Sustainable Growth: Cities and Territories can make Europe competitive again

The paper aims to discuss critically the role that the Europe 2020 Strategy has assigned to its sustainable growth, also in a post 2020 perspective. It attempts to define its scope as an instrument that links employment, wellbeing and economic balance within the EU, also taking into account the human capital (especially its young citizens) as enhanced and added value. Although the underlying theme may not seem entirely original, it should be noted that the EU has only recently started to encourage its Member States, regions and cities to implement integrated macro and micro policies. This approach is seen as necessary in order to strike a balance between supply and demand and lay out internal investment projects that are coherent with the territorial capitals currently available. In turn, this could lead to achieving a simple objective that aims to establish a planning process based on available endogenous resources and a unified participatory demand. It can also help in determining a timeframe within any EU policy can effectively become plans and projects for local development, which in turn create growth and employment.