The European Commission recently released the report on the program "Global Perspective on SDG 11 - Horizon 2050," which precisely establishes the coordinates for increasing the sustainability of European Union cities, from a climate perspective until the middle of this century. Here are the main ideas of this program:

Three Sub-Themes

Currently, cities are home to more than half of the world's population, a proportion expected to increase to 66% by 2050. While rapid urbanization presents many planning challenges, it also offers significant opportunities for economic growth, innovation, and efficient economies of scale in providing basic services.

SDG 11 aims to renew and plan cities and other human settlements to provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation, green public spaces, and more, while also improving resource utilization and reducing environmental impact.

With healthy, informed, and smart planning and management, SDG 11 envisions cities as environmentally resilient human settlements that drive sustainable development, foster innovation, and promote community cohesion and personal safety.

SDG 11 calls for protecting the world's cultural and natural heritage and supporting positive economic, social, and environmental links between urban, peri-urban, and rural areas. It also represents strengthened international cooperation and support for the least developed countries in constructing sustainable and resilient buildings.

Monitoring SDG 11 "Sustainable Cities and Communities" within the EU focuses on three sub-themes:

1. "Quality of Life in Cities and Communities" covers aspects related to basic housing conditions and the quality of the wider residential area.
2. "Sustainable Transport" analyzes the availability and use of public transportation and road safety.
3. "Negative Environmental Impacts" include waste management, air pollution, and land transformation into artificial surfaces.

Overview and Key Trends of SDG 11

Nearly three-quarters of the EU population live in urban areas: cities, towns, and suburbs. Of these, over 40% live in cities alone. It is estimated that the share of the urban population in Europe will increase to just over 80% by 2050. Cities and communities are essential for the well-being and quality of life of Europeans, serving as hubs for economic and social development and innovation.

They attract many people due to the wide range of educational, employment, entertainment, and cultural opportunities that abound there. On the downside, this high concentration of people and wealth often comes with a range of negative side effects that can also affect people's quality of life. Pollution, congestion, crime, and housing shortages are just a few examples.

Therefore, cities and communities are seen as both a source and a solution to economic, environmental, and social challenges and can be viewed as a key driver for achieving a sustainable future. For this reason, SDG 11 calls for actions that contribute to the development of more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and communities.

Quality of Life in Cities and Communities

While European cities and communities provide employment and economic opportunities, they often face significant social challenges and inequalities. Poor housing quality is one of the most visible manifestations of polarized opportunities in cities and communities.

Inadequate housing conditions can lead to decreased life chances, health inequalities, increased poverty risks, and environmental risks. In 2020, nearly one in seven households in the EU (15.3%) faced at least one of the following basic housing deficiencies: "roof leaks, damp walls, floors, or foundations, or rotting window or floor frames."

This is 2.7 percentage points lower than the share of the population reporting such deficiencies in living conditions in 2007, indicating that the perceived quality of housing in the EU has improved over time.

Another major element of housing quality is the availability of adequate space within the home. Living in overcrowded conditions can harm the quality of life by reducing privacy and limiting opportunities for movement, rest, sleep, and hygiene.

Despite moderate improvements over the past decade, in 2015, 16.7% of the total EU population still lived in overcrowded households. Overcrowding incidence in the EU (18.0%) and in rural areas (17.2%) was slightly higher than overcrowding rates in cities and suburbs (14.6%). Housing quality depends not only on basic housing conditions but also on the wider residential area.

Noise Levels

According to the WHO, road traffic noise is the second most harmful environmental stressor in Europe after air pollution. Prolonged exposure to noise, such as from traffic, industry, or construction, can lead to severe health effects such as high blood pressure, sleep disturbances, cardiovascular diseases, annoyance, cognitive impairment, and mental health issues.

In addition, the effects of noise exposure also impact the EU's economies, including worker productivity losses, healthcare system burdens, and property devaluation. Noise exposure in the EU remains high, with over 120 million people exposed to harmful levels of traffic noise on a daily basis.

Crime and Vandalism

Crime and vandalism are another significant factor in assessing the quality of life and housing satisfaction in residential areas. It can lead to property loss or damage, increased stress, and anxiety for people living in unsafe environments.

Crime and vandalism were perceived as a problem by 13.6% of the EU population in 2020, compared to 14.3% in 2010. The incidence of crime and vandalism in cities (19.8%) was almost three times higher than in rural areas (6.9%) and also above the level observed in cities and suburbs (11.4%).

Negative Environmental Impacts

While cities and communities serve as hubs for social and economic activities, if not managed sustainably, they risk causing considerable harm to the environment. At the same time, large, densely populated cities offer opportunities for cost-effective, environmentally sound resource use in providing ecologically relevant services, such as public waste management and water treatment.

Waste management activities promote recycling, which not only reduces the amount of waste going to landfills and its associated environmental impact but also extracts more value from resources.

Recycling also helps create jobs while simultaneously reducing the demand for raw materials. In this context, both long-term and short-term trends clearly show that European municipalities have shifted to more sustainable waste management methods.

In 2020, approximately 45.0% of municipal waste in the EU was recycled or composted, compared to only 25.3% in 2000. European and national strategies prioritizing efficient waste management through various instruments have contributed significantly to this positive development.

Additionally, cities and communities put significant pressure on aquatic environments through wastewater from households and industry, which contain organic matter, nutrients, and hazardous substances. In 2015, nine EU member states reported that over 90% of their population was connected to at least secondary wastewater treatment plants, which use aerobic or anaerobic microorganisms to break down most of the organic material and retain some nutrients.

Over 80% of the population was connected to such services in 15 member states. The share has increased in all member states between 2000 and 2021, with the highest connection rates generally observed in the old member states (EU-15).

Air Quality

The high concentration of people and industry, as well as daily commuting in many EU cities and communities, also poses a risk to air quality. This can have a significant impact not only on the environment but also on people's health.

Pollutants like fine particulate matter suspended in the air reduce people's life expectancy and well-being. Exposure to fine particles can lead to or exacerbate many diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and lung cancer.

While air quality in the EU has generally improved over the past few decades, it remains a concern in some areas. In 2020, over 60% of the EU urban population was exposed to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations above the daily EU air quality standards.

Exposure to high PM2.5 concentrations can have a major impact on human health, as it is associated with cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, lung cancer, and diabetes. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that air quality in cities and communities is monitored and improved.

Sustainable Transport

The availability and use of public transportation are crucial factors in sustainable urban development. Public transportation is generally more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly than private car use, especially when using low-emission vehicles or clean energy sources.

In the EU, the availability and use of public transportation vary widely between countries and cities. Large cities often have more extensive and efficient public transportation networks, while rural areas and small towns may have limited or no public transportation options.

Access to public transportation is essential for ensuring that people can reach their workplaces, educational institutions, and essential services, such as healthcare, without relying on private cars.

Road Safety

Road safety is another key aspect of sustainable transport. High rates of road accidents can result in injuries and fatalities, in addition to the economic costs of damage to vehicles and infrastructure.

It is essential to monitor and improve road safety in cities and communities through measures such as better road design, traffic calming, enforcement of speed limits, and awareness campaigns to reduce accidents and injuries.

Overcrowding rate

The share of people living in overcrowded conditions in the EU has been reduced by three percentage points since 2005. Progress over the past five years has continued, but at a slower pace.

A person is considered to live in an overcrowded household if the home does not have at least one room for the entire household as well as one room for a couple, for each single person over 18, for a pair of teenagers (aged between 12 and 17 years) of the same sex, for each teenager of a different sex and for a pair of children (under 12 years).

The data used in this section are derived from microdata from the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU SILC). The EU-28 aggregate is a population-weighted average of individual national figures.

In 2022, overcrowding as defined above was more widespread in the EU than homelessness, with almost one in six Europeans (16.7%) living in a crowded home. The situation has improved slightly since 2005, but much of this progress was made before 2010.

There is a clear income gradient in available living space in the EU, with the prevalence of overcrowding more than twice as high for the population below. 60% of equivalent median income (29.6%) compared to the population above (14.0%). Interestingly, the incidence of overcrowding in rural areas of the EU in 2015 was 17.2%, which is only slightly below the level observed in cities (18.0%), despite the fact that rural dwellings tend to be larger in size .

This similarity could be partly explained by the fact that rural areas tend to have larger households. The lowest rate of overcrowding was observed in cities and suburbs (14.6%). Overcrowding rates vary widely between Member States, from 1.4% to almost 50%.

This reflects a variety of factors, including population density and housing concentration, land and housing prices, income distribution and the stock of housing available for rent or purchase. Overcrowding appears to be widespread in Eastern European countries with low average household incomes and a housing legacy of many small dwellings.

At the extreme, every second Romanian lived in conditions considered to be overcrowded. In contrast, most of the northern and western Member States, characterized by higher average incomes and larger average housing ( 21 ), experienced much lower rates of overcrowding (15 % or less).

Noise pollution

Apart from living conditions, noise pollution from the wider residential area can also affect the general quality of life. Self-perceived noise pollution is assessed using data on the proportion of the population living in households considered to suffer from noise from neighbors or from the street, derived from EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU SILC).

It should be noted that since the assessment of noise pollution is subjective, the indicator takes into account both noise pollution levels and people's standards of what they consider acceptable. Therefore, an increase in the value of the indicator may not necessarily indicate a similar increase in noise pollution levels, but a decrease in the levels that European citizens are willing to tolerate and vice versa.

In fact, there is empirical evidence that individuals' perceived environmental quality is not always consistent with actual environmental quality assessed using "objective" indicators, particularly for noise. In 2020, 18.0% of the EU population lived in a home where noise from neighbors or the street was perceived as a problem, compared to 23.0% in 2007.

According to a recent assessment by the European Environment Agency (EEA), road traffic is by far the main cause of noise pollution in Europe, with at least 100 million people exposed to traffic noise levels above the EU threshold of 55 decibels (dB). . ) for daily exposure.

Railways, airports and industry are also important sources of noise pollution. Population density is an important determinant of the perceived level of noise pollution. In 2015, people living in EU cities were more likely to report noise from neighbors or the street (23.3%), compared to those living in cities and suburbs (17.8%) or rural areas (10 .7%).

For all three settlement types there was an income gradient in the incidence of noise pollution, with the lower income groups (below 60% of equivalent average income) reporting outdoor noise as a problem more often than the higher income groups, i.e. above 60 % of average equivalent/source of income).

The impact of the difference in rent prices

This could be explained by differences in rent and property prices, which could force poorer people to live in housing near environmental stressors, such as industrial sites or high-traffic roads.

The difference in perceived exposure to noise pollution between income groups was largest in cities (7.2 percentage points) and almost negligible in rural areas (0.6 percentage points) ( 27 ). The distribution of Member States in terms of perceived noise disturbance shows moderate variation between countries, ranging from 8% to almost 26%.

Differences between countries in the perceived level of noise pollution could reflect the distribution of the population living in cities and rural areas, the type and density of housing, urban planning, land use and traffic management, as well as cultural and personal factors.

Interestingly, a number of Member States, notably Latvia, Romania and Slovakia, reported a higher incidence of noise pollution for higher income groups.

In Cyprus, the difference in perceived noise from the street or from neighbors between cities and rural areas was negligible, while in Norway people living in rural areas reported higher self-perceived noise pollution compared to those living in cities.