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Competence Centre on Foresight

We foster a strategic, future-oriented and anticipatory culture in the EU policymaking process.

  • Page | Last updated: 03 Jul 2020

Increasing importance of cities

  • Cities are estimated to generate 80% of all economic growth.
  • OECD studies showed that, for each doubling of population size, the productivity level of a city increases by 2-5% as a result of better labour distribution, education, entrepreneurship, spread of ideas, etc.
  • The organisations of mayors now represent an emergent global governance power and platforms for addressing the most important challenges – e.g. the C40 networks.
  • In the last two decades, cities ambition has risen remarkably to go beyond the national governments’ climate-change targets: for example, the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C warns that current nationally determined contributions for the Paris Agreement are not sufficient.

| Related Megatrends: Demography; Geopower; Security; Inequalities; Health; Climate change and environmental degradation; Consumerism; Technology; Natural resources;

 

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