European Metropolitan Report

This report complements the three previous publications carried out by Metropolis, where diverse metropolitan realities were analysed on a global scale to include Africa (2019), Asia (2021) and across the Americas (2022). Beyond the specific observations in each region, a common aspect is the urgent need to adopt a metropolitan vision in the design of public policies. This perspective is crucial not only to meet the goals of global agendas—which are fundamental to addressing planetary challenges—but also to enable local authorities to address the immediate and medium-term needs of their metropolitan dwellers.

This European Report on metropolises, based on a sample of 16 metropolises, draws a complex and nuanced picture of the economic, ecological and social challenges, as well as opportunities facing metropolises in Europe. The report also highlights the importance of two fundamental elements to build a common metropolitan approach to urban challenges at the European level. First, the historical administrative fragmentation of the region poses specific challenges, particularly regarding data gathering and the efficiency of public policies. Second, rapid urban growth, especially in third-tier cities, has transformed the scale of urban challenges, which now transcend the local level and its jurisdictional boundaries and take on a supramunicipal scope.