PropertyEU presented the first issue of Urban Apostles in conjunction with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in 2009. European cities face enormous challenges as they strive to realise EU policy goals in relation to the knowledge economy, sustainability and good governance. The current crisis has served to reinforce this point even further and today Europe stands at a crossroads
of staggering proportions.

 

Europe’s cities are among the oldest in the world and require continuous reinvestment if they are to match the performance of younger cities in other continents. At a time when established and traditional forms of urban investment are harder to find or secure, the investment gaps in Europe’s cities are at great risk of widening.

The negative consequences associated with this - including declines in economic performance and public services, deteriorating quality of life and place, weakening social cohesion, dwindling sustainability and safety - simultaneously compel both cities and investors in cities to think with greater precision about what they want to invest in, and with what tools.

Throughout the ages, European cities have continually reinvented themselves and they have the ingredients to do so in the future. They provide the knowledge base, human capital, creative and innovative milieu as well as advanced infrastructure required for economic competitiveness. As hubs of population, economic activity and employment, logistics and transport, they also provide the best scope to successfully juggle economic requirements with the need to reduce harmful greenhouse gases through improved energy efficiency and use in the built environment, and advanced transport systems.

Each of the eight Apostles featured in this publication are individuals who through their leadership make the case for investment in the urban fabric and environment of cities and metropolitan regions. We have called them apostles to convey their sense of purpose and conviction and their role in spreading an important message. They are innovators who have invented new ways to invest in cities and are now ensuring that these innovations become investment tools that others can use.

 

They are people who see not just the narrow returns made on immediate goals but how collaborative investment in cities creates greater value for all stakeholders.

 

European cities have an extraordinary and identifiable opportunity to lead Europe out of the current economic and fiscal crisis, but only if city strategy and commercial investment processes can be integrated by decisive leaders. Our eight Urban Apostles have a common goal: to ensure that urban development is not just an investment in real estate, infrastructure or amenity, but an investment in our civilization. That is an aspiration that PropertyEU is pleased to endorse.

 

Judi Seebus

Editor-in-chief PropertyEU