Policy officer for the strategy in ur- Lyon Metropolitan Technical Implied in ITI 2014-20, on urban ban policy Area policy and ICTs Lyon Metropolitan Technical Implied in ITI 2014-20 and leader Entrepreneurial hub project man- Area for ERDF project ager, Innovation and Economic Ac- tion Department Lyon Metropolitan Technical Implied in ITI 2014-20, interacts Project manager, Area with social housing organisations Habitat Department Fréquences écoles Fréquences écoles Civil society Manages an ERDF funded project Digital project managers, Digital in- Lyon Metropolitan Technical Manages an ERDF funded pro- novation and information systems Area ject (ITI) department Youth Project Manager Ville de Lyon Technical Manages an ERDF funded project (ITI) Mobility studies manager, urban Lyon Metropolitan Technical Manages an ERDF funded pro- mobility service Area ject (outside ITI) Director of the chemical valley mis- Lyon Metropolitan Technical Manages an ERDF funded pro- sion Area ject (outside ITI)

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Responsible for writing the future Région Auvergne- Technical Managing authority for operational program 21-27 Rhône-Alpes ERDF/ESF for the regional government + Previously in charge of Euro- pean affairs at Métropole de Lyon. Has followed the ITI and the launch of ESPON METRO Director of European funds Région Auvergne- Technical Managing authority for Rhône-Alpes ERDF/ESF for the regional government Head of the FSE department of the DIRECCTE Au- Technical Managing authority for Direccte vergne- Rhône- ERDF/ESF for the national gov- Alpes ernment European affairs project manager Lyon Metropolitan Technical Coordinates global funding of Area ESF to Métropole (National programme) Unit manager of the integration and Lyon Metropolitan Technical Coordinates global funding of employment support system Area ESF to Métropole (National programme) Director ALYNEA Civil society Manages an ESF project + partner of an EaSI project with Mé- tropole de Lyon Very much involved in the organisation of the EMA in Lyon in 2019, especially in the preparation of the political declaration for European inclusive metropolitan areas Director JARDINS DE LU- Civil society Manages an ESF project CIE Director CIDFF Civil society Manages an ESF project

Director INNOVATION & Civil society Manages an ESF project DEVELOPPEMENT Director OFELIA Civil society Manages an ESF project Habitat project manager - strategy Lyon Metropolitan Technical Manages an ERDF project – Ur- and innovation Area ban innovative action And Policy Officer, Habitat / Housing Department

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Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot

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7 Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdinya- Sopot

7.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy

7.1.1 Territorial governance in Poland

There are three territorial tiers of self-government in Poland: 16 regions, more than 300 counties, above 60 cities being municipalities with county rights13 and almost 2,5 thousand municipalities. The different types of territorial self-government in Poland are not formally subordinated to each other and act independently. Polish municipalities, regions and counties have been endowed with their own and delegated (by Central government) tasks and with financial resources. However, in terms of finances the role of counties and regions are much smaller in comparison to the municipalities. Diversity of the types of self-government in a relatively large country like Poland reflects the concept of subsidiarity, i.e., the necessity to deliver some public goods and services at an appropriate territorial level that might vary in line with their nature. Coordi- nation of activities between self-governments (both horizontal and vertical) does exist but is far from being satisfactory. The described above architecture of territorial governance does not include functional areas. However, self-governments might create voluntarily some co-operation structures covering several municipalities or counties and endow them with tasks and regular budget. Such structures have been created frequently for instance for the purpose of water sanitation but as the rule they were entrusted with rather concrete and clear than complex and complicated tasks. There is only one metropolis in Poland established formally by the central government so far. Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia (GZM) - in southern Po- land, in the Silesian Region was established on July 1, 2017 by a regulation of the Council of Ministers, pursuant to the special purpose Act of Polish Parliament March 9, 2017 (Act of 9 March 2017 on the metropolitan union in the Silesian Voivodeship (Journal of Laws of 2017, item 730)). The union began operating at the beginning of 2018 and receives income from the state budget - 5% share in income tax from people living in its area. It also receives contributions from the budgets of the communes forming this metropolis. In the rest of Polish metropolitan areas voluntary co-operation within metropolitan areas covering more interrelated issues was almost non-existing.

7.1.2 Cohesion Policy

Between 2007 and 2020 Poland was the largest recipient of EU funding among EU MS. Between 2014 and 2020 Poland has received over 105.8 billion EURO from the EU’s budget including around 80 billion EURO for the cohesion policy (CP). In the programming period 2014-2020 Poland has managed six national Oper- ational Programmes (OPs) and 16 regional programmes (one for each region with a budget from 0.9 up till 3.5 billion Euro each) (Fig 7.1). . The OP Infrastructure & Environment enhancing energy efficiency and transformation towards low-carbon economy (27.4 billion Euro); . The OP Smart Development supporting private sector research and development (8.6 billion Euro); . The OP Knowledge, Education & Development improving the quality and efficiency of the Polish higher education system, labour market functioning and social inclusion (5.4 billion Euro); . The OP Digital Poland e dedicated to ICT projects, broadband networks and e-services (2.2 billion Euro);

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. The OP Eastern Poland focusing on development of lagging behind regions in Eastern Poland (2.0 billion Euro); . The OP Technical Assistance for the smooth implementation of structural and investment funds in Poland; . The 16 Regional Operational Programmes (ROPs) financing regional actions complementary to the ones financed under national programmes. Their focus was mainly on promotion of entrepreneurship, education, employment, social inclusion, ICT, infrastructure, environment, energy and transport. Thus the characteristic features of the CP in Poland are decentralisation, orientation on alleviation of the basic development problems (infrastructure, protection of environment) and relatively large magnitude (ESI funds as a main source of public investments in the country and main driver of its modernisation). In the next funding period, the allocations envisaged for CP are lower (at least by 10 bn of Euro). They will be used for:

. further innovating and modernizing Polish economy; . facilitating transition towards green and low-carbon economy; . investing in honing skills so as to maintain competitiveness and cohesion. These objectives are in line with the five main objectives of the Cohesion Policy after 2020, namely Smarter Europe; Greener, Carbon free Europe; Connected Europe; Social Europe and Europe closer to citizens. At least some of them might be seen as promising from the perspective of metropolitan areas.

7.1.2.1 Metropolitan areas under CP in Poland

In the Polish Partnership Agreement for 2014-2020 Regional capitals and their functional areas are listed among Areas of Strategic Intervention (ASI) at the national level in the years 2014-2020. On this basis CP was used for enhancement of formation of metropolitan areas. The main vehicle applied to this end was an innovative instrument of Integrated Territorial Investments (ITIs) introduced first time by the European Com- mission in the 2014-20 financial perspective. ITI, in principle should enhance development of the functional areas of the large urban regions. In Poland, ITIs are implemented in 24 areas (Figure 7.1) and financed as special purpose “envelopes” of regional operational programs (ROPs). They also have priority access to some parts of the OP Infrastructure & Envi- ronment. The delimitation of the areas covered by ITI has been agreed jointly by the regional self-government and the municipalities interested in implementing the ITI. This area was then specified in a relevant resolution of the Regional Board. The Ministry of Regional Development (then Investment and Development) developed the rules for their implementation and the schedule for their implementation, consulted and provided legal support. The ITI implementation began with the establishment of ITI Associations or just signing ITI agreements between local governments. These two arrangements have different financial consequences. In the case of association, such as MAG the source of financing are membership fees and special-purpose fees of local governments plus co-financing from Operational Programme Technical Assistance OP TA). In case of an "agreement", when the ITI office functions within the structures of one City Hall, activities are co-financed by the OP TA) and the key role is played by the city government hosting ITI office. Regardless of these institutional arrangements the first step was development of ITI Strategies for the metropolitan area in concern, and then agreements were signed between the ITI Associations and the Regional Operational Program Managing Authority (MA of the ROP), i.e. the regional board. After reaching an agreement ITI Associations (or bodies indicated in the of aforesaid ITI agreement) starts to play the role of Intermediate Body (IB) managing part of ROP. For instance, the Association of Metropolitan Area of Gdańsk-Gdynia Sopot (Map 7.1) acts as IB for the Pomorskie Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 dealing with European funds worth PLN 1.1 billion, which translates into a package of almost 168 projects of total value PLN 1.9billion. The association applies also for some other funding so its full portfolio of project activities is worth PLN 1.76 billion, which translates into a package of almost 180 projects with a total value of PLN 3.3 billion.

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Map 7.1 Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot

Source: authors’ own elaboration.

Figure 7.1 Spatial scope of 24 functional areas of ITI implementation in Poland.

Source: SAO own study

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The problem is that this is a main source of funding for development of the metropolitan areas and this source is expected to be reduced in the coming years. The allocation of funds to the 24 functional areas of ITI implementation in Poland in the years 2014-20 are presented at the figure 7.2 also in relation to the ROPs (the highest share of ROP for metropolitan purposes has been allocated in the Silesian region in Southern Poland since this region is dominated by the urban settlements).

Figure 7.2 Allocations for 24 functional areas of ITI implementation in Poland from ROPs in the years 2014-20; in PLN millions and as a share of total ROP budget

Source: SAO own study

7.1.2.2 The Stakeholder: MAG Association

The Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot (MAG) located in Pomorskie region is the fastest growing area of northern Poland. It is also a significant centre of integration processes in the Baltic Sea region as well as being an important transport and energy hub. The metropolitan area is of bi-polar nature with two big cities playing a leading role: Gdynia and Gdansk. The MAG Association was established on September 15, 2011 as the result of voluntary agreement of the local and county governments around cities of Gdańsk and Gdynia. In fact, the MAG Association combined two previously established co-operation networks formed around Gdańsk and Gdynia. The discussions, which led to the establishment of the MAG, lasted several months. Currently, 58 local governments operate within MAG, which covers a total area of nearly 6,700km², and is inhabited by 1.55 million inhabitants (67% of the population of Pomorskie Region). The Association works mainly through the meetings of the thematic committees which discuss different themes of mutual interest for the members, e.g. joint purchase of goods and services or the preparation of development plans covering several local authorities. The committees also facilitate exchange of experiences and good practice among local governments. One of the key tasks is joint preparation of the strategic documents for development of the metropolitan area. The ITI Strategy can serve as an example here. Such documents guide investments

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of local governments in the metropolitan area. In addition to that MAG Associations runs its own projects. The example is the Centre for Social Ecomination of a value of PLN 18,21 mln The work of Association is covered from fees of its members. Such budget is sufficient to support employment of slightly more than 10 permanent metropolitan officers. The rest of staff is employed on project basis. As it was said since 2015, the Association has acted as the IB for Pomorskie Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020 responsible for ITI implementation (this part of the Association’s activities is covered by the OP Technical Assistance Programme).

Figure 7.3 Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot territorial structure

Source: Pomeranian Regional Planning Office

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Figure 7.4 The institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation of MAG

The institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation of GGSMA

Business sector Pomeranian Employers Association Pomeranian Chamber of Commerce Pomeranian Chamber of Crafts for Small and Medium Enterprises Gdansk and Gdynia Sea Ports Gdansk Airport Convention centers and ttourist offices Investors and Developers Regional Atmosphere Monitoring Agency Gdansk Economic Development Agency Olivia Business Centre PKP SKM Lotos Carsharing companies

Regional authorities Local authorities The council of the Pomeranian Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot (Three core Voivodeship cities) mayors Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship 58 municipalit ies’ of MA mayors, Voivode of Pomerania including 8 counties’ mayors Voivodship statistical office Gdansk and Gdynia Development Pomeranian Regional Planning Office Bureaus Pomeranian Development Agency County labor offices Provincial Fund for Environmental County social welfare centers Protection and Water Management Planning offices in Gdansk and Gdynia Provincial Council for Social Dialogue Communal services companies Pomeranian Education Authority Metropolitan Communication Union of the Gulf of Gdansk GGS Metropolitan Area

Science University of Gdansk Gdansk University of Technology Social sector Medical University of Gdansk NGOs and associations Polish Academy of Sciences Civil society organizations: State Research Institutes and think urban movements, tanks cultural organizations Social Economy Enterprises

State authorities Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy Ministry of Family and Social Policy National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management National forests Union of Polish Metropolises Union of Polish Cities National Heritage Institute

Source: authors’ own elaboration

The cohesion policy at the metropolitan level is almost exclusively present in the form of the ITI instrument. The realization of ITI covers the majority of activities of GGSMA and constructs the presented above institutional architecture for metropolitan cooperation.

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7.2 Objectives and policy needs Field 1: the enhancement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the governance of cohesion policy at the metropolitan level. 1.1 To evaluate results and impacts of the cohesion policy, especially ITI, in the GGS Metropolitan Area. 1.2 To identify the most/the least efficient directions of intervention under cohesion policy in the GGS Metropolitan Area with a focus on ITI. 1.3 To identify key factors behind the efficiency/inefficiency of ITI management structure (institutional capacity) of the GGS Metropolitan Area. Field 2: the added value that cohesion policy could provide in implementing metropolitan policies and achieving metropolitan spatial development goals. 2.1 Which ITI implementation experiences and practices could/should be transferred into different areas of public management and public policy creation and implementation within the GGS Metro- politan Area? 2.2 How to shape implementation mechanisms and structures for different metropolitan policies based on ITI track record? Field 3: the added value that cohesion policy could provide in favouring the institution and consolidation of metropolitan governance structures and cooperation practices. 3.1 What should be the main cornerstones and the key assumptions for the optimal management model for the GGS Metropolitan Area, taking especially into account its diversified institutional capacity as well as economic and social structure? 3.2 The main steps to be taken to provide a better statistical overview of the socio-economic situation in the GGS Metropolitan Area as well as in other metropolitan areas in Poland as well as the EU as a whole. 3.3 What are the most expected changes in the regulatory (legal) framework to make the metropolitan areas in Poland well-positioned (competences, taxation power, etc.) in multi-level governance system in Pomorskie region and Poland as such?

7.2.1 List of preliminary hypotheses

Preliminary hypotheses

. Policy of territorial integration within the framework of the CP occurred to be the most effective tool to start processes of consolidation in the polycentric metropolitan areas of fusion mode, to which MAG belongs. Therefore, for the MAG the continuation of ITI projects in the future programming perspective will be crucial for the quality of metropolitan governance and metropolitan structures stability.

. MAG as all but one of the Polish metropolitan areas have not been covered by the Metropolitan Act. Recognition of metropolitan policy level in the CP creates the highly desirable formal and legal framework for conducting and financing activities on a metropolitan area scale.

. More open and broad involvement of stakeholders representing citizens, NGOs, science and business associations in the crucial MAG decision-making processes would bring metropolitan policy into the field of the direct interest of their inhabitants. This might strengthen both democratic legitimacy of MAG as well as the efficiency of CP goals achievement.

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. The territorial scale of metropolitan areas positions them ”in between” strong local and regional levels of policy. In a consequence of this metropolitan areas are too often the area of neglect or intensive conflicts of interests of both levels than the area of effective development policy. CP directly ad-dressing metropolitan areas development problems may help to overcome of weaknesses stemming from the incomplete multilevel territorial policy in Poland.

. One of the results of a lack of national metropolitan policy MAG together with other Polish metropolitan areas has a problem with the access to statistical data necessary for conducting the effective policy. It has become spatially clear in the new situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Estab- lishing the European Metropolitan Policy Observatory that among others would provide the statistical data for metropolitan areas in EU would have a basic meaning for an evidence-based metropolitan policy both at the EU and at the particular metropolitan areas level.

7.2.2 List of actors / processes

Table 7.1 The main actors to be involved to answer to the policy needs

Actor in the Metropolitan Area Role Justification

Municipality Mayors (and County Mayors) political political President (Marshal) of the Pomorskie region political decision-makers Governor’s (central government) representatives political

Rectors of the universities and heads of R&D centres education & science knowledge providers

NGOs’ representatives (including migrants-focussed) civil society social capital developers

Employers’ associations and chambers of commerce business key stakeholders shaping long-term economic situa- The biggest (including foreign) investors’ representatives business tion Public & non-public business support organisations business and

Tourism and convention organisations business know-how providers

Key infrastructure managers (seaports, airports, etc.) technical/business providers Maritime administration technical of key-importance services Statistics Poland (regional branch) technical

Source: authors’ own elaboration Policy making processes at the metropolitan level worth to follow:

1. Metropolitan Law for GGS Metropolitan Area (initiative of the Polish Senate); 2. Pomorskie Regional Development Strategy 2030 and its implementing tools, including also NextGen Regional Operational Programme (to be finished in 2021); 3. GGS Metropolitan Area Development Strategy 2030 (inception phase). 4. National Urban Strategy 2030 (inception phase).

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Metropolitan City of Florence

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8 Metropolitan City of Florence

8.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy

8.1.1 Metropolitan governance institutional configuration

The establishment of metropolitan cities has been under discussion since the post-war period in Italy. In the second half of the 1960s, the discussion led to a strategic document by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Programming called “Progetto ’80” (MBPE, 1969). The document, however, never brought about direct political action and remained a mere indication of strategy but nothing more (Renzoni, 2012). The first real political action to establish metropolitan cities in Italy as an institutional body occurred with Law 142/1990 on local self-government. The task of recognizing the boundaries of the metropolitan areas was given to the Regions, but none of them succeeded in institutionalizing them. It was necessary to wait until the constitutional changes that followed the amendment of the 5th Title in 2001 when, for the first time, the metropolitan city was constitutionally recognized as an autonomous institution constituting the Italian Re- public.

In point of fact, metropolitan cities were only established in 2014 within the framework of the “Delrio law” 14 (Law 56/2014). This law sought to transform all Italian provinces into second level institutions with non- elected assemblies and to reduce their jurisdiction, while provinces that incorporated major regional capital cities were abolished and replaced with “metropolitan cities” (actually 14 and among them, Florence and Turin) in charge to adopt two territorial governance instruments: the Metropolitan Strategic Plan and the Metropolitan Territorial Plan. According to the 2014 “Delrio” law, the metropolitan city is defined as a regional institution with the aim of: managing the strategic development of the metropolitan area, promoting and managing the services, infrastructures and communication networks of interest to the metropolitan city in an integrated way, and taking care of institutional relations pertaining to its own level, including those with the cities and metropolitan areas of Europe. The scope of powers and functions of metropolitan cities is designed by the legislature drawing upon the example of the Provinces they had de jure superseded. According to article 117, second paragraph, letter p), of the Constitution, the Metropolitan City has the following fundamental functions: a) adoption and annual updating of a strategic plan for the metropolitan area, conceived as a guideline for both the metropolitan city and the municipalities and unions of municipalities; b) general territorial planning, including mobility infrastructures and service networks under the competence of the metropolitan city; c) organization of coordinated systems for the management of public services for the municipalities of the Metropolitan City (preparing tender documents, acting as contracting authority, monitoring of service contracts, organizing competitions and selection procedures);

d) mobility and viability, also ensuring the compatibility and consistency of municipal land use planning within the provisions of the metropolitan city; e) promotion and coordination of economic and social development, also ensuring support for innovative economic and research activities that are consistent with the vocation of the metropolitan city as outlined in the strategic plan (see letter a); f) promotion and coordination of digitization in the metropolitan area.

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The fundamental functions of the provinces are also attributed to the metropolitan city: a) territorial, environmental and landscape planning, for the aspects of competence; b) planning of transport services in the provincial area, authorization and control of private transport, in line with regional planning, as well as construction and management of provincial roads and regulation of the road traffic inherent to them; c) provincial planning of the school network, in compliance with regional planning; d) collection and processing of data, technical-administrative assistance to local authorities; e) management of school buildings; f) control of discriminatory phenomena in the employment field and promotion of equal opportunities in the metropolitan territory. This new institutional dimension also required the creation of an architecture of strategic and administrative government tasked with predicting and implementing the development and competitiveness of the territory as it pertains to the metropolitan city. According to Law 56/2014, the metropolitan governance has a formal structure headed by the President of the metropolitan city (also called “metropolitan mayor” assisted by a legislative body, the metropolitan council (consiglio metropolitano), and by a non-legislative assembly, the metropolitan conference (conferenza metropolitana). The metropolitan council is the chief legislative body of the metropolitan city. It adopts a Statute and proposes laws and amendments to the metropolitan conference, and approves programs, regulations and rules submitted to it by the metropolitan mayor such as the budget. The council consists of mayors and city councilors of each municipality in the metropolitan city, elected from amongst themselves using partially open list proportional representation. The metropolitan conference adopts or rejects laws and amendments approved by the metropolitan council. It is the ultimate approving body of the city's budget. Actions in the conference require votes of at least two- thirds of communes in the metropolitan city and the majority of the overall resident population. The conference is composed of all mayors of the communes within the metropolitan city, in the frame of regional policies. Under law 56/2014, the President of the metropolitan city is the mayor of the capital city. The President acts as executive and administrative officer of the metropolitan city and represents, convenes and chairs meetings of the metropolitan council, administers city offices, supervises the functioning of city services, and prepares the metropolitan city's budget. Under this framework, the Metropolitan City of Florence was firstly created by the reform of local authorities (Law 142/1990), then established by Law 56/2014 and is now operative since January 1, 2015. Its capital city is the Municipality of Florence and in total the metropolitan territory is composed of 41 municipalities and in total just exceed a million inhabitants. Since its institution in 2015, the lack of correspondence between the administrative boundaries and the functional urban area (FUA) as concerned by ESPON (FUORE, 2020) has been evident to administrators, citizens and regional scientists (De Luca, 2016). The metropolitan city involves some territories with a strict identity, such as the Chianti Shire in the South- East, the Mugello mountains in the northeast (Union of 8 municipalities), and an already-in-place union of 11 municipalities in Elsa Valley (South-West), headed by the municipality of Empoli. Conversely, the socio-economic gravitational area extends to the neighboring provinces of Prato and Pistoia on the Pisa-Florence axis, and has been the focus of previous regional planning instruments and economic programming strategies. The case of the metropolitan city of Florence could summing up all the problems of Italian metropolitan cities: its functional axis is perpendicular to the institutional one. On the one hand, the institutional boundary is unable to seize on the socio-economic and functional trends that clearly emerge in the densely-populated

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settlements seamlessly joining the three cited cities of Prato and Pistoia. The socio-economic gravitational area extends to the neighbouring provinces of Prato and Pistoia on the Pisa-Florence axis, involving the municipalities of Firenze, Fiesole, Bagno a Ripoli, Impruneta, Scandicci, Lastra a Signa, Signa, Campi Bisen- zio, Sesto Fiorentino (within the metropolitan city), the municipalities of Prato, Vaiano, Montemurlo, Poggio a Caiano e Carmignano (province of Prato) and Pistoia, Montale, Montemurlo, Agliana, Quarrata e Ser- ravalle Pistoiese (Province of Pistoia). This urban system has been the focus of previous regional planning instruments and economic programming strategies, as the Regional Plan (De Luca et al., 2020). On the other, the institution includes municipalities from the northeast to the southwest whose territories and settlements have strong historical roots and a perceived feeling of being “other” than an inhabitant of a metropolitan city. Even politicians and policy makers seem to have difficulty conceiving of the metropolitan city as a whole: the recent proposals to establish a "Greater Florence" by joining Florence city’ policies with the municipalities in the first belt is a sign of this tendency.

Map 8.1 Metropolitan City of Florence

Source: authors’ own elaboration

Aware of this shift between FUA and institutional boundaries, in October 2015 the Metropolitan City of Flor- ence started to define its strategic plan, as per Law 56/2014, by establishing a Scientific Committee composed of stakeholders from different fields: Florence University (UNIFI), Research and Innovation Founda- tion (FRI), Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze (banking institute), Regional Institute for Economic Planning of Tuscany (IRPET), and the Chamber of Commerce.

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The first step involved conducting spatial analyses and regional studies to define strategic projects to be implemented by the Metropolitan City. In the meantime, a participatory process was launched under the slogan “Together for the plan” which revealed the complexity of the activity for the stakeholders in defining the metropolitan area and its problems. The process of defining current scenarios and trends has led to the synergistic and integrated consideration of two different design scales (macro and micro), with their projects and practices (stories).The ‘macro-stories’ concerned institutional public projects, as well as in house and private projects covering public supra- local services: from public transport to metropolitan agricultural parks, the metropolitan city’s position in global world economics and the promotion of startups through incubation and acceleration processes. Whereas, the ‘micro-stories’ emerged within the participatory process through the storytelling of current and evolving projects and practices involving small parts of the metropolitan territory and community: from active solidarity networks in some town districts in Florentine municipalities to forms of co-housing and co-living in diverse parts of the countryside, from the “milk streets” in the Mugello area to the enhancement of ancient grain supply chains in the Empoli area.

Both macro and micro stories were represented together in the frame of “metropolitan rythms”: this meta- phorical spatial device is adopted to return the complexity of territories and to visually translate the relationship among micro and macro stories into a diagrammatic language, defining a series of concise scenarios which form the basis for the three strategic visions of the plan (Universal accessibility, Widespread opportunities, Lands of wellbeing) to bring about a new ‘Metropolitan Renaissance’ (Lingua, 2018). From a methodological perspective, metropolitan rhythms are the final result of a proactive reading of the territory intended to join variable geometries coming from both the “contradiction” of the institutional reform and functional and socio-economic trends. To avoid the mismatch between the institutional boundaries of the metropolitan city, coinciding with the former province of Florence, and the functional urban area histori- cally developed along the subregional basin of the provinces of Florence, Prato and Pistoia, a 100x100 km square area has been used as the ground to define both current trends and future scenarios. This frame covers the entire area defined both by the institutional and functional metropolitan areas. Within this square, rhythms find spatiality through figurative language with a strong symbolic connotation obtained through operations of compositional selection and abstract synthesis of geo-localized elements (De Luca, 2017; De Luca et al., 2020). This methodological approach is the basis for the definition of the Metropolitan Territorial Plan (PTM). The strategic component of the PTM retraces the articulation into three visions of the PSM, defining in greater detail those strategies capable of touching the ground and being territorialized. Their cartographic transpo- sition is the basis of a "coalescence" process through which strategies of the Municipal and Intercommunal Structural Plans and the territorialization of the visions of the PSM, together with the provisions of the Urban Plan for Sustainable Mobility - PUMS are summarized in the PTM as Metropolitan Platforms. These platforms are places where public and private ambitions and interests, as well as local and regional objectives, join and overlap, highlighting the opportunity for an intermediate level, which is the metropolitan one.

Table 8.1 Metropolitan level spatial development, governance and planning tools

Name Tipol- Scope Law Resp. Resp. body Financial Time Bind- ogy body - de- - implemen- coverage frame ing/non velop- tation binding ment

Strategic strate- Coordina- L. 56/14 Metropoli- Metropolitan Budget of 2030 Non bind- Plan for gic tion of tan City of City of Flor- the met- ing Re- the Metro- plan strategies Florence ence and in- ropolitan gional politan and ac- volved public city and of Law. City of tions within and private the in- 65/14 Florence the metro- actors volved politan city

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Name Tipol- Scope Law Resp. Resp. body Financial Time Bind- ogy body - de- - implemen- coverage frame ing/non velop- tation binding ment stakeholders

Territorial Spatial Coordina- L. 56/14 Metropoli- Metropolitan Budget of 2030 Binding Metropoli- plan tion of met- tan City of City of Flor- the met- Re- tan Plan ropolitan Florence ence ropolitan gional territorial city Law. projects 65/14

Metropoli- Mobil- Coordina- Metropoli- Metropolitan Budget of 2030 Binding tan Plan ity Plan tion of met- tan City of City of Flor- the met- for Sus- ropolitan Florence ence ropolitan tainable mobility city and of Mobility - policies the in- PUMS volved stakeholders

Urban Mobil- Coordina- Municipal- Municipality Budget of Binding Plan for ity Plan tion of ur- ity of Flor- of Florence the Mu- Sustaina- ban mobil- ence nicipality ble Mobil- ity policies of Flor- ity - ence PUMS

National multi- Coordina- EU Co- National Municipality ERDF 2014/ Binding opera- fund tion sus- hesion Agency for of Florence and ESF 2020 tional pro- pro- tainable policy Territorial (intermedi- Funds gramme gram urban de- Cohesion ate body for (+ 3 + national “Metro- velopment is (Manag- local man- years) co-financ- politan cit- with a met- ing and agement) ing ies ropolitan Certifying 2014/202 perspec- Authority) 0” (PON tive METRO)

Docup finan- Coordina- TUEL Municipal- Municipality Budget of 2020-2022 Binding cial tion of mu- ity of Flor- of Florence the Mu- (triennial pro- nicipal pol- ence nicipality program- gram icies of Flor- ming) ence

Sustaina- Sec- Coordina- Con- Municipal- Municipality Budget of Non bind- ble En- toral tion of en- venant ity of Flor- of Florence the Mu- ing ergy Ac- plan vironmen- of ence nicipality tion Plan tal munici- Mayors of Flor- (PAES) pal policies for Cli- ence mat and Energy

Source: Authors’ own elaboration

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8.1.2 Cohesion policy architecture

Florence is one of the 14 metropolitan cities involved in PON Metro, the National Operational Programme for Metropolitan Cities aiming to address in a coordinated way all the territorial and organisational challenges faced in urban contexts. It is funded by the European Union (ERDF – European Regional Development Fund and ESF – European Social Fund), with a budget of 40 million euros for each city located in the more developed (Central/North of the country) and transition regions (the region of Sardinia), and 90 million euros for each city in the less developed regions (South of the country). The programme is focused on five main axes (four priority issues and one axis for technical assistance): Digital Metropolitan Agenda, Sustainability of Services and of Urban Mobility, Services for Social Inclusion, Infrastructures for Social Inclusion, and Technical Assistance. PON Metro is based on two strategic drivers: putting the “Smart City” paradigm in practice (for the redesign and modernization of public services through the digital agenda and a more efficient and sustainable mobility) and promoting social innovation (for the inclusion of the most fragile population segments and areas and for disadvantaged neighbourhoods through services and infrastructure). The National Agency for Territorial Cohesion is the Managing and Certifying Authority responsible for implementing and managing the Operational Programme, and the 14 capital municipalities of the metropolitan cities are the intermediate bodies that manage the programme locally. PON Metro has the same strategy for the 14 metropolitan cities (the abovementioned one), but each city is responsible for creating its own Oper- ational Plan. This plan contains both the list of actions and the involved actors for each project/intervention and the expected impact through indicators. In this framework, the Municipality of Florence, in charge of the local management of the Programme, has a total budget of €. 40.355.143,14 spread among its 5 axes: 6860730,10 million euros for axis 1 (metropolitan digital agenda); 15940175,61 million euros for axis 2 (public services and urban mobility); 10589513,43 million euros for axis 3 (social inclusion services); 5909238,29 million euros for axis 4 (social inclusion infrastructures); and 1055485,71 million euros for axis 5 (technical assistance).15 The organizational and operating model of the Intermediate Body provides for a “control room” that will be convened whenever there is a need and in any case indicatively every semester, to ensure the correct execution of the Program, the Operational Plan and the compliance with the objectives and deadlines implementation of interventions. This control room, coordinated and directed by the City Manager, is also composed by the Director of the Mayor's Office as supervisor on the consistency of the actions and interventions with the strategic political direction of the Mayor. It will also be the natural venue for meetings with the Met- ropolitan City, as a natural consequence of the collaboration activities already underway also through the meetings of the group established for the drafting of the Metropolitan Strategic Plan and for projects already in the planning and implementation phase shared as the traffic control system. The relations with the Metro- politan City (represented by the City Manager or his delegate) will be thus maintained in a stable and continuous manner and the proactive collaboration between the parties will be also realized thanks to co-created projects based on the reuse and replicability of the actions (namely the ones of axis 1), when concretely and operationally feasible. The municipality of Florence acts as “Urban Authority”, i.e. the intermediate body which receives founding and manages them according to a participatory process that involve both other institutions and the private and civic sector.

Started as a pilot sharing process, due to other in-place project activities (like the participation to Integrated Sustainable Development Plans in the frame of regional founding programs/ Sustainable Urban Develop- ment Strategy that brings to create a common office) and the participation to European Networks as Euroc- ities and Metrex, in the framework of the PON Metro Program this process of interaction has become more structured.

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The resources of the PON Metro, allocated at local level through the Municipality of Florence as capital city of the Metropolitan City acting as Intermediate body, are meant to finance projects which have a metropolitan perspective/interest/reuse. However, a distinction should be done between material and immaterial projects. As a matter of fact, the material projects (concerning infrastructures and public spaces) are mainly related to the improvement of the infrastructural system of the Capital City (see the project concerning the public lighting system), but they also concern infrastructures that are directly connected with the ones of surroundings municipalities, as the project concerning the extension and improvement of the network of bicycle lanes in Florence, that is aimed at mending the cycling network of neighboring municipalities in the frame of the metropolitan bike system network or the ITS (Intelligent Transport System) implementation conceived for city users (residents, students, commuters, …) The immaterial projects have a more direct metropolitan value, since the project developed through PON Metro founding are meant to develop procedures or IT products which can be directly used by or transferred the other municipalities. Examples are the smart tourism platform “Feel Florence” and the simple tax system platform that allows to standardize data on payments and debt positions at the metropolitan level. The as- sumption at the base of these project is that a small Municipality alone could face severe difficulties developing IT technologies, so the PON Metro projects are conceived to be transferred or reused from the capital city to all the surrounding municipalities and, particularly, to those adhering to Silfi Spa, the in house company for developing IT solutions for 22 municipalities of the metropolitan city that, through this cooperation, also create a critical mass for lowering costs. Concerning public-private partnerships, although many administrative rules exist in their definition, the implementation of the PON Metro shows how those worlds can talk to each other and work together. For example, in tourism there are organization systems that have a broader characterization: region, convention bureau, trade fair system, trade associations. The platform and the related app “Feel Florence” has been developed since the beginning as a co-created process, as a project involving both public and private partners, that were involved in the operational management to address raised problems with pro-active solutions. For instance, tour guides (private and registered entities) participate in the creation of contents and interact with the platform.

Thanks to a long history of participation and collaboration belong to Tuscany Region, many decisions are taken after a participatory process in which also the third sector is present. For the cycle path, for instance, the National Association of Environment and Cyclists (FIAP- Federazione Italiana Ambiente e Bicicletta) was involved. Likewise, the projects on axis 3 (social inclusion services) reinforce the existing system of relationship with voluntarist associations and NGO. Nothing new has been created, but the projects enhance the relationships among associations and institutions that were already in place.

8.1.2.1 COVID-19 zoom

Relevant changes that will occur in the programming period 2021-2027 are affected by the actual situation due to the pandemic in course. The drafts of the new programming period had already defined the challenges (which are in any case confirmed by the post-pandemic crisis, see green new deal) but the operating procedures and the principle of partnership that is still in the signing phase, remain to be defined. With this framework, and the ongoing programming phase, everything is delayed by a year. If for the next programming period the budget is not approved, the so called “Next Generation EU” program (recovery fund) has represented the real novelty in this phase. The programme will count on 750 billion euro of which the most important part is for the Recovery and Resilience Plans (672,5 billion EUR). The rest of the subsidies will be channeled through other "pillars" of the anti-crisis operation including React EU (47,5 billion EUR), Rural development (7,5 billion EUR), Horizon EU (5 billion EUR), InvestEU (5,6 billion EUR), Just transition fund -JTF (10 billion EUR), RescEU (1,9 billion EUR).

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Governments will have to send the Recovery and Resilience Plans to the European Commission by the end of April 2021. The Italian executive has anticipated that the goal is to send it before that deadline, at the beginning of next year. Brussels has encouraged Member States to submit the guide lines from mid-October. The Von der Leyen Commission also recalled that the national plans will be negotiated with the Community authorities and must be the subject of a step-by-step green light. Concerning the management architecture of the Recovery fund, Italy was an example because it immedi- ately identified in the European Affairs Inter-ministerial Committee – CIAE (in which also attend the Confer- ence of the Regions, the National Association of Italian Municipalities and the Union of Province) the natural place in which to manage the recovery fund and to elaborate the Recovery and Resilience Plan (the guideline has been already defined and submitted) The Minister of European Affairs Vincenzo Amendola has then chosen operating methods that do not have to interface with all the cities but with an interlocutor capable of representing them: the National Association of Italian Municipalities (Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani – ANCI) that, as part of the CIAE has been chosen as the referent able to receive requests or needs from territories and cities. Within ANCI, a subsection is dedicated to metro cities, leaded by the Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella. In the city of Florence, the Mayor has activated a working group coordinated by the City Manager which acts as an administrative collector of proposals from the metropolitan city and the municipality of Florence, on the base of ongoing activities (as the PON Metro actions and urban authority organization). This working group has analyzed the correspondence of these projects with the ministerial guidelines and has collected and drafted a proposal presented by ANCI, together with the ones of the all metropolitan cities, to the Ministry Amendola. Within this framework, the PON Metro structure was seen as an already-in-place opportunity as coordination management system to have an overview of the actual and future projects, so that the Recovery Fund was conceived as a scaling up opportunity, toward a program in continuity worth the previous one, a sort of “PON Metro - Recovery Fund axis”. The impacts of the pandemic within the metropolitan city of Florence have been very differentiated among the core urban area and the less urbanized ones. Within the lockdown a need for a greener lifestyle has emerged, and the less populated areas as the Mugello mountains and the Chianti shire have been identified as healthier places to live in and to visit. Inner touristic flows have been concentrated on these places during the summer. In the metropolitan contest, the City of Florence was one of the cities most affected by the crisis. It has faced a deficit of 200 million euro, in addition to losses in the range of 6 billion euro in exports and a billion euro in tourism at metropolitan level The health emergency is followed by a social, economic and labor emergency: the City of Florence handed out 7,000 food vouchers to the impoverished in the early days of the epidemic and received 3,500 applications for rent subsidies, more than triple the usual amount. On tourism, the crisis has pointed out past attempts to combat over-tourism, underlining how fragile the tourism model developed over the years actually is in terms of the city’s economy, especially in the city center. A new pact of coexistence between the tourism world and the city is now envisaged, through policies based on new tourism flow models and aimed at encouraging more informed, responsible and sustainable tourism. The need to bringing citizens back to the centre was envisaged before the pandemic and there is, even stronger, today and even though the conditions behind this action have completely changed. Not only incentives to be back to the center, but actions and programmes to guarantee and maintain the historical activities and shops that made Florence great reinforcing the city economy and its cultural attitude even thank to sustainable tourism model. While the City of Florence as local manager of the Programme will continue its agenda in the implementation of the PON Metro, through a local Recovery plan, a great plan that identifies the nodal points from which to re-start, has been launched 'Rinasce Firenze (Florence Renaissance)'. This citizen-based model has been introduced to collect ideas through the active citizenship of Florence residents and stakeholders. Within the proposal defined by Municipality to start the discussion, the gradual reactivation of Florence’s socio- eco- nomic structure concerns nine priorities: Polycentric City; A New Historic Centre; Green Spaces; Green ESPON // espon.eu 91

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Mobility; Economic Development; Culture; Families and Children; Welfare, Work and Homes; An Intelligent City. The challenge is to consider this moment as an opportunity to devise and create a new model of social and economic development for the city, based on the management and use of public and private spaces and services, which holds together its more traditional vocations of culture, art, tourism, industry and manufacturing with renewed functions as a smart and resilient city, whereby artisan workshops, biotechnology, mod- ern enterprises, infrastructure connecting and supporting businesses, research and professional training centres, niche tourism and high technology can co-exist and fuel one another.

8.1.3 Maps and figures Figure 8.1 The 42 municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Florence.

In darker color: the so-called “Great Florence” concerning the Municipality of Florence and the surroundings municipalities (Sesto Fiorentino, Campi Bisenzio, Calenzano, Signa, Lastra, Scandicci, Fiesole, Bagno a Ripoli and Impruneta)

Source: DIDA, Regional Design Lab, 2017

Figure 8.2 The mismatch between the Metropolitan City of Florence and the Functional Urban Area (in darker color)

Source: DIDA, Regional Design Lab, 2017

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Figure 8.3 Union of Municipalities within the Metropolitan City of Florence

Source: DIDA, Regional Design Lab, 2017

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Figure 8.4 Synthesis of the process of definition of the Strategic Plan for the Metropolitan City of Florence

Source: DIDA, Regional Design Lab, 2017

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Figure 8.5 The final vision “Metropolitan Renaissance” for the Strategic Plan for the Metropolitan City of Florence

Source: PSM, 2018

Figure 8.6 Metropolitan Platforms in the Territorial Plan for the Metropolitan City of Florence

Source: DIDA, Regional Design Lab, 2020

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Figure 8.7 PON Metro architecture, from National to Local level

Source: DIDA, Regional Design Lab, 2020

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8.2 Objectives and policy needs

. To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the governance of cohesion policy at the metropolitan level, the PON Metro should be considered an instrument as the ITI and thus it should be institutionalized.

. The structure of the PON Metro is working quite well. The idea of switching to a PON Metro 2 and recognizing the activity carried out so far, recognizing it as something structured and no longer just as a pilot project, can be a good achievement for this research.

. The Italian metropolitan cities are very diversified. This diversity should be considered and pre- served, but an alignment towards a standard quality level would be needed. Which, however, must go upwards.

. It would be important to structure a mode to evaluate the quality of a procedure or a project which that does not pass only through an economic perspective. Instead, the evaluation should look also at the governance system and the capacity to share and implement an efficient process.

. For instance, in managing the PON Metro, the structure was divided by Axes and managed through specific working group organized following the topic and one related to the Intermediate bodies. The Governance Working Group was crucial in this process. In this group, the Italian metropolitan cities meet and discuss their work system, their progress and the challenges/obstacles they’ve met. This provides added value and helps overcome the obstacles that the various realities faced and will face in the future. Having been able to share the various experiences made it possible to face this as an opportunity and less as a burdening of the bureaucratic machine. Therefore, this way of working strengthens the way of approaching the European Commission. This improves moreover the qualitative certification of the different administrative bodies, thus allowing more funds to be obtained from a multi-fund perspective. The implementation of the cohesion policy in Florence develops in an already structured governance context in which metropolitan governance structures and cooperation practices are already in place and seems to work.

Given that, the stakeholder’s priority concerns the added value that cohesion policy could provide in implementing metropolitan policies and achieving metropolitan spatial development goals, by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the relationship between the cohesion policy and the “Next Generation EU” program at the metropolitan level.

8.2.1 Hypotheses

. As a direct consequence of the objectives and policy needs, a good policy tool should allow to obtain, in a future perspective, an implementation of the national sharing procedures that already started with PON Metro.

. Another important outcome could be the definition of a system for sharing priorities between different administrative levels. The PON Metro has already highlighted 5 areas of implementation, which share found of the ERDF and ESF. To pursue the multi-fund perspective, a clear and shared definition of the priorities is needed in order to establish a real strategy that combines European strategy with urban strategies reinforcing the role of the cities and urban impact bearing in mind that the majority of the human population already lives in cities, and by 2050, around 70% of all people will be urban residents.

. The urban agenda should be strengthened and coordinated with the various administrative levels within the metropolitan city of Florence: the regional, metropolitan and municipal ones. All the levels today already interact, but they move in different ways, with different systems and languages. It is important that all the levels collaborate, sharing few and clear common rules.

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8.2.2 List of actors

Table 8.2 List of actors to engage

Actor Body Role Reason for involvement

Tuscany Region Tuscany Region Political/tech- Definition of integrated policies on differ- nical ent topics and vertical integration

Metropolitan Metropolitan City of Florence Political/tech- Enhancement of the collaboration in cohe- City of Florence nical sion policies and deployment of impactful strategies

42 municipali- Muncipality Political/tech- Definition of integrated policies on differ- ties of the met- nical ent topics and horizontal integration ropolitan city

Municipality of Intermediate bodi/Urban Au- Political/tech- Promotion and integration of the manage- Florence thority nical ment system (certified by EU)

Fondazione Private actor Political Promotion of the Strategic Plan of the Cassa di Ri- Metropolitan City sparmio di Fi- renze – Bank Foundation

Camera di Private actor – Member of Political/tech- Promotion of the Strategic Plan of the Commercio the nical Metropolitan City - ICT integration of ar- (Chamber of chives and procedures in PON Metro Pro- promoting committee for the commerce) gram strategic plan for the metropolitan city of Florence

University of Public actor – Diverse De- Political/tech- Definition, implementation, monitoring Florence partment nical and promotion of the Strategic Plan of the Metropolitan City

Centro Servizi Public-private actor Technical Joint provision of digital services for over Territoriale di twenty local authorities in the Florentine Silfi SpA (in metropolitan area, including the Metropol- house society of itan City the Municipality of Florence)

Ambito Turistico Muncipalities of: Bagno a Ri- Business Integration and organization of touristic of- Fiorentino poli, Calenzano, Campi Bi- fer policies in the post-covid phase senzio, Fiesole, Figline e In- cisa Valdarno, Firenze, Im- pruneta, Lastra a Signa, Londa, Pelago, Pontassieve, Reggello, Rignano sull'Arno, Rufina, Scandicci, Sesto Fio- rentino, Signa, Vaglia.

Genio Civile Tuscany Region Technical ICT integration of archives and procedures

Cassa Edile Private actor Technical ICT integration of archives and procedures

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ASL Hospital and Health Care Technical ICT integration of archives and proce- company dures

Agenzia del Tax Agency of the Ministry of Technical ICT integration of archives and proce- Territorio e delle Economy and Finances dures Entrate

Cispel Toscana Private actor Technical Joint provision of digital services - integra- Multiservizi tion of archives and procedures

CASA spa (In- Public-private actor Technical public housing residential assets for the house of Munic- florentine area ipality of Flor- ence)

… Third sector associations…

Source: authors’ own elaboration

In the frame of the policy-making processes that are currently ongoing at the metropolitan level in the Flor- ence case study area, it may be worth to engage with through participatory observatory to the processes that have been submitted to the meeting of the Metropolitan Council of Tuesday 29 October, i.e. the initiation of the procedure for Agenda 2030 and the participatory process for the update of the Strategic Metropolitan Plan.

8.3 References

ESPON (2020), FUORE - Functional Urban Areas and Regions in Europe, Final report, https://www.espon.eu/functional-urban-areas-tool

De Luca G. (2016), “The paradigmatic case of the Metropolitan City of Florence”, Procedia. Social and Be- havioral Sciences, no. 223, pp. 108-112. De Luca G., (2017), “Verso l’operatività del Piano Strategico Metropolitano di Firenze”, in Urbanistica Infor- mazioni, no. 273/274, pp. 36-37. De Luca G., Lingua V., Lucchesi F., Di Figlia L., Fucile R., Pisano C. (2020), Enhancing the Perception of Regions: A Vision for the Metropolitan City of Florence, in Lingua V., Balz V., Shaping Regional Futures, Springer. De Luca G., Moccia F.D. (2017), eds., Pianificare le città metropolitane in Italia. Interpretazioni, approcci, prospettive, Inu Edizioni, Roma. Lingua V. (2018), “Regional Design for Strategic Planning: A Vision for the Metropolitan City of Florence”, in Velo L., Pace M., eds., Utopia and the Project for the City and Territory, pp. 158-164.

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Riga Metropolitan Area

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9 Riga Metropolitan Area

9.1 Institutional configuration and cohesion policy

9.1.1 Institutional framework

Work towards creating the Riga Metropolitan Area (Map 9.1) began on March 16th, 2018, when a decision was made by the Riga Planning Region (RPR) to begin work on the Action Plan for the Development of the Riga Metropolitan Area (RPR, 2018a). This plan was approved on January 10th, 2020 (RPR, 2020a). As a part of this decision, it was also decided to support and facilitate the cooperation and increase of competencies between all of the territories involved in the development processes of the Metropolitan Area. This is an essential step in order to achieve the main goal of the plan – a harmonized development of the Riga Metro- politan Area, coordination of processes within it. This should be done utilizing an integrated approach and complex solutions, to harmonize the interests of state, Riga, municipalities and residents of the Metropolitan Area. Riga Metropolitan Area is at early stage of establishment and no formal body has been established (RPR, 2020b).

Map 9.1 Riga Metropolitan Area

Source: authors’ own elaboration

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The organization of the Riga metropolitan area management process is key in terms of metropolitan cooperation and its institutional framework. However, it has yet to be implemented. Nonetheless, a number of tasks devoted to organization of the Riga metropolitan area management process have been defined and should be mentioned. These goals are shown in the tentative diagrams of Figure 9.1.

Figure 9.1 Tasks (goals) for organization of the Riga metropolitan area management process

Source: authors’ figure, based on RPR, 2020b

Before the agreement, there already was cooperation between municipalities. The most notable example of this is the Riga planning region. In accordance with the status and functions of the region specified by the Regional Development Law, the Riga Planning Region was established at the end of 2006 as a derived public entity. The planning region has been the main initiator and coordinator for promoting cooperation in the Riga metropolitan area. In addition to this, the region ensures regional development planning, coordination, cooperation of local governments and other public administration institutions and creation of planning specialists cooperation network. It also supports remigration and remigrants. 29 municipalities make up the Riga planning region (RPR, 2020b). It should be noted that Riga planning region is planned to be replaced by Riga administrative region, a significantly smaller territory.

Apart from Riga planning region, there are several other examples of cooperation. One of them is the Pieriga Municipalities Association, which was created in October of 2015. It is made up of 14 municipalities and has four main goals – to realize and implement local protection of legal interests of Riga region municipalities, to promote cooperation between local governments of Riga region municipalities and organizations, to promote cooperation with the institutions and organization in Republic of Latvia as well as in international arena and to promote local economic and social development in Riga region (Pierīgas Pašvaldību Apvienība, 2020). Pieriga Partnership is another example. This partnership is an association of legal entities and individuals on voluntary and equality basis. Its main aims are to promote the improvement of the quality of life of the inhabitants of Babite, Olaine and Marupe counties (novadi in Latvian) by promoting sustainable rural development, which includes both the increase of economic and social activity and the improvement of the area's environment and sustainable use of existing resources (Pierīgaspartneriba.lv, 2018). Daugava Downstream Tourism Region is yet another example. This partnership (of six municipalities) was created to ensure an even closer and more coordinated cooperation of tourism information centres (TIC’s), 102 ESPON // espon.eu

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with the aim to strengthen the image of region’s tourism products and to improve them, to work on joint industry development projects and, lastly, to create a more competitive region (Vidzeme.com, 2014). Unfor- tunately, this organization does not have a website, nor it appears that they have a presence on any social network sites. These examples of cooperation and their main responsibilities are shown in Figure 9.2.

Figure 9.2 Institutional framework for metropolitan cooperation

Source: authors’ figure, based on RPR, 2020b

Riga Metropolitan Area is at an early stage of establishment and therefore its territorial extent is not finalized. Therefore, the territory, shown in Figure 9.3 matches the three Riga metropolis areas (inner zone, outer zone and impact area; present in the maps of Action Plan for the Development of the Riga Metropolitan Area). These areas were defined on territorial units level, i.e., urban areas and rural parishes. It consists of 176 territorial units. 21 municipalities (new municipalities as a result of the reform; their names are shown on the map) have at least one territory in one of the Riga metropolis areas. Possible territorial extent of Riga administrative region is also shown on the map. All of the metropolis areas were defined based on commuting intensity, distance from Riga, population changes, direction of main public transport flows, availability and quality of services, location where majority of the population receive public and household services and specific characteristics. These areas correspond more to the territorial units level, i.e. parishes and urban areas (towns) making up the municipalities (RPR, 2020b).

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Figure 9.3 Municipalities and zones of the Riga Metropolitan Area

Source: authors’ map, based on RPR, 2020b

Municipalities and their territorial units in metropolis areas are listed in Table 9.1. In this context, it needs to be mentioned that an administrative reform has been carried out in Latvia, which will enter into force in the middle of 2021 and change the boundaries of municipal territories (MEPRD, 2020). These new borders are already used in this report.

Table 9.1 Municipalities and their territorial units in the three metropolis areas

Area type Municipalities (their territorial units) Core area Adazi municipality1 (Adazi and Carnikava parishes), Jelgava city, Jelgava MP (Cenu and Ozolnieki parishes), Jurmala, Kekava MP (Balozi and Baldone towns, Baldone, (35 territorial Daugmale and Kekava parishes), Marupe MP (Babite, Marupe and Sala parishes) units; 13 munici- Ogre MP (Ikskile, Kegums, Lielvarde and Ogre towns, Ogresgals and Tinuzi parishes), palities; 2998.5 2 Olaine MP (Olaine town and parish), Ropazi MP (Vangazi town, Garkalne, Ropazi km ) and Stopini parishes), Salaspils MP (Salaspils town and parish), Saulkrasti MP (Saulkrasti town and parish), Sigulda MP (Sigulda town and Incukalns parish), Tukums MP (Tukums town, Lapmezciems and Smarde parishes). Outer area Aizkraukle MP (Aizkraukle and Jaunjelgava towns, Aizkraukle and Skriveri parishes), Bauska MP (Bauska town, Code, Davini, Iecava, Mezotne, Stelpe and Vecumnieki par- (56 territorial ishes), Cesis MP (Cesis and Ligatne towns, Incukalns and Ligatne parishes), Dobele units; 9 munici- MP (Jaunberze parish), Jelgava MP (Gluda, Kalnciems, Jaunsvirlauka, Livberze, Pla- palities; 6665.6 2 tone, Salgale, Svete, Valgunde and Vircava parishes), Limbazi MP (Ainazi, Limbazi and km ) Salacgriva towns, Liepupe, Limbazi Umurga, Salacgriva, Vidrizi and Vilkene parishes), Ogre MP (Birzgale, Jumprava Keipene, Krape, Laubere, Ledmane, Lielvarde, Madliena,

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Rembate, Suntazi and Tome parishes), Saulkrasti parish (Lestene and Seja parishes), Sigulda MP (Allazi, Krimulda, Ledurga, Malpils, More and Sigulda parishes), Tukums MP (Engure, Dzukste, Seme, Slampe and Tume parish). Impact area Aizkraukle MP (Bebru, Irsi, Koknese and Jaunjelgava parishes), Bauska MP (Brunava, Ceraukste, Gailisi, Islice and Vecsaule parishes Barbele, Kurmene, Rundale, Skaist- (85 territorial kalne, Svitene, Valle and Viesturi parishes), Cesis MP (Amata, Drabesi, Nitaure, units; 10 munici- Priekuli, Raiskums, Skujene, Straupe, Stalbe, Vaive and Zaube parishes), Dobele MP palities; 8821.3 2 (Dobele town, Annenieki, Augstkalne, Auri, Berze, Biksti, Bukaisi, Dobele, Krimunu, km ) Naudite, Penkule, Tervete and Zebrene parishes), Jelgava MP (Eleja, Lielplatone, Sesava, Vilce and Zelenieki parishes), Limbazi MP (Aloja and Staicele towns, Aloja, Ainazi, Braslava, Brivzemnieki, Katvari, Pale and Staicele parishes), Madona MP (Ergli and Sausneja parishes), Ogre MP (Mazozoli, Mengele and Taurupe parishes), Tukums MP (Kandava town, Cere, Degole, Jaunsati, Jaunpils, Irlava, Kandava, Matkule, Mers- rags, Pure, Vane, Viesati, Zante, Zemite and Zentene parishes), Valmiera MP (Valmiera city, Berzaine, Dikli, Koceni, Vaidava and Zilakalna parishes) 1 shortened as “MP”; Municipalities in bold will become a part of the Riga administrative region..

Source: authors’ table, based on RPR, 2020b

Currently there is no metropolitan budget. However, it is planned to create a regional financial fund (RPR, 2020b). There are three tools which will be used to implement the plan. They are listed below: . Local cooperation platforms. A significant example of this tool is the Riga Planning Region. A factor promoting successful cooperation at the local level is a cooperation platform set up by active associations. The aforementioned Pieriga Municipalities Association, Daugava Downstream Tour- ism Cluster and Pieriga Partnership also stand out for the actualization of metropolitan issues at regional and local government level (RPR, 2020b); . International cooperation platforms. Since 2002, Riga City Municipality has been a member of the European network of large cities called EUROCITIES, and since 2014 representatives of Riga have been participating in the EUROCITIES Metropolis Working Group. To support the development and implementation of the “Action Plan for the Development of the Riga Metropolitan Area”, RPR is involved in ESPON. RPR, together with European metropolises such as Vienna, Berlin, Oslo, Stuttgart, Turin and Warsaw, is conducting a study on "Metropolitan Industrial Spatial Strat- egies & Economic Sprawl (MISTA)" on the prospects for the future development of metropolitan areas. Another cooperation network in which the city of Riga has been actively involved is the European Network of Metropolitan Regions (METREX). This network provides a platform for the exchange of knowledge, expertise and experience on metropolitan development, governance and joint action on issues of interest. The information obtained within the framework of such a study will allow better planning of the location of economic activities and industrial areas in the Riga metropolitan area, determining the most suitable locations for business and production areas and, consequently, the main job concentration points and daily mobility flows. The results of the research will significantly help in the process planning in terms of land use, population structure, service location and transport infrastructure. It will also provide a comparative picture of the level of economic development of the Riga metropolitan area among strong European urban regions (RPR, 2020b). . Cooperation agreements, ITI’s, regional financial fund and other important support instruments. Inter-municipal cooperation agreements in various fields - mobility, social services, education, health, active recreation, etc., integrated territorial investment (ITI) and the idea of a regional financial fund. In order to ensure quality support for entrepreneurship, it is necessary to find new financial instruments and sources of income in the municipal budget, which are directly related to business taxes. The Riga metropolitan area could actively represent the position on redirecting a part of business-related tax, such as corporate income tax, to the municipal budget, thus promoting the interest of municipalities to promote business development in their territory. At the same time, the potential role of business-related taxes in setting up a regional financial fund should be considered (RPR, 2020b). ESPON // espon.eu 105

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9.1.2 Cohesion Policy

Cohesion Policy objectives in Latvia are implemented through European Regional Development Fund, Eu- ropean Social Fund and Cohesion Fund. For the 2014-2020 planning period, Latvia has one programme of work, “Growth and employment.” Within this programme, Latvia has nine interrelated and integrated investment priorities. These are:

. Research, technological development and innovation; . ICT accessibility, e-government and services; . Competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises; . Transition to a low-carbon economy in all sectors; . Environmental protection and efficient use of resources; . Sustainable transport system;

. Employment and labour mobility; . Education, skills and lifelong learning; . Social inclusion and poverty reduction. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for monitoring the implementation of these tools and, in cooperation with the responsible authorities and in consultation with social, non-governmental and regional partners, as well as for developing the planning documentation, thus ensuring compliance with the partnership principle in the preparation of planning documents and cross-sectoral coordination of EU funds. According to the decision of the EU Council on the EU financial framework for 2014-2020, Latvia will receive a total of 4.4 billion euros. (Esfondi.lv, 2020a). One key document related to the Cohesion Policy is the National Development Plan (NDP; Nacionālās Attīstības Plāns). Many of the strategic objectives and their measures Cohesion Policy are partly dependent on Cohesion funds. Main priorities for the 2014-2020 period are Growth of the Human Securitability, National Economy and Growth for Regions (CSCC, 2012). The priorities of the latter two are similar to the nine interrelated and integrated investment priorities of Cohesion Policy. Strategic objectives and their priorities are shown in Figure 9.4. For the 2021-2027 period the main aims have changed slightly (note that is are the aims for the entire EU; aims and priorities for Latvia have not been defined yet. Still, it can be concluded that some changes will occur). They now include:

. Innovative and smart economic change; . Research and skills development; . Support for entrepreneurship and digitalization; . Climate neutrality; . Adaptation to climate change and environmental protection safe, sustainable and accessible development of transport and digital connection;

. Equal opportunities and access to education, health care and the labour market; fair working conditions;

. Social protection and inclusion, sustainable and balanced regional development. 4.64 billion euros have been allocated to cohesion policy programs for the 2021-2027 period (Esfondi.lv, 2020b). The National Development Plan for 2021-2027 also differs from its predecessor. The number of strategic objectives has increased to four and the objectives themselves have been changed. These include Equal Opportunity, Productivity and Income, Social Trust and Regional Development (CPCC, 2020a). The issues

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that to be addressed in for metropolitan area are related to needs (main aspects) of the 2021-2027 NDP (RPR, 2020b). Priorities of the 2021-27 NDP priorities are shown in Figure 9.5.

Figure 9.4 Strategic objectives and priorities of the Latvian NDP 2014-2020

Source: CSCC, 2012

Currently, the functions and boundaries of both planning (soon to be called administrative) regions (NUTS3) are being reassessed. The new programming period envisages an increase in the role of the regions, particularly regarding the distribution and coordination of investments at regional level (Cabinet of Ministers, 2020). The regions have had a relatively small impact on the distribution of further investments. However, the local governments in their Development Programs set medium-term priorities and directions of action and detail national and EU investments at the local level (RPR, 2018b). At the metropolitan/city level there have been no initiatives, as decisions have been made for the entire country. Nevertheless, some stricter measures have been put into effect in some municipalities where the number cases had notably increased in a short time span. One of them (Olaine municipality) is part of the Metropolitan Area. These stricter measures are related to e.g. various events not being held on site and the number of people being present at indoor event sites (Likumi.lv, 2020a).

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Figure 9.5 Priorities of the Latvian NDP 2021-2027

Source: CSCC, 2020b

9.1.3 COVID-19 zoom

The latest decision in reaction to COVID-19 pandemic, in order to invert the negative socioeconomic trends it triggered, was made on 11 August 2020, when the government of Latvia supported the provision of additional over-commitments up to 70.44 million euros in EU funds for business, education and research and health industries, taking into account the economic recovery needs, investment efficiency and to be financed from the state budget. Up to 34.7 million will be allocated to business and energy efficiency, which includes 19.7 million for employee training and 15 million for residential building insulation. In the field of education and science, 19.34 million will be allocated. Most of this sum (11 million) will be allotted for practical research, 0.48 million for international research and innovation projects, and 7.86 million for better governance in higher education. In the field of health, 16.4 million will be allocated to emergency vehicles (Esfondi.lv, 2020c). Through Recovery and Resilience Facility funding, it is planned that Latvia will receive 2.02 billion euros, of which 1.65 billion is a guaranteed amount (Esfondi.lv, 2020d). While at the metropolitan/city level there have been no initiatives, municipalities have been (and still are) able to apply for state loans, for the implementation of investment projects in accordance with Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 456 of July 14th 2020 (Likumi.lv, 2020b) “Regulations on the Conditions and Pro- cedures for Issuing a State Loan to Local Governments for Reducing and Preventing the Impact of an Emer- gency Situation in Relation to the Spread of Covid-19.” Riga City Municipality has received a state loan within the following areas: 1. Increase of energy efficiency measures of municipal buildings (reconstruction or renovation), ensuring compliance with the minimum permissible level of energy efficiency of buildings and the building energy certificate, if the costs of the planned construction works for reducing annual primary energy consumption do not exceed 4 euros per kilowatt hour.

Increase of energy efficiency measures for about 70 municipal institutions for the total amount of 11.54 million euros were supported. 2. Development of municipal transport infrastructure (streets, roads, bicycle lanes, pedestrian sidewalks, smart solutions for traffic safety and organization, as well as utilities and parking lots, if they are connected to the street or road included in the relevant investment project, and other types transport infrastructure), if the costs of the planned construction work on the transport infrastructure per 1 km do not exceed 1 million.

8 project applications for improvement of transport infrastructure (including construction of bicycle lanes and reconstruction of streets) for the total amount of 13.7 million were supported.

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3. Development of new ways of providing municipal services, if one of the existing services is replaced by a new contactless or autonomous solution that reduces the need for face-to-face communication, not exceeding 1 million per investment project. 6 project applications for the development of new municipal services for the total amount of 3.77 million were supported. Taking into account the initiative of the Ministry of Transport to develop a conceptual model for reducing environmentally harmful emissions from transport in Riga and its agglomeration, creating preconditions for restructuring traffic flows, thus changing road users' habits and reducing the negative impact of transport, Riga City Municipality is currently actively working on project applications within the framework of the Euro- pean Recovery and Resilience Facility developing the establishment of Baltic and regional multimodal transport hubs, development of bicycle infrastructure, mobility points, public transport services and other projects in the field of transport infrastructure development. Currently no initiatives have been put in place to prepare for similar events in the future, as evidenced by the fact that last changes of the Epidemiological Safety Law were made in October 2019 (Likumi.lv, 2020b).

9.2 Objectives and policy needs

During the presentation of the stakeholders’ expectations and knowledge needs, it was established that the main needs and expectations of the Riga city Council are related to:

. Assessing the role of Cohesion Policy in the creation of Riga Metropolitan Area governance, based on analysis of preconditions and possible cooperation models;

. Strengthening the role of Riga City and the metropolitan area in the development of cohesion policy programming documents. Good practices of other Metropolitan Areas and Cities need to be taken into account. In terms of cohesion policy, the EU objectives should be more approachable;

. Integrating Cohesion Policy in the planning and implementation of policies at the metropolitan and city scale, with an emphasis on local and regional level development programmes for 2021-2027.

Overall, all three questions mentioned in the inception report are key to this study.

9.2.1 List of hypotheses

. Efficient collaboration within Riga metropolitan area will facilitate and support metropolitan governance and contribute achieving specific cohesion policy objectives;

. Analysis of good practices of other metropolitan areas and cities will strengthen the role of Riga City and RMA in the development of cohesion policy programming documents; . Integrating Cohesion Policy goals in the planning and implementation of policies at metropolitan and city scale will promote collaboration between municipalities of RMA and help to achieve the goals of the Riga Metropolitan Area projects.

9.2.2 List of actors / processes

List of actors is shown in table 9.2.

Table 9.2 Tentative list of actors

Actors Reason for inclusion Representatives of the Riga Administrative Region Main actors (administrative region as a successor to and its municipalities; Riga city municipality (planning the planning region) in creating the Action Plan for and development department) the Development of the Riga Metropolitan Area. They coordinate Metropolitan Area Planning. Exist- ing partnerships and cooperation can be built upon

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in order to (first and foremost) establish a formal governance body. Further on, these actors will have a major part in achieving the goals for organization of the Riga Metropolitan Area management process. Representatives of Zemgale Planning Region, and Many of them are a part of the metropolis area and its municipalities the Planning Region is a part of the coordination group composed of representatives of the parties involved in the development of the RMA plan. Representatives of Ministry of Environmental Protec- Members of the coordination group. tion and Regional Development and Ministry of Transport

The list of actors has not been finalized, but it is definitely one of the most important tasks for the near future. Currently, the list includes actors with predominantly political and planning roles. Consequently, selection of actors among non-governmental organizations, businesses etc. is more crucial.

9.3 References

CSCC – Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre. (2012). National Development Plan of Latvia for 2014–2020. https://www.pkc.gov.lv/sites/default/files/inline-files/NDP2020%20English%20Fi- nal___1.pdf CSCC – Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre. (2020a). National Development Plan of Latvia for 2021-2027. https://www.pkc.gov.lv/sites/default/files/inline-files/NAP2027__ENG_3.pdf CSCC – Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre. (2020b). Strategic Objectives. https://www.pkc.gov.lv/sites/default/files/inline-files/eng-Priorities.jpg Draft legal acts of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia (2020). Konceptuāls ziņojums "Par administratīvo reģionu izveidi" (Conceptual report "On the creation of administrative regions"). http://tap.mk.gov.lv/lv/mk/tap/?pid=40493427 Esfondi.lv – Website of the European Union funds. (2020a). EU funds 2014-2020. https://www.esfondi.lv/2014-2020 Esfondi.lv – Website of the European Union funds. (2020b). ES fondi 2021 – 2027 (EU funds 2021 – 2027). https://www.esfondi.lv/es-fondi-2021---2027 Esfondi.lv – Website of the European Union funds. (2020c). Valdība apstiprina papildu valsts budžeta fi- nansējumu ES fondu projektu investīcijām COVID-19 seku mazināšanai (The government approves additional state budget funding for EU fund project investments to mitigate the effects of COVID-19). https://www.esfondi.lv/jaunumi/valdiba-apstiprina-papildu-valsts-budzeta-finansejumu-es-fondu-projektu-in- vesticijam-covid-19-seku-mazinasanai Esfondi.lv – Website of the European Union funds. (2020d). Eiropas Atveseļošanas un noturības mehānisms (European Recovery and Resilience Facility). https://www.esfondi.lv/atveselosanas-un-noturibas-me- hanisms

Likumi.lv – Legal acts of the Republic of Latvia. (2020a). Epidemiological Safety Measures for the Contain- ment of the Spread of COVID-19 Infection. Chapter XI. Special Counter-epidemic Measures in Individual Administrative Territories. https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/315304 Likumi.lv – Legal acts of the Republic of Latvia. (2020b). Epidemiological Safety Law. Chapter VIII. Admin- istrative Offences in the Field of Epidemiological Safety, and Competence in Administrative Offence Pro- ceedings. https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/52951

MEPRD - Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. (2020). Administratīvi teritoriālā reforma (Municipal reform). https://www.varam.gov.lv/lv/administrativi-teritoriala-reforma

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Pierīgas Partnerība - Pieriga Partnership. (2018). Biedrības Pierigas Partnerība statūti (Statutes of the Pi- eriga Partnership association). https://www.pierigaspartneriba.lv/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/PP-statuti- 22.03.2018.pdf Pierīgas Pašvaldību Apvienība - Pieriga Municipalities Association (2015). About us ENG. https://pieri- gasapvieniba.lv/index.php/about-us-eng RPR - Riga planning region (2018a). 16.03.2018. Lēmums Nr.6 “Par RPR tematiskā plāna “Rīcības plāns Rīgas metropoles areāla attīstībai” izstrādes uzsākšanu” (Decision No.6 “On Commencement of the Devel- opment of the RPR Thematic Plan“ Action Plan for the Development of the Riga Metropolitan Area”). http://rpr.gov.lv/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Lem_6_Metropole.pdf RPR - Riga planning region (2018b). Rīgas Plānošanas Reģiona attīstības programma 2014 – 2020 (Riga Planning Region Development Program 2014 - 2020). http://rpr.gov.lv/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/RPR- Attistibas-programma_2014-2020_aktualizets_RP.pdf

RPR - Riga planning region (2020a). 10.01.2020. Lēmums Nr.1 “Par RPR izstrādātā “Rīcības plāna Rīgas metropoles areāla attīstībai” apstiprināšanu (Decision No. 1 “On approval of the “Action Plan for the Devel- opment of the Riga Metropolitan Area”, developed by RPR). http://rpr.gov.lv/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Lem_1_Metropoles_plans.pdf RPR - Riga planning region (2020b). Rīcības plāns Rigas metropoles areāla attīstībai (Action plan for the development of the Riga metropolitan area). http://rpr.gov.lv/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Rigas- metropoles-areala-ricibas-plans_Web-1.pdf Vidzeme.com – Vidzeme Tourist Association. (2014). Sešas Pierīgas pašvaldības izveido Daugavas lejteces tūrisma reģionu (Six municipalities of Pieriga have created a tourist region downstream of the Dau- gava). http://www.vidzeme.com/lv/jaunumi-vta/sesas-pierigas-pasvaldibas-izveido-daugavas-lejteces-tur- isma-regionu.html

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ESPON 2020

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Disclaimer This delivery does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the members of the ESPON 2020 Monitoring 114 ESPON // espon.eu Committee.