The role and future perspectives of cohesion policy in the strategic planning of metropolitan areas and cities
ESPON 2020 PROGRAMME
Espon 2020 programme (Inspire Policy Making with Territorial Evidence) supports local, regional and national development in Europe gathering different policy makers that share thesame challenges and that are looking for new territorial evidences in a European perspective. It also support political decision making process providing the scientific evidences needed, creating networks of key stakeholders and decision makers at European level, promoting the role of the territory as a place where connection and knowledge exchange happen.
Among the available tools offered by Espon 2020 programme, Targeted Analyses allow stakeholder groups to study a specific thematic at a European level and define the current status and trend that can be useful in designing future scenarios - through the financing of an activity of European high-level research.
OUR PROPOSAL: THE ROLE AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES OF COHESION POLICY IN THE STRATEGIC PLANNING OF METROPOLITAN AREAS AND CITIES
The main issue addressed is that metropolitan cities and areas are rarely involved in defining cohesion policy programmes and strategies. Indeed, ESIF funds (European Structural and Investment Funds) are very often managed at national or regional level .
The issue becomes more and more relevant: 68% of the European PIL has been generated in metropolitan regions in 2014 and it is expected that 80% of European population will live in urban areas by 2050. This situation consequently leads to a mismatch between the concentration of GDP, the amount of population on one hand and, on the other side, the volume of cohesion policy resources managed.
The absence of metropolitan areas and cities in the ESIF funds management or implementation on the territory has negative consequences on th effectiveness of policies .
But, at the same time, metropolitan cities could play a crucial role in the implementation of sustainable urban development, according to the principles of integrated territorial development, with a political perspective bound to the territory through the implementation of adequate tools such as CLLD (Community Local Led Development) and the ITI (Integrated Territorial Investment).
This research intend to fill a gap on the current interrelations between metropolitan areas and cities on the cohesion policy perspective and contribute with scientific evidence to the future regional and national strategy.
The political objective of the research concerns the identification of empirical and scientific evidences in support of a greater involvement of metropolitan cities in the programming phase of the cohesion policy at national and regional level.
PARTNERS AND UMBRELLA ORGANISATIONS
Metropolitan City of Turin (CMTo), as lead stakeholder, is a Public Body in charge of implementing spatial and strategic plans at metropolitan scale. CMTo acts as Intermediate Body (I.B.), is beneficiary of several EU projects and is active in several networks.
Barcelona Metropolitan Area (BMA), Public Body, signed and agreement with Catalan regional government for metropolitan actions (ERDF). It leads European Metropolitan Authorities (EMA) initiative, with over 30 Metropolitan areas involved.
Lisbon Metropolitan Area(AML), Public Body, acts as I.B. and implements ITI. It develops and manages the metropolitan development strategy.
Brno City Municipality (BCM), Public Body, acts as I.B. and implements ITI at metropolitan scale.
Metropolitan Area of Gsansk-Gdynia-Sopot (MAG), Public Body, acts as I.B. for it is with a portfolio of 133 projects (€ 260 mln).
Municipality of Florence (MoF), Public Body, acts as I.B. for implementing NOP for Metropolitan Areas.
Métropole de Lyon (MdL), Public Body, acts as I.B. by resources coming from ESIF.
Brussels-Capital Region, Public Body, acts as planning agency on behalf of Brussels-Capital Region (BCR), participating in regional strategic and spatial planning.
Riga City Council Development Department, Public Body, in charge of Riga's (RCM) territory and development planning. RCM participates in several INTERREG projects.
Metropolis – World Association of the major metropolis. It follows the objective of connecting political and technical leaders around the world in order to promote metropolitan interests and improve the ability of metropolises to face local and global challenges, sharing global expertise on metropolitan governance. The activities are in line with the European Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
EUROCITIES– Network of major European cities. This network is made up from more than 180 local governments and collaborates with EU institutions in order to adapt community initiatives to the needs of citizens. The objective is to strengthen the role of local governments in a multi-level governance framework, in order to shift the focus of EU legislation in a way that allows city governments to address strategic challenges at the local level. EUROCITIES has 6 thematic working groups, one specific group on Metropolitan Areas and another one on cohesion policy. The presidencies of the two mentioned working groups are partners of the METRO project.
The added value of having these two networks involved in our research is clearly that ofallowing research results to be traced back along the European decision-making chain,through their advocacy activities, making it possible to improve the positioning of the functional areas within the programming of European cohesion policy.
Moreover, from the Italian-French cross border cooperation, also Interreg ALCOTRA Managing Authority also recognized the added value of the initiative and declared its interest in being informed of the work and results of the project.
Claudia Fassero EU & International Projects Unit Coordinator
Metropolitan City of Turin
tel./phone: +39 011 861 7709
claudia.fassero@cittametropolitana.torino.it
progetti.eu@cittametropolitana.torino.it
t.me/progetti_EU_cmto
ESPON METRO project webpage on the ESPON programme website
NEWS
- June 17, 2021
"Cohesion Policy Workshop, the backbone of Europe? The role of metropolitan areas"
The Metropolitan City of Turin will participate in this workshop, which will be held from 14 to 18 June 2021 within the ESPON Week "Green and Just Recovery for all European Territories", in collaboration with the Portuguese UE Council Presidency.
The Metropolitan City of Turin will promote the role of metropolitan areas as part of the cohesion European policy and the added value of the metropolitan level.
The cohesion policy aims both at strengthening locally-driven development strategies and at empowering the role of local authorities in fund management. As demonstrated by ESPON IMAGINE in the Milan-Bologna urban region, the development of territorial scenarios through the active involvement of institutional and functional stakeholders can generate new visions and nurture new alliances between places and society. - METRO project in an article by ANSA
UE-Espon study – lack of involvement of big cities in NRRP - April 28 2021 9.00 a.m- 5.30 p.m
Seminar on the role of European metropolitan cities in cohesion policy 2021-2027 and presentation to the territory of the new European programming
- SLIDES of the event AVAILABLE HERE
- More information in Cronache da Palazzo Cisterna" 18/2021
On the occasion of the delivery of the Interim Report of the ESPON METRO research project, the Metropolitan City of Turin and the Polytechnic of Turin organize a seminar that combines the pan-European reflections, developed in the context of the project, with the need to inform local actors of the opportunities of the programming 2021-27
Registration form
The Agenda of the event (pdf 120KB)
More information
- January 2021
Statement adressed to the Managing Authority of the ALCOTRA cross-border cooperation programme
Statement(pdf 550KB)
In this statement, after the introduction to the project and the research context, the first results of the project and the preliminary hypotheses for furure development are highlighted
The first results of the project's are available in the Inception Report recently published - 13 October 2020, online event
European Week of Regions and Cities 2020. The Metropolitan City of Turin took part in the debate on the issue:
"COVID19 AND FUTURE COHESION POLICY: THE ROLE OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES"
The Metropolitan Authority of Lyon, the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon, the Municipality of Brno, the Metropolitan City of Turin, the Municipality of Sintra, the Region of Sicily, the Euroregion North West City Region (Derry City, Municipality of Strabane and County of Donegal) met on Tuesday 13 October to discuss on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.The emergency has given rise to new challenges, has worsen those already existing, but also highlighted the essential role played by cities, metropolitan authorities and regions, which have been at the forefront of delivering local and public services and taking emergency measures as close as possible to citizens.
The aim was to show the emergency measures taken at the local level and the support provided by the European Union through the Cohesion Policy. Looking to the future, it is to be hoped that local authorities will be more actively involved in the 2021 – 2027 programming period and in the implementation of the European Green Deal and Recovery Plan.
The issue of the metropolitan scale and its specificities in terms of European funds governance was also addressed, due to the fact that some speakers at the debate are involved in the "ESPON METRO" targeted analysis and are part of the forum of European metropolitan authorities EMA.
Finally, the need to involve cities, metropolitan authorities and regions in all phases of the implementation of the European Green Deal and the Recovery Plan was discussed.
The handout of the event(pdf 520KB)
Link to the record - 9 October 2020. Kick-off on line
1st Steering Commitee Meeting and Focus Group - Espon METRO project
The first meeting of the Espon METRO Project was held online on Friday 9th October from 10 am to 5 pm. On one side, the event was attended by the entire group of European cities/metropolitan cities which are being funded by the ESPON program and led by Claudia Fassero from the Metropolitan City of Turin.On the other, the meeting was also attended by the group of experts who will carry out the targeted analysis led by the Polytechnic of Turin. Piera Petruzzi and Johannes Kiersch, on behalf of the Espon Program, also joined the web meeting.
The first part of the meeting represented an important opportunity to discuss and reflect, sharing expectations and details of the METRO Project. A time schedule with the different project's objectives for the upcoming months was also shared.
During the second part of the day, the group of researchers conducted a focus group. The nine stakeholder partners and the two umbrella networks dealt with some key issues of the project. Initially, each city/metropolitan city contextualized its own institutional framework in which it works. Afterwards, the focus group focused on cohesion policy and the different ways of involving and engaging local actors. The participants discussed on how cohesion policy can strengthen metropolitan and local governance, thus representing an added value for local authorities. - 21 April 2020 - ESPON METRO Targeted Analysis. Call published
The Metropolitan City of Turin coordinates the group of European cities and metropolitan cities that have received funds from the ESPON 2020 Program (Inspire Policy Making with Territorial Evidence) to improve the territorial and strategic impact of investments related to Cohesion Policy.
The call aims to select the group of experts who will carry out the targeted analysis.
Deadline for application is 22 June 2020. - 3 December - ESPON METRO project presentation et EUROCITIES event in Brussels
On the 3rd of December, in the context of the event organised by EUROCITIES "Urban Governance Group Meeting", a brief presentation on our ESPON METRO project will be held by Claudia Fassero, head of EU & International Projects Unit Manager of Metropolitan City of Turin.
ESPON METRO project - Claudia Fassero(pdf 6.4 MB)
