Integrated Development Strategy for BMA as an example of good practice under the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU

The Integrated Development Strategy for the Brno Metropolitan Area is one of the examples of good practice in the publication of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, which maps the approaches of cities and metropolitan areas to the issue of suburbanisation. The Brno Metropolitan Area was selected as the only representative of the Czech Republic with its strategy.

The publication is devoted to the topic of spatial planning, especially in the areas of disorganized suburbanization and population density. Nowadays, when cities are continuously expanding into their surroundings, there is an increasing need to understand how to manage land and use available resources more efficiently, both within the city and its surroundings. A total of 19 case studies across the European Union explain how individual cities and metropolitan areas are dealing with these challenges. These examples are divided into three categories:

• New ways of urban living and urban dwelling – this section focuses on innovative cases where cities and metropolitan areas are responding to emerging challenges in the areas of housing, sustainable mobility, cultivation of public spaces or the circular economy.

• Green, blue and grey: combining a built environment with nature – these examples focus on linking nature and nature-friendly solutions with the built-up areas of cities and municipalities.

• Planning tools for the sound governance of the city – includes activities related to new ways of planning that focus on stakeholder participation, integrated approaches or appropriate financing.

The Integrated Development Strategy for the Brno Metropolitan Area is an example of the latter category, as it uses an integrated approach throughout the area and supports mutual cooperation between the city and surrounding municipalities.

In the brochure you will find information about the Integrated Strategy, the context in which we work and the impact of the Strategy on the metropolitan area. We also describe the informal model of cooperation at metropolitan level and recommendations towards the European institutions and other cities and metropolitan areas. This includes, for example, the importance of the Integrated Territorial Investments tool, through which we are able to address problems in the metropolitan area in cooperation with various stakeholders. In particular, we have stressed the importance of integrated solutions, which often combine several project proposals and the actors behind them into one comprehensive strategic whole. An integrated approach thus allows for coordinated implementation, greater efficiency and mutual synergy based on the consensus of multiple stakeholders in the metropolitan area.

This was a unique opportunity for the Brno Metropolitan Area to share its example of good practice abroad. The publication with individual case studies can be found under this link.