Battle lines are drawn over sustainable cities in Europe

A fascinating poll of #mayors in European cities shows that urban leaders are aware of a sharp division of opinion among citizens over the policy agenda to make #cities more #sustainable.

Published on 27 May, two weeks ahead of the European parliamentary elections, the second annual Eurocities Pulse Mayors Survey, which collated results from 92 mayors in 28 European countries, shows that climate remains the top challenge and priority with 67% picking it among their top three (up from 29% last year).

But scratch beneath the surface and mayors are less confident they are bringing their citizens with them. Almost seven out of 10 mayors say the majority of local residents strongly or partially support and prioritise decarbonisation policies. But 38 per cent are “concerned about backlash from citizens against local climate policies”.

Source: Eurocities Pulse Mayors Survey

While one has to be careful when drawing conclusions out of survey questions, it may be an echo of recent high profile examples of public opposition to specific climate policies. The 15-minute city, an urban planning concept in which someone can access work, shopping, education, healthcare and leisure amenities with a quarter-hour walk, cycle, or public transport, has become the focus of hostility.

First outlined in 2016 by Carlos Moreno, a Colombian professor in urban planning at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris, it was adopted by cities including the French capital, as well as other world cities such as Seattle in the US, Bogotá in Colombia, Melbourne in Australia and Shanghai in China. British cities such as Oxford, Bristol, Birmingham and Canterbury have also embraced the idea.

However, last year opposition coagulated around conspiracy theories that the 15-minute city was being used to contain citizens within their local zone. These often linked it (without any proof) to restrictions to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic and claims around the vaccine programme. In the UK it was conflated with the low traffic neighbourhoods that barred motor traffic from certain streets and installed video cameras to enforce them. One Conservative MP hailed the 15-minute city as an “international socialist concept”.

Last year also saw dramatic images of tractors driven up to government buildings by farmers protesting at European green agriculture policy. Thousands of tractors have brought Berlin’s city centre to a standstill, blocked the A1 motorway between Lille and Paris and clogged up the streets of Brussels. Farmers were angry at German plans to cut subsidies for diesel in farmyard vehicles, new French regulations and taxes, and Belgian moves to limit emissions of nitrogen, respectively.

The survey’s compilers say that interviews with mayors give a more nuanced interpretation of the numerical findings. Several mayors explained that while they were concerned by a “potential backlash from a minority of residents,” they were still focused on the 2050 climate targets.

That is laudable but, nevertheless, the finding is a reminder that city leaders will need to retain ownership of the messaging around pro-climate policies and prevent the agenda being overtaken by conspiracy theorists.

It also highlights the importance of ensuring that there is a just transition towards a more sustainable city. More than 30 years ago the Rio Declaration of 1992 that was part of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development set out the three pillars of sustainability as economic, social and environmental — also dubbed profit, people and planet.

Often it is the social/people aspect that gets forgotten even as policies succeed in delivering on an environmental agenda without harming (and sometimes benefitting) the local economy. The Eurocities survey may be a warning of the danger of ignoring the third leg of the sustainability tripod.