By Gaye Doganoglu

Throughout history, cities have been looked upon, and sought, as places of protection, as fortresses whose walls shielded its residents from foreign invasions or feudal wars. Over centuries, urban dwellings have built up their status as depositories of knowledge and hubs of cultural traditions to become centres of excellence for arts and sciences, and a source of creativity and innovation. Today, urban settlements, towns and cities are playing a key role as generators of ideas, catalysts for change and a tool for pooling resources to advance development in a more sustainable manner.

Yet, at the same time, the lack of vision of the city as a complex and integrated entity has oftentimes led to a fragmentation of approach in urban planning and development, driven by the need for quick, ad hoc solutions in various fields without linking them into a single whole., This piecemeal approach, combined with irresponsible economic development, has resulted in urban sprawl causing residential isolation and long commutes, ecological degradation, pollution and a loss of urban biodiversity., The space for social interaction is diminishing and social exclusion is increasing which fuels division and crime. Too many urban areas have turned into symbols of danger, exclusion and despair.

Against this background, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe seeks to foster the cohesion and sustainability of urban society, based on a new integrated approach to urban governance and development. We must uphold the significance of cities as engines of progress, and ensure that they remain places of interaction and sanctuaries where people can feel protected and empowered. It is only natural that urban dwellers look to city authorities for answers to these issues and to provide them with an environment where they can live, work and create freely.

This integrated approach, which underpins the orientation of Congress activities in building cohesive and sustainable local communities in Europe, encompasses the political, economic, social, cultural and ecological aspects of our citizens' daily lives. We are convinced that linking the many facets of urban living will bring about the creation of a new urban and rural environment, balancing economic development and ecological issues, industrial areas and nature parks, historic sites and modern residential districts, a family-oriented environment suited to children and mindful of present-day urban biological diversity.

The Congress first applied this approach as early as 1992, with the adoption of the European Urban Charter which was an innovative step. It heralded the recognition of the urban phenomenon, the commitment of European towns as "collective players" capable of meeting the challenges of our changing societies with their citizens and on their behalf.

We felt the need to supplement the first Urban Charter of 1992, updating and reformulating some of its principles in order to reassert our conviction that towns and their citizens are central to the major challenges of the 21st century, and that the future of our children centres on them and is prepared within them.

This philosophy found its expression in the new European Urban Charter II: Manifesto for a new urbanity, adopted by the Congress in 2008. The Manifesto offers a new vision and model of urban living and governance, laying down principles for building and managing an urban environment adapted to the modern needs of communities and covering the various aspects of urban life. These include ecology, biodiversity, urban planning and development, sustainable consumption, public spaces, access to economy, culture, education and health care, to name but a few.

The new Charter calls for building towns and cities in a way which would make them citizen-oriented, cohesive, sustainable and modern, cities that would be driven by innovation, scientific knowledge and cultural development. Most importantly, it urges territorial authorities to place people, with all their multiple identities and cultures, at the heart of public action in urban planning and development, paying particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable. This new design fits into our overall scheme of efforts to establish a new citizen-centred urban environment, a setting that incorporates the various aspects of the lives of all population categories whether children, the elderly, minorities or people with disabilities.

Our prime ambition, reflected in the new Charter, is that of a town for the people, of everybody's equal right to the town, of a strong civic ethic, of active, effective and supportive subsidiarity. The town we want is one where democracy is regenerated in all its forms. Within it, besides representation by election, various forms of participation, association and debate are developed, where the interactiveness of new technologies ought to afford us further opportunities.

It is a town seeking optimum proximity, a strong and dynamic relationship with its townspeople and citizens. In particular, it fosters transparency, clarity of responsibilities and of means of action, financial in particular, and review and assessment of official action.

Our second ambition for the town is that of a sustainable, environmentally friendly town. Towns have a major role to perform for a more liveable planet because they are the points of concentration for populations and activities, as well as where change in practices and behaviour is massively influential. Our concern is to develop urban ecology, reduce the ecological footprint of our towns, preserve natural resources and biodiversity, save energy, and aid access for all to major public assets.

We advocate denser, more compact towns that conserve space and facilitate general access to services and recreation. We wish to develop alternative forms of mobility to motor traffic, energy-efficient collective transport, cycling and walking, to stress the importance of regulating car use in order to maintain health, reduce air and noise pollution, also to increase road safety and preserve our landscapes.

Our third ambition for the town is that of a supportive town which actively combats division, exclusion and discrimination. It is a town that cares about compositeness, freedoms and exchanges. It is an area of solidarity between districts, social and occupational categories and people of different origins. It reflects our ambition to build a more inclusive, cohesive and diversified society throughout Europe.

We must make the social dimension, the centre of our sustainable urban development policies because, as everyone knows, alarming processes of pauperisation, segregation and exclusion are afoot in towns.

The town we want is also a town that wholeheartedly expresses within its precincts a concern for solidarity, also beyond its boundaries in the regional hinterland for instance, and more widely by being at one with the world. It is an open town, looking out on the world, for our ambition is to build a more united world with towns, a world of dialogue, exchange and co-operation.

Finally, our fourth ambition for the town is that is should be a setting of modernity, catalysing knowledge and creativity, hosting learning and culture of all kinds.

Our towns are crossroads of civilisations, signposts of identity, seedbeds of culture and repositories of memory. These forms of expression, far from being backward-looking, forge the future and unite with tremendous creative, innovative, progressive and adaptive capabilities.

Our towns are centres of excellence, major poles for economic and cognitive development, for furtherance of the research and education which are the sureties for truly sustainable development. At the dawn of the present millennium, information and communication technologies should, here again, move in that direction.

There, in a few bold outlines, are the ambitions of our approach. It was necessary to bring up-to-date our perception of the role of European towns for sustainable territorial development serving our fellow citizens. We intended the European Urban Charter II to be a manifesto of the town for our time, as a telling political declaration that states our perception of a new urban spirit, a new togetherness, a new culture of urban life.

The Manifesto for a new urbanity carries the force of conviction and resolve of European local authorities, and we strongly hope that this new Charter will inspire local authorities in Europe and beyond as a guide for action to turn the vision of a new urbanity into reality.

The author is President of the Committee on Sustainable Development of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities