International CEMAT Symposium “A Comprehensive Approach to Balanced Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent”

Kyiv, Ukraine, 11 June 2009

Speech by Vice-President Natalia Romanova, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Council of Europe

Mr Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour for me to represent today the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe – a body which has been particularly involved over the past years with the question of linking spatial development and sustainable development issues. I am especially pleased to see that this is the theme chosen for our Seminar.

The role of local and regional authorities in the spatial development of communities and territories, of our cities and our regions, has been fully recognised today by national governments and international organisations – much as has been their role in ensuring sustainable development of communities. Indeed, governments alone cannot cope any longer with the major challenges facing our societies and meet the evolving needs and expectations of our citizens. Even most taxing global problems today call for responses from local and regional level, and I should mention in particular such crises as the degradation of ecosystems and climate change – both the result, to a large extent, of human activity and both having a direct and extremely adverse impact on our cities and regions, creating tremendous social risks.

Against this background, we in the Congress see spatial development as a key to strengthening the capacity of our communities to adapt to the consequences of climate change – a process in which local and regional authorities play a crucial role. Their innovative practices, their action to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and reverse the environmental degradation of territories represent a major component without which our response to climate change will not be successful.

Spatial development and sustainable development are interlinked – in fact, spatial development is part of the overall sustainable development package which is transversal in nature and cuts across all aspects of local and regional governance. Its transversal nature is also reflected in the work of the Council of Europe Congress, where not only the Committee on Sustainable Development but also Committees on Social Cohesion and on Culture and Education are deeply involved in dealing with its various components. 

Sustainable development is now a fundamental area of activity for local and regional authorities. We understand the term in its broadest sense to mean not only protection of the environment and natural resources but also the incorporation of social, cultural and economic dimensions.

We see sustainable development as the process of building a territory capable of maintaining itself in time, preserving its identity and that of its community, and keeping a sense of belonging to a community, as well as the momentum of its development dynamics. Sustainable development is an integral part of local democracy and citizens' rights, as a process which is part of governance and helps to build citizens’ trust towards their public authorities, from local to regional to national level. 

This is why a comprehensive approach to sustainable spatial development  requires a new, synergetic vision of “people and territories”, a vision based on both human and territorial dimensions as two integral parts of “territorial identity” – and a strategy for an interlinked human and territorial sustainable development, based on the recognition of the central place of the citizen within a territory, which means making the concerns of our populations a priority in the territorial spatial planning.

This “territorial identity” will be shaped by the environment in our communities, which should be equal, sustainable and cohesive – an environment which integrates all aspects of every-day life of our citizens, an environment of equal opportunities in which they can exercise their rights freely and completely, including through spatial planning.

It is in this spirit that we adopted, at the Congress’ plenary session in May last year, the new European Urban Charter: Manifesto for a new urbanity. The Manifesto lays down the principles of ethical governance, sustainable development and greater solidarity in public policies, It urges territorial authorities to place people, with all their multiple identities and cultures, at the heart of preoccupations in urban planning and development, paying particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Sustainable development today is essential for our citizens. The inhabitants of our towns and cities are no longer prepared to suffer the consequences of uncontrolled global economic development that threatens the environment. They are no longer willing to accept climate change, the destruction of our natural resources or the effects of pollution on human health. Instead, they want a form of controlled development that will establish the basis for sustainable growth and ensure them a good quality of life, employment and a reasonable future for their children. This is the challenge that local and regional representatives are facing.

The non-sustainable trends today give rise to new societal patterns between citizens, private organisations and governments, including new expectations, responsibilities and roles of governance. Certainly, we believe that to move ahead we need strong and powerful cities and regions, ready for the future. This implies involving society at the grassroots level to mobilise citizens and to base our future development on a fruitful dialogue with all stakeholders.

However, the town and the country have often reacted differently to global upheavals. The interactions between urban and rural areas are numerous and it is necessary to now overcome the traditional dichotomy between them in favour of sustainable development and territorial cohesion. The European Urban Charter II considers also that urban development should naturally be regulated at regional, national and at European level based on a balanced partnership. 

In this regard, there is a need to foster and reinforce the urban-rural complementarities for a coherent and balanced development of territories. Integrating spatial development with sustainability issues is an imperative and also a requisite condition for achieving another objective, which is territorial cohesion. Reducing regional disparities and bridging the urban-rural divide necessitates spatial planning which would channel benefits from sustainable development also to less advantaged communities. Among possible ways of reaching this goal we in the Congress advocate polycentric spatial development and transfrontier cooperation between cities and regions. 

Among more recent Congress’ recommendations aimed at strengthening territorial cohesion and promoting regional development, I should mention services of general interest in rural areas  which we consider as a key factor in territorial cohesion policies and the need to speficifically address peripheral and sparsely populated regions as these regions often face an accumulation of disadvantages due to problems related to their remoteness and inaccessibility.

In both sets of texts, the Congress stressed the need to consider polycentric spatial development models and cross-border cooperation to ensure the development of integrated regional infrastructures in sparsely populated and peripheral areas.

We insist also that sustainable development concerns should be mainstreamed into all aspects of territorial policy, in particular to counter the growing urban-rural divide and the overall decline in the quality and accessibility of services, which is especially acute in peripheral and sparsely populated regions and rural areas.

The Congress recommended greater decentralisation of public services to local and regional level, to make sure that they are adapted to citizens’ needs and expectations, as well as broader partnerships with all stakeholders in the delivery of public services, the use of modern technologies and innovative approaches and the development of comprehensive public transport networks, among others.

Regional self-governance and polycentric spatial development give regions possibilities to engage in networking with other regions, in transfrontier cooperation and other international contacts, for instance making use of Euroregions. Peripheral regions networking with each other and with other regions in a system across Europe gives a sustainable base for economic growth. In this regard, we see the need to broaden the concept and the definition of peripheral regions. Even in the central part of Europe regions can be peripheral meaning that they face challenges of decreasing population, insufficient infrastructure and unfriendly landscape.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to sum up my presentation today by stressing once again some key points:

-          spatial development is an integral part of the sustainable development package;

-          it is key to adapting our cities and regions to respond better to today’s risks, posed in particular by climate change and the ecological crisis;

-          local and regional authorities bear the primary responsibility for sustainable spatial development of their communities and therefore must be equal partners of national governments in this process;

-          a comprehensive approach to sustainable spatial development must take into account the human dimension which, together with the territorial dimension, is an integral part of the “territorial identity” of our communities;

-          polycentric spatial development and transfrontier cooperation are two possible ways towards achieving territorial cohesion and therefore must be part of a comprehensive approach to balanced sustainable spatial development of the European continent.

I am confident that you will take these issues on board during deliberations today, and I look forward to our discussions.

Thank you.