Ensuring quality of life in Europe's cities and towns

EEA Report No 5/2009

In May 2008, the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities captured the concerns and desires of urban policy‑makers and citizens in the title of its new European Urban Charter: Manifesto for a new urbanity. Like numerous other international and European charters, conventions and declarations, the manifesto describes with some apprehension the 'unprecedented environmental, democratic, cultural, social and economic challenges' facing urban centres and their inhabitants. Our report on quality of life in Europe's cities and towns reiterates these concerns but also unravels the many apparent paradoxes of urban development and the sometimes perplexing realities of urban Europe today. The report defines a vision for progress towards a more sustainable, well‑designed urban future.

Published by

• EEA (European Environment Agency)
• Published: May 28, 2009

Content

• Quality_of_life_in_cities.pdf [18.7 MB]

Maps and graphs

Fancybox relations

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Urban growth and population development 1990-2000

The Netherlands — expenditure

PM10 showing the 36th highest daily values at urban background sites superimposed on rural background concentrations, 2005

Cycling paths and lanes in European cities

Built-up areas, road network and population increases, selected EEA countries

Stockholm, Sweden: green and red finger zoning plans

Number of passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants in the 24 municipalities (1996, 2000, 2005, 2006)

Rotterdam region — contributions to NO2 and PM10 concentration from different sources, 2000

Average floor space per resident in core cities, 2004 For Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Norway and Switzerland the data are from 2001

Max road-traffic intensity (no of cars/hour)

Population change in cities compared with national change between 1991-2004

Apparent southward shift of European cities — due to climate change, 2070-2100

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Order information

Order a printed copy online (EU-Bookshop).

ISBN: 978-92-9167-994-2

ORDER ID (Catalogue Number): TH-AL-09-005-EN-C

Price (Euro): EUR 10.00

You can also obtain a copy from your nearest sales agent by providing the ordering info.

Latest addition

Urban environment

Green infrastructure and territorial cohesion

Laying the foundations for greener transport — TERM 2011: transport indicators tracking progress towards environmental targets in Europe

Landscape fragmentation in Europe

Environment and health

Revealing the costs of air pollution from industrial facilities in Europe

Pharmaceuticals in the environment — Result of an EEA workshop

Spatial assessment of PM10 and ozone concentrations in Europe (2005)

Climate change

Forests, health and climate change

End-user GHG emissions from energy

Air pollution impacts from carbon capture and storage (CCS)

Multimedia

Cities, where the living is good?

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