European Cities present policy ideas on COVID-19 in IUC North America programme

On 28 April 2020, senior representatives from cities participating in the International Urban Cooperation programme (IUC) - Hamburg (DE), Barcelona (ES), and Vila Nova de Famalicão (PT) - shared experiences and offered recommendations on approaches and projects to respond to, and recover from, the COVID-19 pandemic. The presentations took place in front of a video audience from EU and North American cities. Among the ideas presented were those from Paulo Cunha, Mayor of Vila Nova de Famalicão, who stressed the importance of good coordination between different levels of government in order to address simultaneously the health, social and economic consequences of the pandemic. The absence of a strong regional tier in Portugal had made this a greater challenge, he said. Dr Elke Jakubowski: Head of Infectious Diseases Control in Hamburg said that the cities had learned much from cooperating with the medical services in Italy. A strong point in Hamburg had been the extensive engagement of the Mayor and the political leadership: presentation.Javi Buron as Housing Manager for the city of Barcelona, listed the extensive measures taken to limit the burden of rents in the public and private sectors, while making accommodation, for example in hotels, available to the homeless. An ambitious programme to ensure apartments are redesigned for ‘intensive use’ (confinement) was planned, as part of a new emphasis on housing as an integral part of the welfare state: presentation.    

The webinar was part of a series organized by IUC North America which pairs cities from the EU with cities in Mexico, USA, and Canada to help achieve local and international political objectives on sustainable urban development and climate change. 

For further information see: www.iuc.eu