The European Union: an example to follow in the achievement of inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities

(objective 11 of the 2030 Agenda)

Abstract

The European Economic Community, but, fundamentally, the European Union, has been regulating since the last third of the 20th century the model of urban development of the States that integrate it by virtue of the environmental competence that it has attributed. It has always maintained that the urban development model could not be mere expansion and developmentalism but sustainable. It is for this reason that it has been a pioneer worldwide in the promotion and achievement of sustainable cities, which among other characteristics, includes being inclusive, safe and resilient, and that is precisely why it has become a reference in this area at the international level. On the other hand, time has been in charge of demonstrating the great vision and correct criterion that, first, the European Economic Community, and later, the European Union, had when betting as the optimal model of common European urban development, for the one that postulated the achievement of sustainable European cities, as witnessed by the fact that one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the 2030 Agenda pursues worldwide, specifically, its number 11, aims to: «Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable».