The dynamism of cities in Europe and worldwide: What role do cities play in European integration?

By Rafal Dutkiewicz

I first sought to analyse certain data on the growth and development of cities. I examined one thesis, in particular, which holds that life is increasingly becoming concentrated in big cities, both with regard to the number of people living there as well as in terms of overall civilisation.

It turns out that this thesis — the one that argues that concentration levels in big cities are increasing — is actually accurate. However, while it does indeed correspond to the truth in terms of cultural and civilisational factors, it is not true in quantitative terms.

In quantitative terms, roughly 30% of the population lives in cities that have 100,000 residents or more. According to experts, this percentage is stabile and universal across different geographical areas.

Conversely, if we examine the number of jobs and the GDP generated in the areas concerned, we discover that these two factors are uniquely characteristic of big cities.

Ultimately, we see not only a concentration of physical energy consumption, but also an increase in social and cultural energies as well as in educational services (and the quality thereof).

And it is precisely these features that provide a convincing argument in support of the increasingly important role played by cities.

With these reflections in mind, I would like to return to the supposedly special features characterising European cities. It is at this point that I hit a wall — or, more accurately, find myself falling into a vacuum. Indeed, it appears to me that the current challenges are not unique to Europe cities, but rather global in nature.

These challenges relate to three aspects, in particular:

- technological developments that are accelerating rapidly and changing our individual and social behaviour

- migrations of people that impact the structure and cultural fabric of local (and larger) communities and that also influence our mental attitudes

- ecology and climate changes

The third aspect, namely the sphere of ecology and climate changes, can be linked to the need for something I would like to refer to — in an entirely positive sense — as an “urban utopia of the 21st century”. On the one hand, this trend has an idealistic component to it; on the other, however, it is perhaps not a utopia after all, because it is actually being put into practice.

What I mean by this is that cities are a cultural product, a work of culture. Cities exist in the realm of culture. And culture is something different to nature. The needs being expressed today — and these are, interestingly, bourgeois needs — are seeking in particular to establish a tangible link between nature and culture.

For example, there is a palpable yearning in today’s urban centres for blue, green and calm, that is, for oases of peace and quiet.

And the cities of the 21st century are indeed becoming increasingly “green” through the planting of trees and other flora and “blue” through the insistence on clean water and clearer skies.

We are also seeing the emergence of challenges associated with “restrictions” relating to climate change as well as with some people’s attempts to mitigate these restrictions — or even prevent them entirely.

These are indeed typical questions facing European cities, but they are also typical questions facing areas throughout the entire world. One thing that can be said to distinguish European civilisation — and Atlantic civilisation perhaps even more — is the fact that people in these areas are more likely to openly discuss such questions and issues.

Conversations and jobs are two things that have a tangible social character. Both are based on a sense of belonging to a community. Conversely, the sense of belonging to a community is historically and geographically grounded. In our case, it is always local, increasingly universal and thus (indeed!) European.

I would like to conclude my brief reflections with the following thoughts: In order to grow and develop, every human being needs a community, and this includes a family, a local neighbourhood, school and work life, and ultimately a local and national community.

Today, however, the idea of achieving a national community is no longer the sole goal of groups of people. This is due to an increase in consciousness and the advancement of civilization. In fact, the trend is moving in a different direction: in order to advance further, national sentiments now go hand-in-hand with a supranational outlook. In our case, the European Union is considered supranational, that is, simply international.

I am truly convinced that these two areas — or, more precisely, one area and one process, namely cities and European integration — are incredibly important.

And they are becoming more and more important every day.

Rafał Dutkiewicz is Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy and former mayor of the city of Wrocław, Poland. In 2016 Wrocław was European Capital of Culture. On June 13, 2017 Rafal Dutkiewicz was honored for his outstanding achievements in the European integration of his city in general and the German-Polish relations in particular with the German National Prize 2017 (Deutscher Nationalpreis).