Recent statistics show that approximately 43% of the EU population lives in small and medium-sized cities between 5,000 and 50,000 inhabitants. Small urban areas play a pivotal role in sustainable urban development and territorial cohesion in Europe and are an important part of the urban-rural continuum.

We chose to tackle this topic in the August Urban Review because of the diversity of small and medium-sized cities (in terms of geography, demographic, socio-economic and governance aspects) and the various socio-economic and environmental opportunities they can provide due to their territorial context and their national policy framework.

Read this month’s newsletter to discover how small and medium-sized cities can contribute significantly to the transformative power of cities as well as how they are, or should be, incorporated in national urban policies nowadays.

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innovative urban initiative
Publications

Urban Agenda for the EU: Multi-level governance in action...

Urban Agenda for the EU: Multi...

Urban Agenda for the EU: Multi-level governance in action

Investigating actions and achievements since the start of the Urban Agenda for the EU, an innovative initiative supporting cities to shape urban policy alongside national, regional and EU actors.

Sensing the city, experimental methods: Franziska Schreiber
Urban Voices

Franziska Schreiber on… sensing the city...

Franziska Schreiber on… ...

Franziska Schreiber on… sensing the city

Franziska Schreiber from the University of Stuttgart argues that to create more liveable cities, human emotions and senses should be front and centre in urban planning and policy-making.

Urban Voices

Dr. Lorenzo Chelleri on… Urban Planning for Resilience...

Dr. Lorenzo Chelleri on…...

Dr. Lorenzo Chelleri on… Urban Planning for Resilience

Dr. Lorenzo Chelleri outlines his vision of how urban planning relates to building resilience from definitions to tools and the link to climate mitigation and adaption.