Bulgaria received an invitation to apply for hosting the Cities Forum of the European Commission in 2019

Deputy Minister Denitsa Nikolova defended the polycentric territorial development of the cities in Europe and insisted on a policy not only for the big urban agglomerations

Bulgaria has been invited to host the Cities Forum of the European Commission in 2019. Our country has the rare opportunity to host the high-level event that aims to identify some of the topics for the EU’s Urban Agenda. This was announced by Denitsa Nikolova, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, who presented Bulgaria at this year’s forum held in Rotterdam, the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Deputy Minister Nikolova presented the importance of a balanced regional development model in the EU cities, based on an integrated model of investment in the settlements for achieving higher economic development and growth. In her opinion, future urban development in Europe should definitely address the development of territories as a whole. “Nowadays, our cities are facing a number of new challenges, some of which are the result of a concentrated management and investment model,” Deputy Minister Nikolova said. She noted that some of the new challenges for big cities in the EU such as migration, economic development, housing provision, the need for new jobs were the result of the steady trend of population migration from small settlements to big cities.

“We must focus on the territorial dimension in general, focus on the balanced development of the territories in order to respond to and prevent further aggravation of the disparities between the regions,” Deputy Minister Nikolova said.

She shared Bulgaria’s experience in this respect and pointed out that 22% of the grants from EU Structural Funds were concentrated in the implementation of integrated urban development plans, which were currently being implemented in 67 Bulgarian cities. “The positive effects of cohesion policy in big cities is undeniable and tangible. At the same time, we shouldn’t forget the small settlements, because they have their functional significance for the development of the regions as a whole,” Deputy Minister Nikolova said. “We need adapted, flexible financing and implementation mechanisms tailored to the specifics of the regions and simplified rules,” Nikolova added.

According to her, balanced territorial development should become a common EU policy, while making use of all available instruments as part of the cohesion and horizontal policies at the EU level. “At the moment we have different tools with a different management and implementation approaches. This is a topic that should be placed at the center of the future discussion if we want to achieve better results and greater effects,” Deputy Minister Denitsa Nikolova said.

The CITIES 2017 Forum, was held in Rotterdam on 27 and 28 November under the theme “Building better cities together”. The attendees included Mrs. Korina Kretsu, Commissioner for Regional Policy, Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Abutaleb, Joan Clos, Executive Director of the UN-Habitat, Ms. Kajsa Ollongren, Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Vasil Hudak, Vice President of the European Investment Bank, Karl Lambertz, President of the Committee of the Regions, Mayors of Vienna, The Hague, Athens and Stockholm, Members of the European Parliament, etc. Jyrki Katainen, European Commission’s Vice President, welcomed the attendees.

URBIS – a new urban investment and funding platform – was launched during the forum. The platform was jointly developed by the EC and the EIB and is intended for the entire EU.