Brussels, 01/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - During the EU-China Partnership Forum on Urbanisation on Monday 29 June, the President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Transport both highlighted the need to enhance cooperation between the two parties in the area of urban policy.
“Today, 50% of Chinese citizens live in cities and this is expected to grow to 60% by 2020. In Europe, three-quarters of our people live in cities and our history and models of society are built upon and around cities. We are now, China, European Union, confronted with the same challenges, such as making our cities greener, more sustainable, smart”. He added that city mayors are the closest to citizens, their daily concerns and experiences. Their skills and ideas are particularly important in the fight against climate change.
The Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, repeated this view and underlined the importance of strengthening cooperation between the cities, implementing international financial and innovation frameworks and, finally, prioritising the consolidation of their cooperation in the social and environmental fields. In this connection, she mentioned the key role played by the Covenant of Mayors in attaining these objectives (see EUROPE 11250). The President of the Committee of the Regions, Markku Markkula, said, “The EU must strengthen the Covenant of Mayors expanding it worldwide and set up dedicated investment platforms for Chinese and European cities under the Juncker Plan”.
At the end of the opening speeches, representatives from twinned-towns and institutions and companies involved in the forum signed a range of cooperation agreements in the context of the low fuel emission city's framework.
Following the 2010 Universal Exhibition of Shanghai, whose central theme was “Better City-Better Life”, the forum tackled a number of themes relating to smart cities, sustainable urban transport systems and the fight against climate change.
The urbanisation question has become particularly acute over recent years at both European and world levels. On 10 June, as part of the EUROPE 2020 Strategy, ministers signed the Declaration of Riga, introducing the EU's urban programme. On Tuesday 30 June, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo and the former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, announced that a summit on climate would be held for local councillors at the same time as the Global Climate Conference (COP21) at the end of the year. (Pascal Hansens)