The State of European cities 2016 : cities leading the way to a better future

This report is addressed to policy makers both inside and outside Europe. To help cities learn from each other, the report compares the performance of cities and provides examples of policies that have worked. Using a wealth of new data, it shows the latest demographic, economic, social and environmental trends in European cities. This can promote more evidence-based policy making at the city level. This publication shows how a newly developed, people-based definition of cities can bring better insights and make it easier to compare cities across national borders. Cities boost innovation, embrace people from different backgrounds or with different lifestyles, and reduce our impact on the planet. Cities that operate at the metropolitan scale and have sufficient autonomy and resources can better exploit this urban potential. In addition, the policies of higher levels of government need to consider the unique role of cities.