Published in June this year, the Eurocities Pulse Mayors Survey 2024 gathers insights from 92 mayors across 28 European countries on key urban trends, challenges and priorities. Following the release of the survey’s main results, our new deep-dive series further analyses the data to reveal new city insights on critical topics.
The 2024 Pulse Mayors Survey reflects a growing alignment across European cities regarding climate action, social inclusion and the housing crisis. However, as we examine the results from cities in Germany, Italy, Spain and France, we see how these shared concerns manifest differently due to national conditions, political structures and urban histories.
Our latest analysis, by Pietro Reviglio, Eurocites Policy Advisor, takes a closer look at these national lenses, highlighting evidence-based insights that showcase both commonalities and contrasts among these four countries.
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Pan-European trends: climate, housing and social inclusion
At a European level, climate action continues to dominate the agenda, with 67% of mayors across the continent prioritising it in 2024. This includes efforts such as sustainable building renovations, transport decarbonisation, and adaptation to climate hazards such as heatwaves.
Next to this, social inclusion and housing take up significant space in mayoral concerns, reflecting the socio-economic impact of rising living costs and the housing crisis affecting many European cities. Notably, housing has surged as an urgent issue in 2023 and 2024, with 30% of mayors now listing it among their top priorities.
Cities are also reporting increasing difficulties in securing the necessary funding to address these priorities, with mayors pointing out the gaps in national and EU-level support. Many cities struggle with administrative capacity and budget constraints, making it harder to meet their commitments to climate neutrality and social equity.
German cities: fiscal and migration challenges
The eleven German cities participating in the survey – Munich, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Leipzig, and Wiesbaden, among others – mirror the European average in their top priorities for climate action, social inclusion and housing. However, German cities stand out for their strong emphasis on fiscal issues. Forty percent of German mayors identified public budget consolidation as a top priority, significantly higher than the EU average of 18%.
German urban policies are shaped by a strong federal system, where local governments play a significant role in delivering services but are also bound by strict budgetary controls. This focus reflects Germany’s broader national discourse on public spending and the need for efficient management of resources, particularly in the face of rising costs and inflationary pressures.
This focus on financial stability is also reflected in the challenges that German cities faced in 2023. Public budget and administrative capacity were major concerns for 70% of German mayors, far exceeding the 22% EU average.
Migration is another key challenge for German cities. Fifty percent of German mayors listed migration as one of their top three challenges, compared to an EU average of just 16%. This reflects the considerable pressure that migration places on urban infrastructure and services, particularly in housing and social support systems.
While a challenge, German cities are keen to keep their emphasis on openness and integration and for example, Cologne has implemented innovative approaches to integrate migrants into the workforce while simultaneously addressing housing shortages.
Despite these unique challenges, German cities remain committed to common EU priorities related to climate action, social inclusion and equity. However, there is a slightly higher concern about public backlash to climate policies, with 54% of German mayors (compared to 43% across the EU) indicating they are wary of negative citizen reactions.
Similarly, regarding the housing crisis, when asked if their city has enough tools and capacity to meet the current housing needs of the most vulnerable people, German mayors are more negative than the EU average, with 82% strongly to partially disagreeing with that statement compared to an EU average of 54%.
Italy: sustainable mobility and urban regeneration in focus
Italy’s mayors – from Genoa, Turin, Florence, Rome, Bologna, Milan, and Verona – are also aligned with the top three priorities. And yet, their responses highlight a distinctive emphasis on sustainable mobility and preservation of cultural heritage.
Italian cities, with their rich historical and cultural assets, are deeply concerned with the balance between urban development and the protection of their cultural landscapes. Italian cities have leveraged significant funding from the EU’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) to transform their urban transport systems.
It is therefore unsurprising that 58% of Italian mayors highlight sustainable mobility as a key priority. This is higher than the EU average and reflects the significance of these investments.
As they point out, managing funds and construction sites, along with the transformation of mobility, are complex challenges, with a great deal of effort to involve citizens in this transformation and communicate its benefits. And this makes it even more challenging in historical cities with rich cultural heritage such as Rome or Florence.
The implementation of large urban regeneration projects is identified as a much higher challenge for Italian mayors compared to the EU average. They also tell us that insufficient budget is the main obstacle to hiring new staff and developing the skills needed to implement new investments.
This could explain why Italian mayors are much more negative than the European average about the support they receive from their national government to address this crisis.
Spain: climate adaptation and mobility
The seven Spanish cities participating in the survey -Barcelona, Bilbao, Gijon, Malaga, Valladolid, Zaragoza, and Braga -are particularly focused on the impacts of climate change. Southern European cities are facing increasing climate-related challenges, including extreme heat, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss.
Fifty-seven percent of Spanish mayors identified climate change as their top challenge, well above the European average of 48%. This highlights the urgency with which Spanish cities are approaching climate resilience and adaptation.
Transport infrastructure is another critical issue for Spanish cities, with 57% of mayors identifying mobility as a key challenge. Spanish cities are prioritising the development of public transport systems that are both energy-efficient and accessible, as well as the expansion of soft mobility options like cycling and pedestrian networks. These efforts are part of a broader strategy to reduce carbon emissions while ensuring that urban residents have equitable access to transport services.
While the housing crisis remains a pressing issue, with 43% of Spanish mayors identifying it as a key challenge, the emphasis is on balancing housing affordability with environmental standards. Spanish mayors are also confident in their ability to meet climate goals, with 57% expressing optimism about their city’s capacity to address these challenges, significantly higher than the European average of 39%.
However, concerns about public backlash against climate policies are more pronounced in Spain, where 71% of mayors fear a negative reaction from citizens. Despite this, Spanish mayors believe that their electorate strongly supports decarbonisation, with 86% indicating that there is high demand for climate action – a figure that exceeds the European average of 69%.
French mayors: housing and multi-level governance
Seven French cities – Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Strasbourg, Aix-Marseille-Provence, Rennes, and Amiens – contributed to the survey, and their responses highlight the unique focus on housing and governance in French urban policy.
Fifty-seven percent of French mayors cite affordable housing as a top priority (compared to an EU average of 30%), a concern that is particularly acute in cities like Paris and Lyon, where housing shortages and high rents are pressing social issues.
French cities also emphasise the importance of multi-level governance and citizen engagement, with mayors advocating for more democratic involvement in shaping urban policies.
In addition to housing, French cities are focused on strengthening democratic governance and ensuring that citizens are actively involved in urban planning. Cities like Lyon have developed innovative participatory processes that give residents a voice in decisions about urban development, from public transport to environmental sustainability.
Strengthening democracy means improving the influence of urban voices in EU policy-making. French cities are more vocal about the need for improved multi-level governance, particularly the importance of involving cities in national and EU-level decision-making.
The survey results show that French cities are frustrated with the lack of national government support, particularly when it comes to budgetary autonomy. Eighty-three percent of French mayors believe that their fiscal capacity is insufficient, which is significantly higher than the EU average of 56%. This lack of resources is seen as a major obstacle to addressing both housing and social inclusion challenges.
In terms of climate action, French cities are aligned with their European counterparts, but they are more vocal about the need for increased EU support for social and affordable housing. French mayors are also pushing for more investment in creating public spaces that benefit both people and the environment.
National contexts shape local solutions – despite common EU goals
The Eurocities Pulse Mayors Survey 2024 highlights that while European cities share a commitment to key objectives, such as climate action, housing, and social inclusion, their ability to achieve these goals is heavily influenced by their national contexts.
For their 2024 priorities and concerns, German mayors emphasise fiscal consolidation and migration management within a strong federal system, whereas Italian cities focus on sustainable mobility and cultural heritage, leveraging national recovery funds for large-scale urban projects.
In Spain, the urgency of climate adaptation and public transport expansion dominate mayoral agendas, while French cities prioritise affordable housing and seek greater fiscal autonomy especially to address social inclusion.
These national nuances reveal how local implementation of EU goals depends on the specific political, economic, and social structures in each country. Although cities are the drivers of climate action and social equity, their success is contingent on multi-level governance – the coordination between local, national, and EU institutions. Stronger national support, both financially and administratively, is crucial for enabling cities to meet their ambitious targets.
The survey highlights that empowering cities requires more than EU-wide objectives; it calls for enhanced collaboration and resource-sharing across all levels of government to ensure that local governments can act effectively within their national frameworks.
This conclusion is consistent with existing research on multi-level governance, which emphasises the need to while ensuring that national and EU policies provide the necessary support for cities to implement sustainable and inclusive urban policies.
National contexts will always shape how cities operate, but a stronger commitment to multi-level cooperation can enable cities to meet both local and European goals, ensuring a more sustainable, equitable future for all.
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This article is based on an in-depth analysis of the policy priorities of Europe’s city mayors, carried out in the Eurocities Pulse Mayors Survey 2024.
Read the other articles in this series:
