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Presently, over half of global population resides in cities; in the EU-27 over 70 percent of people (about 340 million people) concentrates in the so-called “urban regions”; the figure is expected to reach almost 80 percent by 2050. The continent’s urban model allows cities of varying sizes to contribute meaningfully to territorial development and connectivity. The new agenda presents the EU vision, policy and a set of actions for cities and sets out a forward-looking perspective for sustainable and integrated urban development.
Background
The Commission supports sustainable and integrated urban development through various initiatives; mainly, through the cohesion policy providing significant territorial investment. The new EU “Agenda for Cities” strengthens this approach by focusing development action on delivering key policy priorities at the local levels.
The agenda builds on existing strategic frameworks such as the Territorial Agenda 2030 and the New Leipzig Charter, complementing ongoing intergovernmental cooperation under the Urban Agenda for the EU.
Note: In December 2020, the EU member states’ ministers responsible for spatial planning, territorial development and/or territorial cohesion have agreed on the EU-wide Territorial Agenda-2030, which expected to provide an action-oriented framework to promote territorial cohesion in Europe. Hence the project “EU future for all places” was born.
More on EU Territorial Agenda-2030 in: https://territorialagenda.eu/
The EU Agenda for Cities is the result of extensive consultation, drawing from 193 contributions received from local authorities, citizens, civil society, and other stakeholders. Input was also gathered from recent discussions at the Cities Forum in Kraków, and the “Implementation Dialogue on sustainable urban development” (both in June 2025), as well as numerous bilateral exchanges with organizations representing local, regional, national authorities and the European urban networks.
The new agenda also outlines upcoming opportunities for cities, including the call for European Urban Initiative Innovative Actions (which starts opening in early 2026) and the production of a regular State of European Cities report. Implementation of the EU Agenda for Cities begins under the current financial framework and will continue through the next EU-budget programming period.
More in: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_2908
Cities are essential for the future of the European Union; they are places where Europe’s most pressing challenges are concentrated, and where incubators of cutting-edge solutions can be built and scaled up across European continent. However, urban territories already face multiple challenges, which require integrated solutions. As engines of sustainable growth, cities of all sizes not only drive progress within their boundaries but also in surrounding areas, including rural areas. Moreover, they are the places where most of the EU policies and legislation are implemented. The success of a more competitive, accessible, inclusive, resilient and cohesive Europe, that navigates the green and digital transitions with fairness and ambition, is directly tied to the success of the cities.
With the new EU “Agenda for Cities: Driving Growth and Prosperity”, the Commission lays out its vision and policy response to support thriving cities in meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information-sources/publications/communications/2025/eu-agenda-for-cities-2025_en
EU urban policy
The EU-27 is experiencing increasing urbanisation and is characterised by a diverse array of urban areas ranging from small towns to large metropoles4. Thus, by 2021, 39% of the EU population lived in around 700 cities, 36% resided in roughly 9,000 towns or suburbs, and 25% inhabited rural areas; urbanisation is mostly happening in larger cities and their surroundings.
In 2021, a particularly high concentration of people – more than half – were living in cities in Spain, the Netherlands, and Greece, while 45.2% of the population in Ireland lived in rural areas. The population in the EU’s cities, towns and suburbs is growing, while the rural population is shrinking.
Note. Data is largely from Dijkstra, L. and Testori, G., “Trends, Challenges and Opportunities in EU Cities: Supporting the EU Cities Agenda”, European Commission, – Ispra, 2025. And in the Eurostat Statistics Explained and GISCO, based on census population grid 2021 and local administrative units 2021.
A recent Eurobarometer survey has shown that the most immediate and urgent problem for Europeans living in cities is, by far, lack of affordable housing with 51% considering it to be an immediate and urgent problem. A third of respondents (33%) report that unemployment or lack of job opportunities is an urgent problem in their city; similar figures are also seen for lack of quality public services (32%) and poverty or homelessness (32%). Respondents in towns and suburbs rank lack of affordable housing first (37%), followed by lack of public services (30%), and unemployment or lack of job opportunities (29%)
More in: https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/3368
EU-wide local and regional authorities implement and use approximately 70% of EU legislation, making them key actors for delivering EU policy goals; thus, to meet the EU goals and targets, it is essential to enable cities to implement EU legislation efficiently and effectively.
More in the European Parliament resolution (June 2021) on European Union regulatory fitness and subsidiarity and proportionality – report on Better Law Making covering 2017-2019 in 2020/2262(INI). E.g. in such priorities as construction, energy, industry, mobility, digital connectivity, climate change, zero-pollution environment, loss of biodiversity and circular economy.
As the agenda confirms “the success of a more competitive, accessible, inclusive, resilient and cohesive Europe”, it also navigates the green and digital transitions with fairness and ambition, which is directly tied to the success of the cities and urban areas.
Citation from: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/communication/2025-cities-agenda/2025-cities-agenda-communication.pdf
Perspective EU-wide actions
The Commission has envisaged three main areas of action:
= Continuous dialogue: establishing annual high-level political and technical level dialogues with cities to discuss EU policies affecting urban areas to better understand and take into account the needs of cities.
= Simplification and capacity building: a new EU Cities Platform will consolidate and simplify EU support for urban areas, thus avoiding fragmentation. An EU Cities web portal will offer a single-entry point for information on activities, events, policy updates, funding opportunities, and urban development initiatives.
= Investment support: the EU is already providing considerable support to cities and urban areas through cohesion policy but also additional assistance available through several sectoral policies. The Commission aims to support cities further. It has proposed an ambitious long-term budget that gives opportunities to support cities such as through the national and regional partnership plans, the EU Facility, the European Competitiveness Fund, Horizon Europe and Global Europe.
More in the EU web-portal at: https://regions-and-cities.ec.europa.eu/cities-portal_en