UniverCities Joins the New EUI Compact Cities Partnership

UniverCities is proud to announce that we have been selected to be part of another Partnership of the Urban Agenda for the EU (UAEU). The Compact Cities – Sustainable Urban Planning and Sprawl Mitigation Partnership, with 30 partners across Europe, brings together representatives from EU Member States, regions, metropolitan areas, cities, and expert networks, reflecting the increasingly cross-cutting and collaborative nature of urban planning. The initiative officially launched on 30^th January 2026 and is now in its initial working phase.

This is the third UAEU Partnership that UniverCities is privileged to be part of - namely the Cities of Equality (CoE) and in Building Decarbonisation (BD).

The Compact Cities Partnership aims to strengthen Europe’s strategic vision for urban development by improving regulatory frameworks, investment conditions, and implementation capacity. Through cross-sector and multi-level collaboration, it promotes a shared European approach to compact and sustainable urban development addressing the challenge of urban sprawl. It advances integrated spatial planning that prioritises containment of greenfield development, densification of existing urban areas, and regeneration of underused or degraded spaces.

UniverCities will provide expertise and contribute to the issues of:

Promoting urban policy for the common good, inclusiveness, accessibility, security and equality;
Supporting effective urban governance, participation, and co-creation;
Harmonising measures at different spatial levels and implementing place-based policies and strategies;
Contributing to the acceleration of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda SDGs, the New Urban Agenda and Habitat III principles.

Positioned as a global hub for cross-cutting knowledge and professional excellence, UniverCities places diversity and social inclusion at the heart of the transition toward climate resilience and environmental sustainability, operating at the intersection of social, environmental, and economic transformation — the very core of the Compact Cities vision.