Attaining Sustainable, Smart Investment

Abstract

This paper presents a research agenda focusing on the role of smart, socially inclusive, sustainable cities in furthering the balanced, equitable development of the European economy. In order for cities to play this role it is necessary to start from a vision of the city as a system of interlinked assets, and from the need to manage these assets in a sustainable way using a methodology broadly based on the principles of corporate finance. This research agenda aims to span areas of expertise and policy dimensions that are often fragmented, in order to lead to improved diagnostics and strategic investing. In Europe, this vision of the city and of the urban management process will enable better bottom-up policy delivery, and address the challenges facing the European economy by facilitating the adaptation of European city systems to diverging spatial growth patterns, youth unemployment, ageing populations, migration patterns, and increasingly sharp financial divergences among different territorial systems.