Brussels, 26/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has approved funding of EUR 30 million from the Urban Programme for the period 2001-2006, of which EUR10.7 million will be financed from the Community budget. "In most cases, they were created piecemeal to house workers from the factories in the nearby port area. They are characterised by the variety and dispersal of the urban fabric, their isolation from the rest of the town, poor environmental conditions". The objectives of the programme are to: 1) Encourage social cohesion, employment and training; 2) support economic development by backing projects put forward by local people, encouraging the emergence of a supply of services to businesses and a supply of suitable premises; 3) restore and enhance the urban environment by reorganising traffic patterns and combating noise, drawing up a local environment contract.