High-level Meeting: Support to Sustainable Urban Development in Functional Areas

On 18 February 2025, the EUKN facilitated a High-Level Informal Exchange Meeting about Support to Sustainable Urban Development in Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) in the Context of EU Challenges After 2027. The meeting received representatives from different EU Member States, who discussed the role that Functional Urban Areas can play in urban policy making across the European Union, including their current implementation and linkages with current and future EU Cohesion Policy.

Participants discussed the issue paper jointly produced by the Polish Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy and the EUKN, the findings from a survey on the use of FUAs in various Member States’ urban policy programmes, and the current state of EU Cohesion Policy, including areas that could be improved. The EUKN’s presentation highlighted the benefits of utilising FUAs across different levels of urban policy making, including areas at the European, national, and urban/FUA levels where these processes could be streamlined.