Lately, numerous successful innovations including the creation of a local TV station, Naša, to improve access to information, the developments in transportation infrastructure and the elaboration and implementation of the project “Safe Košice” with the City Police Corps had been put on.

Current concerns are the city’s critical financial and economic situation, the construction of apartments for vulnerable groups of inhabitants and the reconstruction of the waste incinerator in compliance with EU regulations.

Views and experience gathered through participation in the environmental cluster of the Cities of Change Network will contribute to an ecologically sound approach to the issues of waste management based on incineration technology. Transborder cooperation will contribute to the further integration of an enlarged European Union.

Košice left the Cities of Change Network after the first project phase in June 2002.

Priorities of the city’s strategic plan include improvements in the transportation infrastructure, waste management and environmental protection, education and sports facilities and the support schemes for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Hungary’s integration in the EU will require that the assessment of local environmental consequences and risks is given much more attention to in the future. Györ’s participation in the environmental/solid waste cluster of the Cities of Change Network is just one of the actions addressing these environmental challenges.

Györ left the Cities of Change Network after the first project phase in June 2002.

Following the socio-economic transition of the 1990s, most of the industrial plants of the small mining town shut down and people faced high unemployment. Changes in organizational structure and policies were initiated and an economic development strategy was prepared. As a result, new industries such as electronics, engineering and automotive production settled in Tatabánya.

In order to find an appropriate and applicable framework for sustainable development to attract more advanced industries, Tatabánya joined the Cities of Change Network.

]]> http://www.citiesofchange.net/2009/09/17/tatabanya/feed/ 0 http://www.citiesofchange.net/2009/09/17/smolyan/ http://www.citiesofchange.net/2009/09/17/smolyan/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:57:36 +0000 admin http://www.citiesofchange.net/?p=13 The municipality of Smolyan rises above a territory of 879 km². Thirty thousand inhabitants live in the city itself and another 20,000 live in smaller municipal settlements. Agricultural production and forestry are pillars of the local economy. Accordingly, wood and food processing are the most important industries.

Although sustained economic growth has not been achieved, the municipality established a free market, private property and support services for entrepreneurs to create favorable conditions for an economic transformation.

Smolyan’s participation in the economic development cluster of the Cities of Change Network will contribute to its strategic plan for economic development. The municipality is involving NGOs, local businessmen and the community in this planning process. A priority is the promotion of ecotourism at the Pamporovo ski resort. Employment and income opportunities will contribute to the preservation of this unspoiled landscape in addition to fostering economic growth.

]]> http://www.citiesofchange.net/2009/09/17/smolyan/feed/ 0 http://www.citiesofchange.net/2009/09/17/rezekne/ http://www.citiesofchange.net/2009/09/17/rezekne/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:56:27 +0000 admin http://www.citiesofchange.net/?p=11 Rezekne, home to 41,000 inhabitants, is located in Eastern Latvia in the “Latgale” region, some 40 km from the Russian border.

The Law on the Rezekne Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) was approved by the National Assembly in 1998 to stimulate industrial growth. The main benefits for enterprises situated in the RSEZ, which is one of three special economic zones in Latvia, are tax exemptions.

Environmental programs to improve the quality of drinking water and solid waste management along with improvements in the transportation infrastructure and education system have been initiated to create more favorable conditions for economic growth.

As a member of the Cities of Change Network, Rezekne is currently elaborating a strategy for local economic development. Many stakeholders and citizens are already involved in this process. Furthermore, the municipality will benefit by learning from the partner cities and their successful investment management systems.

Today Poznañ offers very favorable economic conditions and an institutional support system for business established by the municipality. It has successfully restructured large industrial plants and seen a significant increase in the number of small and medium-sized businesses.

The local government is encouraging good relations among the administration, citizens and local community groups. It is also promoting improved utilization of the city’s resources, e.g. by the privatization of health care services, municipal services, housing resources, transportation and the sanitation infrastructure.

As part of the Cities of Change Network, Poznañ will focus on the role of tourism in the city’s economy. Poznañ also plans to establish a set of standardized and comprehensive indicators to measure the quality of life and evaluate the effectiveness of the city services and administration.

The city’s most extensive investment activities in recent years have concentrated on the restoration of the city center which has resulted in several successful foreign investment projects.

Poprad faces several serious challenges. The enhancement of the transportation infrastructure is critical to industrial as well as to tourism development throughout the region.

Within the Cities of Change Network, Poprad is part of the economic development cluster focusing on tourism development. Priority objectives are to establish an administrative body to coordinate local economic development and strategic planning with stakeholders and the community and to elaborate the local economic development strategy of the city.

It has a diversity of industrial and agricultural enterprises, including timber and woodworking, metal and rubber processing and production of food and dairy products, tobacco, textiles and batteries. Despite the variety of enterprises, the city suffered from the economic crisis in Bulgaria but is recovering by now. The city is working to increase local investment. Examples include the new commercial complex and business centers as well as privatization in the health sector.

Protection of the environment is one of the major challenges Pazardjik faces today. As a participant in the Cities of Change Network, it is addressing this issue with the development of a strategic solid waste plan. The plan calls for construction of a new landfill in compliance with EU requirements and surrounding municipalities. In the second phase of the project, Pazardjik also cooperates in the development of municipal environmental strategies.

Efforts to build a modern transportation infrastructure in the ice-free seaport include the international airport, arterial roads and the railway system, which is helping to overcome the city’s biggest problem – the conversion of the Soviet marine base that was once inhabited by roughly 30,000 people. Liepaja is also the educational and cultural center of Western Latvia.

In the Cities of Change Network, Liepaja is developing a regional waste management strategy. Collaboration with neighboring municipalities will overcome the inefficiency of a waste management system operated by many small, local Latvian governments.