Advisory support for the climate-neutral and smart cities mission

Discover how EIB Advisory experts helped devise a manual to ensure future investments in urban projects integrate gender and social perspectives into their planning, paving the way for a more inclusive Bologna.

The city of Wrocław, Poland is working hard to build on its precious cultural centre, with booming education and technology sectors, however, some quarters of Wrocław are struggling to keep up with fast-paced growth. One such area is Społeczny Square. The city of Wrocław asked the European Investment Advisory Hub to help plan a major development project for this area. The project will transform this run-down area into a flourishing quarter where residents and workers can thrive. The vision is for this vast 30-hectare area will become a multifunctional, modern district of the future.

With support from the Advisory Hub, Warsaw is using the Różycki quarter as a pilot project under a larger city revitalisation programme that runs to 2022. The project focuses on renovating buildings while taking care to preserve the cultural and national heritage of the area, allowing residents to live sustainably among the historical buildings.

Following a €37.5 million EIB framework loan approval in 2015, the Municipality of Thessaloniki asked the Advisory Hub, under the URBIS initiative, to help implement the City's municipal investment programme. This included the finalisation of an investment programme and strategy, project prioritisation and technical assistance for specific investment areas.

European cities can substantially contribute to the Green Deal target of reducing emissions by 55% by 2030 and they can offer a better quality of life through cleaner air, safer transport and less congestion and noise. The Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities initiative is one of five new European Union “missions” created to solve our biggest challenges. Under the InvestEU Advisory Hub, EIB Advisory is helping cities that received this label identify climate projects from their city investment plans.

EIB Advisory experts and a team of mobility and gender experts from Spain, Portugal and Germany, with funding from the InvestEU Advisory Hub, helped Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona implement a plan to combat incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination occurring on Barcelona’s busy transport networks.