Dirk AHNER: “The European dream is where solidarity replaces every-man-for-himself”
Dirk Arhner has been Director General for the European Commission’s Regional Policy Directorate-General since January 2007. This German economist is deeply pro-Europe. He shares his views and his “European dreams”.
What connections exist between regional policy and urban development?
Naturally, one of the main goals of the European Union is to reduce disparities among its Member States and regions. The majority of its efforts in this area occur via regional policy, often with a very tangible impact: for example, every year, regional policy contributes to training around 9 million people, more than half of whom are women.
Urban development has become an inevitable part of regional policy. Various factors explain its increasingly large role: concentration of the populations and business in regional capitals, suburbanisation of cities, concentration of poverty in certain urban districts, etc. Logically, to strengthen its social cohesion policy, the European Union must choose to put more of an accent on urban development by 2013.
In Europe we have a somewhat polycentric system, with many medium-sized urban centres, which I believe is unique in the world. One of our objectives is to preserve this balance in territorial development. We are also convinced that urban development does not only come through the large urban areas, but also through the small and medium cities found in rural regions: in effect, these can become business and service centres for the entire surrounding area.
In a recent speech, you mentioned the American essayist Jeremy Rifkin, who published The European Dream in 2005. How can urban policy contribute to this European Dream?
For me, the European dream is unity in diversity. It is a community of values that respects the diversity of accomplishments. It is cooperation that replaces conflict. It is solidarity that replaces every man-for-himself. We can learn a lot from each other, and this also applies in economic, social and territorial development.
Our ideal of balanced, polycentric development in which each territory finds its opportunity in a way reflects this dream of unity in diversity. Yet, more than 70% of Europeans live in cities. It is there the dream must come true. This is why urban development must play a key role, always in connection and working closing with its rural surroundings. This is why cooperation among cities and exchanging good practices is important. This is why programmes like URBACT are important.