Future Cities: Shaping Europe from the bottom up

EUobserver's 2016 Regions and Cities Magazine explores visions for future cities and learns lessons from the past.

EU capitals such as London, Paris, Prague, and Rome host millions of foreign tourists each year and shape Europe's international identity.

The EU is grappling with difficult problems — Brexit, migration, and the economy to name a few — but despite the gloomy pall over EU affairs, lots of European cities are investing and reinventing themselves.

Many of them are old or even ancient. They can be drastically different from each other and fiercely independent. Some aren't doing so well. They compete, but they also inspire each other.

They are mini-states, where people get more involved in politics than at national, let alone at EU level. Residents protest against ugly new buildings, or about garbage collection. They share cars, create new businesses, and plan utopias.

As EU leaders focus on strategic issues, the other Europe, of city-states, is evolving in its own way.

It's a good story that should be told.

This story was originally published in EUobserver's 2016 Regions & Cities Magazine.

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