Compiled by the European Commission, the aim of the 'World and European Sustainable Cities' report is to encourage a shift towards a culture of economic, social and environmental sustainability.The publication examines how continuous urbanisation can be reconciled with sustainable and inclusive growth.

By the year 2030, some five billion people out of a total global population of eight billion will be living in cities. While the European Union is strongly committed to promoting sustainable and inclusive growth, questions remain over how challenges resulting from urbanisation, such as providing key services, migration, new forms of poverty and green urban planning, can be effectively addressed.

The study presents a sample of European projects and UN-Habitat activities that examine different facets of cities and the issues surrounding urbanisation. The 'Pathways for carbon transitions' (Pact) project, for example, looks at how dominant lifestyles, technologies and infrastructure of urban living, housing and transport could or should be changed in order to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The project argues that better coordination between transport, land use and open space planning is needed, along with the preservation of green infrastructure for walking and cycling.

It is already known that temperatures are likely to change in the future and that 'urban heat islands' will reinforce the effects of climate change. The 'Adaptation strategies to climate change in the urban environment' (Asccue) project has demonstrated how green areas can help to counteract rising temperatures. It calculated, for example, that for the UK city of Manchester, increasing green spaces by 10% in residential areas would compensate for the worst case temperature scenario in 2080.

Similarly, the EU-funded 'Sprawling cities and transport: from evaluation to recommendations' (Scatter) project analysed the negative effects of urban sprawl. These effects include the loss of agricultural land and open space, the destruction and fragmentation of ecosystems, higher cost of public services, increased use of private cars and social segregation.

Another key theme in the Commission's study is migration. The number of international migrants worldwide has more than doubled in 40 years from 1965 to 2005. In Europe, the rise has been even steeper, doubling in just 15 years from 1985 to 2000, from an estimated 23 million to over 56 million. This represents 7.7 % of the total European population.

New immigrants tend to settle in cities, and where national integration policies have a longer history, such as in the Netherlands and Sweden. Cities have begun to demand more executive power and greater resources to cope with pressures on housing, jobs, education and public order. The study refers to surveys that show an increasing number of European cities are becoming aware that they need long-term, consistent integration policies in order to preserve both their viability as communities and their residents' quality of life.

Indeed, the Commission report stresses that it is in cities where the fight for a more cohesive society needs to start. Even if cities do not have control over many of the deep-rooted causes of poverty and social exclusion, as the Cohesion Policy implemented at the European level, they can play an important role in alleviating, preventing and tackling these problems by taking flexible and innovative solutions at local level.

The study concludes by suggesting that perhaps the time has come to challenge the historic distinction between urban and rural issues. It also says that the Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion, presented by the European Commission in October 2008, is a step forward in this direction.