From EU to Chinese Urban Agenda

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MEPs met the coordinators of the Urban Agenda for the EU

embers of the URBAN Intergroup had a unique opportunity to meet Mand discuss with all coordinators of 12 partnerships of the Urban Agenda for the EU on the 22nd of June at the Euro- pean Parliament in Brussels. The breakfast meeting between MEPs and coordinators has been set up in collaboration with the European Commission as a part of a two- day meeting organised only twice a year. Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), President of the URBAN Inter- group, underlined in his wel- coming speech the importance of direct contacts between coordinators of partnerships and Members of During the meeting with all coordinators of the 12 partnerships of the Urban Agenda the European Parliament who work on dif- for the EU, MEPs insisted on the need to turn to concrete actions. (© URBAN Intergroup) ferent issues linked to urban areas. on the speciﬁc themes. Here we enable ‘smart specialisation’ at the urban level. The meeting concentrated on short pre- Beyond that, I underline the visibility of sentations of the state of play of each the partnerships in the coming years: ‘let partnership, followed by MEPs’ questions the Stars Shine’. It should be done better and remarks. Here are some MEPs’ reac- than in the UK during the Brexit campaign, tions after this breakfast meeting: where the results of EU programmes were neglected.”

Lambert van Nistelrooij Agnes Jongerius (S&D, Neth- (EPP, Netherlands), Vice-Presi- erlands), Vice-President of the dent of the URBAN Intergroup: URBAN Intergroup: “It is good “The Pact of Amsterdam gives that partners from all over Eu- a boost to the role of cities rope are working together to 1 © URBAN Intergroup find solutions to urban problems. Especia- lly the challenge to provide affordable and decent housing to all Europeans should be on top of every agenda. In my opinion, a city cannot be a city with only Young Ur- ban Professionals or DINKY’s. A city is a city if fire-fighters and teachers also can afford to live there.”

Kerstin Westphal (S&D, Ger- many): “It was a very fruitful

exchange of views. As MEPs, we For Danuta Jazłowiecka (middle), it was a very valuable initiative to include re- want to support urban areas in gional partners into a wider debate on the use of structural funds after 2020. the best possible way - and in Jordi Solé (Greens/EFA, order to do so, we need to know from the Spain): “This working break- people on the ground which idea works, fast was a very interesting ini- and what needs to be improved.” tiative. The results of the Urban Agenda for the EU will depend Mattijas van Miltenburg on the implementation of more concrete (ALDE, Netherlands): “Thanks and speciﬁc actions. To this extend, we to the contribution of the co- must build a close relationship with those ordinators of the Urban Agen- stakeholders that best know the needs of da partnerships, this break- the territory. Therefore, being able to di- fast meeting was a success. They gave rectly meet with the coordinators is always a clear overview about the progress that a great opportunity to promote enhanced has been made so far. I am very much cooperation and to work better together.” looking forward to the presentation of the action plans. For the interest of the Eu- Danuta Jazłowiecka (EPP, ropean Parliament as co-legislator, and of Poland): “It was a very valua- course for our European cities, it is crucial ble initiative to include regional that the partnerships present their action partners into a wider debate on plans on time. I’m looking forward to the the future of regional develop- outcome and results, in order to make full ment and the use of structural funds after use of it when we will start the discussions 2020. This initiative was highly apprecia- and preparations about the future urban ted by all partners present and I am con- policy and its provisions.” vinced that it should be followed up”. URBAN voice NEW PUBLICATION Let the Stars Shine - engaging citizens in the EU

or more than 9 months, nine MEPs from Several improvements have been made Fthe EPP Group have worked on improv- since then and more are under negotiation. ing communication and visibility of the suc- These changes aim at showing governments, cesses and results achieved by EU regional companies, journalists and people the ad- and urban policy. Those are Lambert van ded value the EU is bringing in citizens’ daily Nistelrooij (Netherlands), Jan Olbrycht lives. (Poland), Andrey Novakov (Bulgaria), Mutual communication is key: creating a Pascal Arimont (Belgium), Ivana Maletic situation where all stakeholders involved, (Croatia), Marc Joulaud (France), Daniel including citizens, communicate with each Buda (Romania), Franc Bogovic (Slovenia) other. MEPs call on EU citizens to come for- and Joachim Zeller (Germany). ward with ideas on how to communicate As of the beginning of 2016, these MEPs are better and to suggest good examples of how working on the “Let the Stars Shine” action. the EU is supporting them, their projects, 2 © URBAN Intergroup companies or governments. There call can be resumed by the slogan: “Be the EU am- bassador that we need!”

Communicating on regional and urban projects

The concept of EU ambassadors is one of the novelties that has been introduced in EU regional policy, an example that can be followed by other EU policies as well. How- ever, these ambassadors have to be given the possibilities to communicate. For many projects that receive funding from European Structural and Investment Funds, Horizon this action in their own Member State. Good 2020 or other EU programmes, the results projects and good ideas on communication only become visible after 4 or 5 years, or will be selected nationally and then a Euro- even more. pean jury will select the winners. The focus So far, it was not been legally allowed com- will be on regional and urban projects. municating on the results. Therefore, a pro- The need for big changes has already been posal is now under negotiation that makes debated in the joint meeting of the REGI a small budget available to communicate on committee in the European Parliament and achievements of the projects until 4 years the COTER committee of the Committee of after it has been closed. the Regions on the 29th of June. Now it is In September, the nine MEPs will kick-off time for action! VISIT From EU to Chinese Urban Agenda n July 2017, nine Members of the Euro- Ipean Parliament travelled to China during a delegation visit hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Fo- reign Countries. Several EPP members of the URBAN Intergroup took part: Jan Olbrycht (Poland), Lambert van Nistelrooij (Neth- erlands), Krzysztof Hetman (Poland) and Iuliu Winkler (Romania). The delegation visited the cities of Beijing, Zhengzhou, Nanjing and Yancheng and ex- changed views with the Chinese National Reform and Development Commission con- The MEP delegation visiting the Jiangsu environmental protection technology center in Yancheng city, Jiangsu Province. (© Lambert van Nistelrooij) cerning China’s urban agenda. with their counterparts in Europe and play a Cities pay 1% of their budget to rural areas key role in the World Cities 2 programme. Through this programme, over 200 Chinese China’s big building boom is not over yet. In- experts have attended trainings on address- deed, China has the biggest concentrations ing urbanisation challenges. Some questions of building cranes in the world. An oriented however remain unanswered: especially the policy for social and economic development issue of freedom of establishment in Chinese has been implemented in the country. There cities and the limitations to China’s growth. are for example increasing connections be- The exchange with China will continue on tween cities and the rural areas. Cities even the 14th of September when a meeting will pay one percent of their budget to the rural take place in Strasbourg with a delegation of areas to support their development. Many of the Chinese People’s Association for Friend- these Chinese cities have lively twin relations ship with Foreign Countries. 3 © URBAN Intergroup URBAN events and meetings

UNESCO PUBLICATION Culture has a role in urban development he URBAN Intergroup, in cooperation Twith MEP Bogdan Wenta (EPP, Poland) and UNESCO, organised on the 2nd of May a presentation of the UNESCO publication “Culture: Urban Future”. This is the first Glo- bal Report to explore the role of Culture for Sustainable Urban Development. This report, which has been launched at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito (Ecuador) in October 2016, provides a policy framework to support national and local governments in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Develop- ment, as well as the New Urban Agenda. Bogdan Wenta (EPP, Poland) (left) underlined that the new European Consensus Drawing on a global survey implemented on Development has a strong emphasis on the protection and promotion of culture with nine regional partners and insights during the presentation of the UNESCO publication. (© URBAN Intergroup) from scholars, NGOs and urban thinkers, culture in different EU policies. From the per- the report offers a global overview of urban spective of the DG Education, Youth, Sports heritage safeguarding, conservation and and Culture (EAC), cultural heritage is about management, as well as the promotion of people and – especially in the recent context cultural and creative industries, highlight- – culture is a very important tool for the in- ing their role as resources for sustainable tegration of migrants. urban development. The publication con- Moreover, the need to build communities cludes with the Atlas which includes 22 sub- around culture, especially in smaller cities, regional maps situating the cities belonging was also mentioned. Representative of DG to UNESCO networks around the world. International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) underlined that the EU executive is Protecting and promoting culture committed to further integrate culture into international cooperation. DG Regional and Bogdan Wenta, member of the URBAN Urban Policy (REGIO) presented links with Intergroup, opened the event by underlying culture in cohesion policy and some possi- that the 2030 Agenda and the new Sustain- bilities to finance cultural projects. able Development Goals (SDGs) recognise During the debate, a representative of the the transformative role of culture in many Spanish Agency of Cooperation and Develop- areas like education, sustainable cities, envi- ment which co-financed the publication of ronment, gender equality or health and food the report, presented motives of the coop- safety. More than half of this 17 goals are eration with UNESCO and underlined that culture-related, also because they include traditionally, Spanish experience in culture the issues of cultural heritage and cultural has an urban context. diversity. “In the new European Consensus Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), President of on Development that is very strongly inter- the URBAN Intergroup, concluded the event linked with the SDGs, we are putting an em- by saying that in the context of the Urban phasis on the protection and promotion of Agenda for the EU – which is an implemen- culture”, Wenta said. tation tool of the New Urban Agenda, the During the seminar, representatives of the cultural dimension should be present in dif- different Directorates Generals of the Eu- ferent partnerships. Moreover, the possibili- ropean Commission got the opportunity to ty of setting 13 new partnerships focused react to the UNESCO publication and share especially on culture next year should be comments and experiences on the role of taken into consideration. 4 © URBAN Intergroup STATE OF PLAY The World Cities Project goes to second phase

On 15 June, members and partners of the First phase of the project called World Cities URBAN Intergroup had the opportunity to I was granted €1.500.000 and has been im- learn more about the state of play of World plemented between 2014 and 2016. The co- Cities Project in the broader context of the operation between EU cities and cities from international dimension of EU regional and China, India, Canada and Japan was estab- urban policy. The presentation was given by lished. Ronald Hall, Principal Advisor, Manager of The World Cities II project, which will be im- the Northern Ireland Task Force, Interna- plemented between 2016 and 2018 with the tional Relations, DG REGIO, European Com- same budget, will foster exchange between mission. cities from Indonesia, Korea, Vietnam, South The World Cities Project was set up as a Pre- Africa and Australia with their peering Euro- paratory Action of the European Parliament pean cities. This cooperation is designed to to promote the exchange of experience and increase so-called ‘triple-helix cooperation’ best practice between the European Union between governments, research and busi- and non-EU countries on the theme of terri- ness. torial development with particular reference to urban development, urban-rural partner- More information about World Cities ship and urban cross-border cooperation. project world-cities.eu

On Thursday 6 July, members and partners URBAN Intergroup. of the URBAN Intergroup were invited by Participants of the study visit saw on the Roland Ries, Mayor of Strasbourg, to dis- ground two very interesting projects. The cuss the urban development strategy of the ﬁrst project, Deux Rives (“Two Banks”) is European and Rhine Metropolis. one of the biggest urban project in France The meeting which took place at the “Eu- consisting in the development of a 3 km-long rométropole de Strasbourg” City Hall was a cross border sector between Strasbourg and unique occasion to exchange with the Mayor Kehl newly connected by a tramway line. The on the political vision of the development of second one, The Archipel project in Wacken Strasbourg. Moreover, issues and challenges area, is an ambitious area dedicated to busi- for development of the Eurométropole have ness, high-quality housing and functional been presented to MEPs. The historical con- activities covering about 200.000 sq with a text of collaboration between Strasbourg and particular emphasis on the European scale. the German neighbour city of Kehl has been MEPs have monthly opportunities to see its underlined, as well as recent development constant development as it is situated just in and implementation of the cross boarder ur- front of the European Parliament building. ban vision. During the whole visit, participants got an “I was surprised by the courage of city plan- overview of the public private partnership in ners in introducing changes as well as new the development of the projects and saw the solutions in Strasbourg”, commented Jan importance paid into the social diversity in Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), President of the urban development. 5 © URBAN Intergroup Looking ahead

Don’t forget to register!

The 3rd edition of Cities Forum will take place on 27-28 November in Rotterdam. This big urban event organised by the Eu- ropean Commission will focus on the Urban Agenda for the EU, New Urban Agenda, Ur- ban Investment and Advisory Platform and the discussion about the urban dimension of cohesion policy post 2020. Registration will be opened by the end of September. More information: http://ec.europa.eu/ regional_policy/en/conferences/cities_forum_nl

The debates during 15th European Week of Deadline for registration: 29 September Regions and Cities will focus on the Cohe- More information: http://ec.europa.eu/ sion Report, future of the cohesion policy regional_policy/regions-and-cities/2017/ and its urban dimension. index.cfm Others about us The European European Public Real Estate (EPRA) or almost two decades now, to champion the sector’s issues Fas the industry’s voice in and defend its interest. Europe, EPRA has been com- Bearing in mind that overall mitted to working with our members to the real estate sector employs 3,7 million enhance the future of the European listed people in Europe accounting for more jobs real estate sector. To achieve the best re- than the banking, automotive or telecom- sults EPRA has built close ties with part- munications sector, we are glad to have ners at national as well as European level. found with the URBAN Intergroup a plat- The URBAN Intergroup is certainly one of form which understands the importance of our crucial partners as it brings together a the real estate industry for the European unique cross-parties and cross-commitees economy. Together we stand ready to bring network in Europe with a horizontal ap- more visibility to the real estate sector in proach to discuss many issues of EPRA’s general and highlight the beneﬁts of the interest and expertise. listed real estate in particular. From our point of view, the real estate industry is still in search of dedicated MEPs For more information: www.epra.com

Jan Olbrycht - ASP 12E102 - [email protected] - tel.: +32 (0)2 28 455 11 Agnes Jongerius – ASP 11G173- [email protected] - tel.: +32 (0)2 28 456 99 Karima Delli - ASP 04F151 - [email protected] - tel.: +32 (0)2 28 453 62 Lambert van Nistelrooij - ASP 08E206 - [email protected] - tel.: +32 (0)2 28 454 34 CONTACTS Peter Simon - ASP 12G158 - [email protected] - tel.: +32 (0)2 28 455 58