Half of all the world’s people are organising their lives in cities and towns. As the lowest political and administrative level of government, cities are of special significance in the provision of state-run services. They are also the hubs of economic momentum, social life and culture. Cities exert an enormous appeal: their populations are growing day by day. By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities.

Cities with good living conditions offer their inhabitants many opportunities, from a share in economic growth, to access to infrastructure and services, to participation in political decision-making. Accompanying these opportunities, however, are growing demands on the capacities of municipal institutions. As public funding dwindles, public resources must be stretched to meet the needs of more and more people. In many places, urban poverty is on the rise. Environmental resources are being strained to the limit.

We support our partners in their search for appropriate solutions to their problems. We offer them a single address for obtaining services based on broad experience in a variety of fields. These services cover not only specific areas such as water and sewage, provision of housing, transport, air quality, and local economic promotion, but also the preservation of urban cultural traditions. We also impart municipal management methods. Together with local actors, we strengthen the capacities of cities and towns to accomplish their tasks economically and in a manner responsive to public concerns. Local development potential is optimised by pooling the resources of the political leadership, the municipal administration, local citizens and enterprises, in pursuit of common purposes and goals. Poor population groups also stand to benefit from this joint effort – through better access to public services and being specifically integrated into decision-making processes.

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