It is people who make cities what they are. Putting citizens at the heart of integrated local services was the ambition for the mayors of Europe’s biggest cities meeting at the Eurocities annual conference hosted by The Hague, international city of peace and justice, on 26-29 November.
Under the theme, ‘Building active cities: modern citizenship and integrated governance’, the event’s 300 plus delegates – mostly mayors and other politicians from across Europe – took part in lively discussions on new approaches to local governance and management aimed at better engaging citizens and joining up service delivery.
Why should local authorities modernise? According to Jozias van Aartsen, mayor of The Hague and incoming president of Eurocities, cities across Europe are being forced to take a harder look at how they respond to current and ensuing challenges.
“Local authorities across Europe must continually modernise to remain fit for purpose in a changing economic and social environment,” he said. “The reality is that most citizens hold their city council accountable for any political decisions affecting their well-being, whether they are taken at local, national or European level. With mounting pressures on financial resources and services, much is to be gained by having the people we serve more involved in local governance.”
In general, cities take into account three key principles for modern city governance. First, involving the public through promoting the role of local people and governmental structures that are in touch with the public’s needs, in order to tackle issues confronting local communities.
Second, providing integrated public service delivery by developing policymaking approaches that involve and take account of common values that tie the public, private and voluntary sectors. And third, developing multilevel governance by making different government levels work better together to ensure coherent public policy and effective local public service delivery.
The conference workshops, debates, speed-networking sessions and study visits showed how cities are applying these principles across a range of policy areas – including environmental sustainability, economic growth and prosperity, mobility and public transport, employment, health, and migration, among others.
True to the theme, the case studies presented showed how cities are seeking more innovative ways of involving citizens in policymaking to ultimately achieve better public service delivery.
The three cities honoured with this year’s Eurocities awards for their achievements in the areas of innovation, participation and cooperation were a telling example that local authorities are willing to change and modernise.
Espoo (Finland) won the innovation award for its ‘Cultural Chain’ project, which focuses on improving the quality of life of elderly people by bringing art and culture home to those who cannot get it otherwise.
Ghent, in Belgium, was the winner of the cooperation award for its ‘Gentinfo’ project, which provides a one-stop-shop for information services and assistance on the city’s public services.
Finally, Newcastle in the UK won the participation award for its ‘Udecide’ project, which enables city residents to take part in discussions and decisions on a wide range of community projects.
