Policy

The aim of SURF was to review existing policies on urban fringes and build up a common approach towards these areas. This approach has led to a set of guidelines to influence local, regional, national and EU policies to achieve sustainable economic development and competitiveness of urban fringes.

Through the partner projects and the themes used to analyse these projects, several guidelines have been determined for a successful approach to sustaining the urban fringe. These guidelines are formulated by recommendations for the different government levels within Europe.

Integrated policy guidelines and approaches towards urban fringe planning and management

Local level recommendations

The local level is the point in which most contacts between government, citizens and stakeholders, including the private sector, take place. The recommendations for this level are more concrete than for more strategic levels. However, the impact of the local level recommendations will be multiplied when they are applied on the regional level. They are:

Recognise and promote the opportunities for multifunctionality presented by urban fringes:

• by being open to the variety of uses for these areas, they can strengthen a city's offering, add to a city's competitiveness and offer sustainable solutions to city region level challenges
• by regarding the urban fringe as an incubator zone for new types of enterprises that contribute to sustainable development.

Recognise that an attractive urban fringe gives cities a positive and stronger identity:

• this can lead to more opportunities for a city such as increased tourism, health benefits and opportunities for business.

Build up a recreational infrastructure in and around the urban fringe:

• this improves the context and opportunities for entrepreneurs and communities to enhance the economic and recreational functions of the urban fringe.

Engage citizens and other stakeholders to recognise and relate to the urban fringe environment and make use of collaborative thinking and actions in the acceptance of multifunctionality:

• collaboration can be an enabler to urban fringe development and sustainability.

Build up an informal network next to the formal structures:

• by making use of these informal and practical approaches than strategically orientated, stakeholder's networks can be developed to develop projects.

Recognise the value of urban fringe-specific enterprises, rooted in identifiable urban fringe space, communities and opportunities:

• interaction between rooted enterprises and citizens and other stakeholders enlarges the resilience of urban fringe.
• enterprise coaching can be of great value for these specific entrepreneurs.

Recommend the use of the SURF toolkit for project development activities in the urban fringe:

• this unique toolkit for the urban fringe can offer practical guidance of successful methods for urban fringe development.

Regional recommendations

For urban fringes the regional (or city region) level is of great importance. Certainly the zones of urban fringes of cities overlap each other. Coordination between cities is necessary and for this to be achieved, a city region level of governance, decision making and spatial planning should be recommended.

Recommend to develop a regional strategy on urban fringes with attention to green infrastructure, competitiveness and spatial planning:

• specific attention should be given to the connections between the urban and rural areas in regions, in order to unlock the recreational, tourism and accessibility potential.
• regional branding can support regional activities to strengthen the urban fringes identity.
  
  

Recognise that spatial planning for urban fringes is an iterative planning process instead of an imposed procedure:

• by doing this more space is provided for stakeholder engagement and subsequently the results of the process benefit the acceptance by stakeholders.

National/ European recommendations

Although in most countries the national level is not really involved in the development of urban fringes, they must be aware of the importance of these areas for city economies. The role of national governments is growing to be more supportive of the development of urban fringes by cities. They also have an important position on a European level to ensure that Europe pays more attention to urban fringes.

Urban fringes tend to be under pressure and lacking cohesion in Europe. The balance between urban and rural areas and between economic, social need and nature must be restored by developing in a sustainable way. If this development is implemented informally and sympathetically it can add value to quality of life and sustainable development in urban and rural areas, even in situations of demographic changes. However, in Europe there is little discourse and less policy attention paid in respect of these opportunities. Because so many Europeans live in these relatively inchoate areas SURF pleads for more European awareness of the opportunities to coherently and sustainably develop urban fringes.

To reinforce this, activity is needed to:

Formally identify the urban fringe and document the uses of urban fringe areas within each European city region so that accessible knowledge of the opportunities presented by the these areas are available:

• by communicating the multifunctional and sustainable opportunities presented by the urban fringe, understanding of the possibilities is increased and action is easier to take.

Formulate long term visions for urban fringes within Europe:

• a combined European-wide urban fringe vision could Europe more competitive and contribute to the quality of life for citizens and opportunities available for businesses

Develop and maintain dedicated soft governance architecture to complement and, where necessary, replace existing hard government structures which often fail to serve the interests of the urban fringe:

• European acknowledgement that flexible approaches are needed in the absence of generalised, one-size-fits-all urban fringe policy to enable development and management of the urban fringe appropriate to circumstance.
• understanding the city/cities to which the urban fringe connects, how it operates, where and how power is distributed and how partnership and collaboration between all levels can be enhanced.

Create policy that recognises the identity and explicit needs of the urban fringe:

• bridge the gap between existing urban and rural policy with specific policy for the urban fringe. Create connective policy that complements and enhances urban and rural policy to strengthen a city's and a region's offering and offer sustainable opportunities for generations to come.
• adapt urban and rural policy to accommodate the urban fringe area and formally note specifics for the sustainable management and development of these areas.