Towns and cities form the basis of European society, they are vital centres of knowledge and culture; they have tremendous economic and social resources available to them. Further integration in Europe will be expressed in concrete terms in urban areas, in these locations Europe's dynamism and pace will be demonstrated, here however the difficulties can be experienced.

For a long time Europe has not been merely an economic community. Political integration is proceeding - sometimes rapidly, at other times more slowly, the European social model, as it is known, is currently on the agenda, common environmental standards have long been reality.

Eighty per cent of national environmental law originates from European Commission directives. Of course, national governments and parliaments have done so and continue to transpose these directives into national law, however, frequently - and in some cases exclusively - local government bodies are those who have to implement these laws.

Continued social integration in Europe is increasingly under pressure, not only as a result of globalisation and pressure of international competition, but also due to development within the EU. Demographic change increases the pressure on social systems. In a number of member states, the population will diminish in only a few decades from now by as much as 50 per cent. In a parallel process, the average age is rising rapidly, and by 2030 at around 50 years is expected to be more than ten years higher than for example in North America - not to mention India, Korea and China. In addition, the pressure of immigration will increase. In several major European conurbations the percentage of non-native inhabitants is already approaching 50 per cent. And once again towns and cities are primarily challenged. They are facing enormous efforts for integration..

These two development processes which confront local authorities comprised the main points of emphasis in the activity programme of the European Academy of the Urban Environment in the course of 2005.

With effect from 18 July 2004, the Federal Republic and other EU member states were supposed to have enacted legislative regulations to assess and combat environmental noise; at least, this is what is required by the directive (END) which came into effect in 2002. However, in fact, as ascertained in a research study carried out by EA.UE in 2005, only just over one third of member states had transposed the directive into national legislation by the stipulated time - including nearly all the 'new' EU MS. In six member states, legislation was put into force with a delay of up to eighteen months and in five further MS, implementation has yet to take place.

Germany is one of the slow coaches. Admittedly, the Federal Parliament did agree at the end of October 2004 - i.e. already somewhat behind schedule - to amend the Federal Pollution Control Law (BimSchG) to correspond with the directive. The Upper House however rejected this amendment, saying that it went far beyond EU requirements and was, in particular due to a link with the strategic environmental assessment SEA, which is also required by EU law-making, very difficult to manage. Finally, in December of that year the Federal Government demanded that the mediation committee be convened. In this body discussions continued for several months, in particular over allocating costs between federal and regional level, until the new Pollution Law finally came into force in June 2005, almost one year later than expected.

In the light of the requirements and the target times in the directive, this delayed transposition into national legislation has certainly not helped the local level in particular - of course, most of the practical implementation needs to be carried out at this level. And in some cases new instruments and cooperation methods still need to be developed.

The directive specifies a concept which is valid Europe-wide to assess and manage environmental noise. In this context, the following measures are to be implemented:

• assessing effects of environmental noise by means of strategic noise maps in accordance with common assessment methods;
• drawing up action plans with the aim of reducing environmental noise, in particular in those locations where negative health impacts are to be anticipated, and to prevent increase in noise pollution in areas where environmental noise quality is good;
• informing the public about the effects of environmental noise exposure and publishing noise maps and action plans.

In order to assess and depict noise effects, not only will new noise indicators be introduced, in addition a number of further requirements - for example, calculating noise levels at specified building facades at a given height or determining the number of inhabitants affected - are compulsorily specified. However, currently there is no Europe-wide common method of assessing noise. Until this has been adopted interim methods - as they are known - may be applied, or national assessment procedures may be adapted to harmonise with the directive. This latter route will be applied in Germany.

Thus traditional noise maps and conflict plans customary in Germany showing spatial distribution of noise exposure and peak pollution (hot spots) remain the starting point for implementing the directive. Adapting to specific EU requirements is thus not a fundamental problem, but is difficult financially and in particular with regard to time. Existing computer programmes and GIS need to be adapted to stipulations, and supplementary data (such as number of inhabitants or uses of individual buildings) need to be incorporated into the calculations. In some cases considerable outlay is necessary to ascertain this.

Matters become even more difficult if time and spatial requirements in implementing END are considered. Strategic, comprehensive noise maps must be compiled by June 2007 for major roads and railways, for major airports and in particular for major conurbations. In the following year action plans to mitigate noise nuisance are to be put forward. In a second stage - with stipulated timeframes of 2012 and 2013 - the new regulations come into force for smaller conurbations, roads and railway routes and airports.

When END refers to a conurbation, this is taken to mean an area determined by more or less completely urbanised character. Thus even smaller local authorities which are within the catchment area of conurbations will be covered. Since in addition in urban agglomerations of this kind a tremendous variety of noise sources overlap, including some addressed by END, implementing legislation necessitates cooperation between very many different institutions and authorities. In this respect there is still a need for regulation in several Federal states.

In a study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Transport, and depending on the available data, estimates for the total costs of mapping in conurbations up to 2012 ranged up to 17,800,000 euros. This estimate is based on assumed costs of between 22 and 50 euro-cents per inhabitant.

It is to be feared that, merely due to the pressure of time caused by the delay in transposing END into national legislation, costs and other outlay will increase. In particular the local authorities as key players in implementing the directive are concerned in this respect. In the absence of concrete national provisions of law they were unable to act and now urgently require assistance - not only of a financial nature.

When this is said and done, the situation in Germany is still comparatively positive - after all, we can look back on a long tradition of pollution protection, during which several of the courses of action and processes required in END have already been implemented. In many EU member states this is not the case; new processes and procedures are being used for the first time. In particular, how those MS where the directive has not yet been transposed into legislation in the time-frame specified still hope to comply with the deadlines and subject matter requirements is something only they can know.

Fifty years old - in less than 25 years this will be the average age of EU inhabitants. Birth rates in most of the countries have already fallen well below the limit of reproduction; in the next two or three decades we will be seeing a dramatic drop in population by as much as fifty per cent in a number of countries. Between 2005 and 2030, the number of people of working age will fall in the whole of Europe by 20.8 million - these are the figures estimated by the European Commission in the Green Paper on demographic change which appeared in 2005. The fact that as a result economic productivity and European social systems will not only be put to the test, but indeed will be cast in doubt, must be quite obvious.

Since it is anticipated that as early as 2010 there will be considerable shortage of labour in some member states, it is necessary to take rapid and decisive counter-measures, at least to cushion negative effects on the economy and on social systems, on labour markets and on the level of affluence. In another Green Paper issued in 2005 - on labour migration - the European Commission declares: "Immigration from outside the EU could help to mitigate the effects of the falling population... ever larger migrant flows may be needed to meet the need for labour and safeguard Europe’s prosperity."

However, in this way cultural and ethnic diversity in Europe will increase even more. The proportion of immigrants living in Europe will have reached 30 % to 40 % by the middle of this century (in some member states quite a lot higher). As early as 2010, a number of European conurbations will have more non-native populations than locally born persons.

As a result of these developments, European towns and cities, in which 80 per cent of the population live, are facing completely new challenges. Even now they need to take into account in their planning shrinking numbers of residents, in future they will have to expect far greater cultural diversity of inhabitants and produce enormous achievements with respect to integration. And this is - as we know too from the street battles seen in French cities in Autumn 2005, amongst other things - no easy task.

Despite the concept of "Leitkultur" (predominant culture) introduced by Bassam Tibi, which has been misused by a number of politicians, integration is not, nor can it be, synonymous with assimilation. This trend is antithetical, if to nothing else, then at the very least to the priority given to cultural diversity (plurality), embedded in the European constitution - which is currently on hold. Europe will not be able to guarantee its present citizens this diversity whilst at the same time denying it to its newcomers.

Cultural identity or identities of groups and societies always finds an expression in the cityscape or urban design, in architecture and in appropriation of physical spaces. As a result of further immigration the appearance of European cities will change. Of course, they will not become oriental towns with cul-de-sacs, with the bazaar and a central mosque, with imprecise transition from public to private space, but nevertheless town planners will need to be responsive to the needs of the new citizens. If they do not, towns and cities will not be "Heimat" ('home') for everyone who lives there, and integration will fail.

Essential pre-requisites for and action in integration will need to be carried out by towns and cities. This is true not only for the field of spatial planning mentioned above, but also for other areas of local authority activities: traffic and transport planning, social and welfare provision systems, general public services, education, trade, public participation...

This is by no stretch of the imagination any easy task - particularly since at the same time local authorities will be obliged to take into account in all their actions the drop in population figures - in some cases of huge dimension.

Projects, conferences and seminars in detail

Hamburg, 24 - 25 February 2005 (198 participants from Germany and new Member States)

Both EU directives on environmental noise and on air quality demand comprehensive measures from towns and cities. Because the main sources of air and noise pollution emanate from urban motorised traffic, there is a considerable overlap between the required counter-measures. However, the majority of local authority bodies have so far not considered the – in fact apparently obvious – synergetic effects possible between these two fields of action. Consequently, during this conference a focus was placed on examples derived from practice in several local areas, where good progress has been successfully made in integrating more closely work in noise mitigation and improving air quality.

A constitution for Europe - what will this mean for the citizen?

Berlin, 02 March and 21 September 2005 (64 participants mainly from Berlin and Brandenburg)

The original intention had been to parallel the ratification process of the Treaty on the European Constitution by means of a series of symposiums; also to examine the importance of the fundamental objectives for the individual citizen. As a result of the negative outcomes of referendums in France and the Netherlands and as follow-on from a seminar in which an outline of basic information on the draft constitution and the ratification process was provided, it proved necessary to re-orient the series. In cooperation with the European Academy Berlin and InfoRadio, the local public broadcasting channel, a final symposium posed the question: "Nach den Volksabstimmungen in Frankreich und in den Niederlanden - Wie wird Europa neu buchstabiert?" (After the referendums in France and the Netherlands: how can Europe be re-written?). The detailed outcomes of both these meetings have been documented and evaluated on the EA.UE homepage (www.eaue.de).

How can we organise cooperation and participation for tomorrow's cities and regions today? (an open space conference)

Berlin, 02 - 03 June 2005 (88 participants from European countries)

Urban development and management in European towns and cities cannot now be practised without intensive public participation. At the same time, cities are undergoing wide-ranging transformation as a result of globalisation, economic stagnation in several countries and due to urban sprawl extending often quite haphazardly into the surrounding area. For these reasons demands made of local level decision makers have increased tremendously over the past number of years. A very wide variety of perspectives and interests need to be considered with a view towards more sustainable urban development. The conference examined these widely-differing points of view and interests, attempted to highlight opportunities for cooperation and made clear future tasks at local level as seen by the widely-varying actors. It was organised in cooperation with Buero BLAU and others.

Berlin, 16 June 2005 (53 participants; from the Polish voivodships of Swietokrzyskie and Lodzkie and companies in Berlin and Brandenburg)

This event for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Berlin and Brandenburg provided these bodies with an opportunity to make direct contacts with business partners from the voivodships of Swietokrzyskie and Lodzkie and to gain information about investment and cooperation framework conditions in Poland. The event was organised by the European Academy of the Urban Environment in cooperation with the Polish Embassy Economic Department, INFRANEU central association and the Berlin Chamber of Crafts.

Berlin, 13 - 14 August 2005 and 29 August 2005 (27 participants from the Berlin area and guest speaker from Israel)

Although in European and German legislation there are compulsory regulations on including the public in most fields of urban development and management, often it is scarcely possible to reach certain groups. In particular immigrants - and within this category, particularly women - are nearly always excluded. The Israeli psychologist, Professor Dan Bar-On, has developed a dialogue method known as "story telling", which enables ethnic-cultural divisions to be overcome. The meeting examined the potential of this method for local level dialogue and public participation processes.

Berlin, 01 September 2005 (39 participants from Germany)

Electronic surveillance in the urban area by means of more or less prominent video cameras and, in particular, the lack of transparency concerning data thus acquired, have contributed to continued controversial discussions on this topic. Modes of thinking in terms of national security policy are in conflict with patterns of thought which claim that protection of civic rights of liberty is provided in the traditional Western concept of freedom. The purpose of video surveillance is primarily to reduce petty crime and to raise the clear-up rate; the success rate is however controversial. Nevertheless, the fact that it is possible to monitor public space and areas is already having a decisive effect on planning and design. Before a varied audience, representatives of public safety organisations, political figures, legal and other experts and planners put forward and discussed their varying perspectives and the outcomes (in part very contradictory) of empirical studies. This seminar was organised in cooperation with the Federal Office for political education.

Berlin, 26 - 27 September 2005 (76 participants from all parts of Europe, guest presenter from USA)

In twenty years the average age of the population of Europe will be 10 years greater than the average in North America or other dynamic growing areas. Concurrently, in some EU member states the total number of inhabitants will also fall dramatically. Thus, purely for commercial reasons, but also in order to maintain its social systems, Europe cannot avoid the need for an active immigration policy. Even now in some major European cities the proportion of immigrants is approaching 50 per cent and thus anticipating developments which within the foreseeable future will be a matter of fact/life all over Europe. Such trends present towns and cities with major challenges. Cities need - particularly in long-term planning spheres - to take account of them now. The conference considered the importance for local level physical planning, for traffic, transport and infrastructure management, for local level social systems arising from imbalances between young and elderly sections of the population and from increasing ethnic-cultural diversity.

Ljubljana, 09 December 2005 (68 participants from Slovenia and neighbouring countries; guest speakers from Germany)

This series of events was continued in 2005 with the aim of outlining END requirements for local level authorities in towns and cities and other players involved. Since the directive has not yet been transposed in some member states, authorities are under ever more pressure to comply with requirements by the deadlines laid down. Cities in particular, the principal players in implementation, are affected by this situation. By disseminating information on practical examples and instruments, this series of roadshow meetings aims to provide assistance and support in preparing to implement the directive. The roadshow this year was organised in cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Slovenia.

Berlin, 05 - 06 December 2005 (54 participants from all over Europe)

Only just over one-third of the EU member states transposed END into national legislation according to the time schedule, another third did so up to eighteen months late. In some countries the directive has still not even been transposed. This conference provided an overview of the position with regard to transposition and implementation, as well as of individual national acts which specify methods and competences in practical implementation. In addition, requirements to be addressed to the European Commission were formulated by those present, such as standardising or harmonising procedures in noise mapping and coordinating requirements for deadlines with other related directives. In this way synergetic effects may be released, thus saving resources whilst complying with a number of EU legal stipulations.

In addition to those described above, EA.UE - in some cases in cooperation with other organisations - organised during the period concerned a number of further events:

• Europa auf dem Prüfstand: Wie gewinnen und ordnen wir unsere Informationen
  (Europe under the microscope: gaining and structuring information)
• Turkey, the EU and impact of culture on European identity
• Administrative Betreuung europäischer Reformansätze - Vermittlung sozialer und regionaler Fragen europäischer Integration auf der Ebene des Bürgers
  Administrative support for European reform - communicating social and regional aspects of European integration at the level of the ordinary citizen
• Europa gewinnt Bulgarien - Wirtschaftsfaktor Tourismus
  How the EU benefits from Bulgaria's accession to the EU – tourism as an example
• "Der mazedonische Knoten" - Die Identität der Mazedonier dargestellt am Beispiel des Balkanbundes 1878 - 1914
  The Macedonian knot: the identity of peoples in the Balkan region, in particular the Macedonians

EA.UE maintains a database on sustainable urban development case studies in Europe. It is available as PC version and also on-line via the Academy homepage (www.eaue.de). In the course of 2005 the current data stocks were up-dated and expanded.

As a result of evaluating outcomes of two conferences, on demographic change and on END, together with supplementary enquiries, independent publications have been produced. They have been published by EA.UE privately (on CD ROM). In the case of a further publication (dealing with migration and diversity in European cities) the authors have signed a contract with the UK/USA publishing house of Palgrave Macmillan. Preparatory work on the publication took place in 2005, it is due to appear in 2006. A study on behalf of DG Environment of the European Commission dealing with future research and training needs in the urban environment was concluded early in 2005. It was based in part on the outcomes of an EU Expert Group, for which EA.UE had provided scientific and administrative support.

Short-term consultant contracts or commissions were undertaken for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Cyprus and for the Republic of Ireland Ministry of the Environment. The contract with UNDP concerned urban design and urban planning alternatives possibilities which are proposed in order to prepare the two sides in Nicosia for re-unification and to create now appropriate spatial structures in order to facilitate closer communication between the two sections of the population and enable dialogue for the city as a whole. On behalf of the Irish Ministry of the Environment, applications for research projects were evaluated and consultation with regard to further research needs was provided.