An informal ministerial meeting on “Urban development and territorial cohesion” was held at Leipzig in Germany on 24-25 May. During the meeting two consultative documents were adopted: the “Territorial Agenda of the European Union” and the “Leipzig Charter on the Sustainable European City”. Both the German Presidency of the EU and European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner, underlined the priority given by Community funds 2007-2013 “to the role of the cities for the revival of the EU economy and the creation of quality jobs” thanks to the link between urban and territorial development and the Lisbon Strategy for growth and employment. In particular, the “Territorial Agenda of the EU” pursues the objective of intensifying urban development thanks to the involvement of the greatest possible number of local players in transnational projects and networks, while the “Leipzig Charter” sees in integrated urban planning the best means of “improving local labour markets, developing clean municipal transport and promoting the integration of immigrants”.
