Sustainable Urbanisation for Territorial Cohesion. A Multi-scalar Perspective

Despite the growing recognition of the limited nature of land, the demand to develop it continues to rise, leading to urbanisation models that are often unsustainable. This conundrum is acknowledged by the EU in its Urban Agenda that, through the partnership on Sustainable Use of Land and Nature-based Solutions, explicitly links it to the objective of territorial cohesion. At the same time, it led to the development of an increasing number of initiatives in European cities and regions, aiming at a more sustainable urbanisation. Building on the results of the research project ESPON SUPER, the chapter reflects on these initiatives from a multi-scalar perspective. It discusses the rich set of practices surveyed in the project from the EU to the local level, focusing on their scope and on the types of instruments they employed. Whereas, on the one hand, the analysis suggests that a large and heterogeneous set of interventions exists in Europe, aiming at a more sustainable urbanisation; on the other hand, it also highlights that no one-size-fits-all solution exists to achieve this goal. Effective multi-level governance across territorial levels and administrative boundaries is necessary to align policies towards a more sustainable urbanisation and, in turn, territorial cohesion.