Networks and cities' news

ART as the inspiration for urban actions of sustainable change: The municipal theater of Plasencia hosts a play about depopulation

Art has always been a powerful tool and has had a strong voice in describing important social issues. That's why the City of Plasencia, member of Residents of the Future URBACT network, hosts a play in municipal theater that deals with depopulation, and to which the members of the local ULG have been invited. 

Through URBACT, we are seeking answers to the question of how the city can retain existing residents and attract new ones

City of Šibenik has an extensive experience implementing EU funded projects, including the URBACT programme. In the previous period, Šibenik was partner in four citizens networks. Now, they took a role as a Lead Partner in the network "Residents of the Future". On this occasion, we spoke with Nikolina Gracin, a representative of the City of Šibenik and the coordinator of the Network. The interview was conducted for URBACT Croatia by Lucija Jusup, an advisor at the Association of Cities in the Republic of Croatia. You can find the entire article in Croatian language at the following link: >> URBACT Croatia

Small cities, the potential best place to live in Europe?

For most of human history, most people across the world lived in small communities. Over the past 500 years, this reality has shifted dramatically, and in 2015, 73.5% of Europeans were already living in urban areas. People's concentration leads to some challenges related to quality of life, such as lack of safety, housing problems, pollution concentration, and poverty.

According to the Report on the Quality of Life in European Cities, a 2023 European Commission study, smaller cities are perceived as being better places to live. The study shows that the happiness and well-being of people increase in cities smaller than 250.000 inhabitants.