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Urban environmental sustainability encourages revitalisation and transition of urban areas and cities to improve liveability, promote innovation and reduce environmental impacts while maximising economic and social co-benefits.

Urban systems are inherently complex. With the ample support of urban stakeholders, the EEA developed a conceptual model and selected six observation and analysis lenses to assess the role of cities in urban transitions towards environmental sustainability, within the broad European Green Deal framework and the EU Urban Agenda. Based on the stakeholders-led assessment process several outputs have been co-created.

Infographic representing the EEA’s conceptual model with six observation and analysis lenses to assess the role of cities in transitioning to urban sustainability. Long description: The infographic represents the EEA’s conceptual model with six observation and analysis lenses to assess the role of cities in urban transitions towards environmental sustainability. The infographic is in the form of a circle depicting the sustainable city. Inside are 19 building blocks outlining actions that would facilitate sustainability. These are: collaborative and community-led initiatives; participation and empowerment; efficient material use and zero waste; environmental quality; social and environmental justice; energy efficiency; adaptive capacity; resource efficiency; low energy consumption; public open space; integrated planning; renewable energy; sustainable urban agriculture; ecological multi-functionality; green and blue infrastructure; sustainability mobility; housing planning; built environmental quality; green economy. The first outer circle consists of enabling factors (from the top, clockwise): governance; knowledge; finance; data and information; technology; and culture. The second outer circle represents the context: the geography of a particular city, as well as its urban form, infrastructure, people, institutions, etc. Outside of the circle are six lenses representing (from the top, clockwise): green city lens; resilient city lens; inclusive city lens; healthy city lens; circular city lens; and low carbon city lens.

Overview of EEA outputs on cities’ transitions towards sustainability

Read the assessments