Networks and cities' news

Cities@Heart: What Happens When Ten Cities Decide to Fall Back in Love with Their Downtowns

The network started with a simple yet radical idea: city centres are worth fighting for. Two and a half years later, ten European cities have shown how true that is.

Picture this. A city manager from Slovenia sharing how financial incentives brought new businesses back to a street full of empty shopfronts. An urban planner from Ireland explaining how activating a single public square transformed the economic pulse of an entire downtown. A policy officer from Spain walking the group through years of hard-won regulatory tools to push back against touristification. A team from Greece describing how a participatory process with residents reshaped the future of their central square. 

Different cities, different challenges, different solutions but the same willingness to learn from each other. This is Cities@Heart.

TactiCity partners meet in Budapest for the 2° Transnational Meeting

From 15 to 17 June 2026, the partners of the TactiCity network gathered in Budapest for the second Transnational Network Meeting (TNM), hosted by Hegyvidék, the 12th District of Budapest. Over three days, partners combined study visits, peer learning and collaborative workshops to deepen their knowledge of participatory approaches to public space and advance the implementation of the network.

Final Hydro-Heritage Cities meeting: Getting ready to kick off

The Network met for last time in Rome concluding its transfer journey and investment plans, while presented in public the future of Hydro-Heritage management. 

Can you transfer trust?

For more than ten years, Com'ON, a youth participatory budgeting programme from Cluj-Napoca (Romania), has trusted young people with public resources, inviting them to propose ideas, vote for the projects they believe in and turn them into reality. Hundreds of community initiatives later, this principle, tested in Cluj-Napoca, is being taken further through Com’ON City.

RECUP MASTERCLASS on Monitoring & Impact Evaluation: Measuring the Value of Culture

In April 2026, partners of the URBACT RECUP Network gathered online for a dedicated Masterclass on monitoring, evaluation and the communication of cultural impact. The session focused on helping cities better understand, measure and demonstrate the contribution of culture and creativity to urban development. 

Implementation, challenges and good practices for culture regeneration projects at the Urban Level

The following article was written by Dina Ntziora, Lead Expert of the ImperfectCity project at the Municipality of Aarhus and an Ad-hoc Expert within the URBACT programme. Drawing on her extensive experience in culture-led urban development, the text provides valuable insights into the implementation, challenges, and good practices of cultural regeneration at the urban level.
We are pleased to share and republish Dina Ntziora’s article as part of our ongoing knowledge exchange within the RECUP – REinventing Culture in Urban Places project. By presenting her work, we aim to highlight key lessons and practical approaches that can inspire cities and stakeholders engaged in culture-driven urban transformation.