ESPON, 2010
This project shall thus analyse the current state, trends and development perspectives for the largest cities and urban agglomerations within the European territory. It shall identify the driving forces of urban development which are the most relevant for understanding urban evolutions and offer scenarios for the development of Europe’s cities leading to alternative policy options.
- Green Economy. This scenario aims at sustained recovery from the economic crisis, while addressing in priority the challenge of climate change. It requires a high level of stability in the global context and is based on the assumption that the massive adoption of new technologies aiming at drastically curbing down greenhouse gas emissions may generate significant growth and open new markets at world scale. The scenario is based on the assumption that the decisions adopted at international level aiming at curbing down the speed of climate change are efficiently used as an opportunity to generate significant economic growth throughout Europe.
- Enhancing the European potential. This scenario is generated primarily by the emergence of new serious economic/financial troubles in the global context, with various large, but strongly indebted countries (USA, Japan etc) having lost their capacity of debt reimbursement. In this highly unstable and threatening environment, Europe adopts a more protective strategy and puts the priority on the enhancement of its own potential (500 million consumers; skilled manpower and technological excellence in various fields).
