Research for REGI Committee: Social Challenges in Cities

This study explores social challenges and policy responses in EU cities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It demonstrates that the pandemic has placed additional pressures on vulnerable groups and the institutions that work to support them. It finds that the local policy capacity to respond to the crisis has differed across cities and multi-level governance settings. Participatory and integrated policy efforts have often failed to meet the expectations of urban citizens and stakeholders. To move towards urban resilience in times of crisis, EU-level funding needs to become more accessible and focused on long-term transformations, as well as improving policy dialogue with those cities most limited by ineffective local governance structures and historical legacies.