Small and medium-sized cities are felt less dynamic and vibrant than their big European sisters, but they are still important for millions of their residents, as they can combine urban facilities with direct access to rural areas, more affordable living conditions especially in relation to housing, and better quality of life for families and older people.
But despite their obvious advantages, small and medium-sized cities face great challenges: depopulation, unemployment, lack of high-quality infrastructure, often a poor connectivity, and dependency on the big urban centers for a number of public services.
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Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, Third Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
Juana López Pagan, General Director of Demographic Challenge, Joaquín Farinós Dasí, from the University of Valencia, and Erika Jaraiz Gulias, from the University of Santiago de Compostela
Josep Maria Llop Torne, of the Universitat de Lleida
Ioannis Vardakastanis, President, and Florian Marin, member of the ECO Section of the EESC
David Burgalassi, Economist and Policy Analyst, OECD
Marcos Ros Sempere, Member of European Parliament
Kieran McCarthy, Lord Mayor of Cork City and Member of the EU CoR
Guillaume Corradino, Director of Euromontana
Carlos Martínez Mínguez, Mayor of Soria
Michiel Rijsberman, Regional Minister of the Province of Flevoland, member of the CoR
David Kelly, Director at Southern Regional Assembly of Ireland
Paraskevi (Voula) Patoulidou, Deputy Regional Governor of Central Macedonia
Stephanos Georgiades from the Cypriot Ministry of the Interior.