This report was prepared by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director, as part of the Programme of Work and Budget of the OECD Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC). The report was carried out with the financial support of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), whose support is gratefully acknowledged.
This report was co-ordinated by Tadashi Matsumoto, Head of the National Urban Policy and Climate Resilience Unit, and drafted by Claudia Baranzelli, Head of the Geospatial Analysis Unit, Economic Analysis, Data and Statistics Division (EDS), David Burgalassi, Policy Analyst, and Sho Yamasaki, Economist and Policy Analyst, under the supervision of Aziza Akhmouch, Head of the Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development (CITY) division, and Soo-Jin Kim, Deputy Head of the CITY division. It benefitted from substantive contributions from Sandra Jolk and Teresa Steininger (all CFE). The report also benefitted from valuable inputs and comments by Nadim Ahmad, Rudiger Ahrend, Carolina Aldama Dewit, Martha Bloom, Betty-Ann Bryce, Isabelle Chatry, Josep Espasa Reig, Jose Enrique Garcilazo, Brendan Irish, Charlotte Lafitte, Alexandre Lehoux, Karen Maguire, Margaux Vincent, Antti Moisio, Cem Özgüzel, Giovanni Pagano, Ekaterina Travkina, Eleanor West and Alicja Zwierz (all CFE).
Warm thanks go to Kadri Uustal, Gergana Miladinova, Szilvia Kalman, François Gallaga and Carlotta Cesco Gaspere from the European Commission for their excellent co-operation and continuous support and guidance throughout the project, including their role in facilitating policy seminars and workshops.
The report draws on extensive engagement with stakeholders across levels of government, civil society, international organisations and academia. The OECD is particularly grateful to the many experts and practitioners who responded to surveys conducted between October 2024 and February 2025, and who participated in two policy seminars held in June 2025 and March 2026. These insights were instrumental in shaping the report’s analysis and key findings. Seminar contributors include: Liviu Bailesteanu (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, Romania), Federica Bordelot (Council of European Municipalities and Regions), Vera-Karin Brazova (Ministry of Regional Development, Czechia), Michelle Breslin (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Ireland), Adele Bucella (European Urban Initiative), Rodrigo Cardoso (Delft University of Technology), Andrea Cattaneo (Food and Agriculture Organization), Dominique Consille (French National Agency for Territorial Cohesion), Martijn de Bruijn (UTD Consulting), Lewis Dijkstra (European Commission, Joint Research Centre), Luc Faraldi (French National Agency for Territorial Cohesion), Susanne Frick (Cardiff University), Eleonora Giorgi (European Urban Initiative), Sandra Gizdulich (Department for Cohesion Policy and the South, Italy), Erik Gløersen (Spatial Foresight France), Josep Maria Llop Torné (University of Lleida), Gelsomina Macchitella (City of Brindisi, Italy), Linda Medne (Municipality of Saldus, Latvia), Patricia Melo (University of Lisbon), Ilze Oša (Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development, Latvia), Georges Rastklan (City of Valence, France), Frederick-Christoph Richters (Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning, Luxembourg), Aša Rogelj (Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, Slovenia), Colin Ryan (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Ireland), Maria Seemann (City of Alba Iulia, Romania), Loris Antonio Servillo (Politecnico di Torino), Amila Smajlovic-Pleschberger (Carinthia regional government, Austria), Giulia Testori (European Commission, Joint Research Centre), Willem van Winden (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) and Paolo Veneri (Gran Sasso Science Institute).
Thanks are also due to the delegates of the OECD Working Party on Urban Policy (WPURB) and the OECD Working Party on Rural Policy (WPRUR) to whom the report was submitted for comments by 20 May 2026 under cote [CFE/RDPC/URB(2026)13].
Finally, thanks are extended to Bridgette Joyce, Alix Philouze and Jack Waters in the CFE for preparing the report for publication, and to Mana Sakamoto and Nanami Yano for their support in organising project events.