What Works for Inclusive Growth in Cities 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 drafted and co‑ordinated by Elizabeth Doherty, Economist and Policy Analyst (CFE/CITY), under the supervision of Camille Viros, Head of the Inclusive Growth in Cities Unit (CFE/CITY), and guidance 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 Thomas Kergonou Jimenez (CFE/CITY) and Emilie Yoda (CFE/CITY). The report also benefitted from valuable inputs and comments by Nadim Ahmad, Alexandre Banquet, Ewa Białogłowska, Claire Charbit, Amal Chevreau, Marcos Díaz Ramírez, Josep Espasa Reig, Nina Giammaria, Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp, Marion Lagadic, Alexander Lembcke, Andrew Lombardi, Karen Maguire, Ana Moreno Monroy, Cem Özgüzel, Teresa Steininger and Margaux Tharaux (CFE), as well as from Ali Bargu, Sara Coloni and Marissa Plouin (ELS), and from Lucie Cerna and Cecilia Mezzanotte (EDU).
Warm thanks go to Kadri Uustal, Gergana Miladinova, Szilvia Kalman and Miguel Hernandez Littlewood 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 and interviews (October 2024-October 2025) and participated in events (two policy seminars in June 2025 and March 2026; three workshops in September-October 2025). These insights were instrumental in shaping the report’s analysis, best practices and key findings. Contributors include: Sabrina Abdi (Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires, France), Roda Aden (Camden Council, London, the United Kingdom), Karin Ahlzén (Fokus Jarva, Stockholm, Sweden), Aisa Amagir (Knowledge Centre on Inequality), Alexandre Armadas Sabate (Barcelona Education Consortium, Spain), Adam Ashqar (DIAIR, UN Refugee Agency), Sarah Ayres (University of Bristol, the United Kingdom), Raffaele Barbato (City of Rome, Italy), Clément Barbier (Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, France), Clotilde Barbot (City of Lyon, France), Thys Boer (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), Johannes M. Böhmer (Council of Europe Development Bank), Ruggero Cefalo (University of Florence, Italy), Marco Ciari (City of Turin, Italy), Dylan Connor (Arizona State University, the United States), Igor Costarelli (University of Genoa, Italy), Dragana Curovic (Helsingborgshem AB, Sweden), Anna Custers (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands), Nikhil Datta (Warwick University, the United Kingdom), Alejandra Diaz (Camden Council, London, the United Kingdom), Stefania Fiorentino (University of Cambridge, the United Kingdom), Susanne Frick (Cardiff University, the United Kingdom), Sabina Gabrijel (Ljubljana’s Youth Office, Slovenia), Elisavet Georgiou (City of Athens, Greece), Chrysavgi Gkonou (Develop Athens, Greece), Monica‑Elena Graff (City of Cluj-Napoca, Romania), Solomon Greene (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy), Florence Henry (Camden Council, London, the United Kingdom), Sara Heppling Trygg (Fokus Jarva, Stockholm, Sweden), Leda Inga (CERDI, Université Clermont Auvergne, France), Nikolas Kallianidis (City of Athens, Greece), Krista Kampus (Tallinn Strategic Management Office, Estonia), Haegi Kwon (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy), Camille Le Charpentier (Jeunes Ambassadeurs pour le Climat, France), Arthur Le Nena (City of Paris, France), Neil Lee (London School of Economics, the United Kingdom), Toby Lowe (Manchester Metropolitan University, the United Kingdom), Rainer Lovato (Council of Europe Development Bank), Madeline Manavit (City of Paris, France), Szymon Marcińczak (University of Łódź, Poland), Alexandru Matei (Urban Agenda Secretariat), Grace McCanus (National Youth Council Ireland), Márton Medgyesi (TARKI Social Research Institute), Cristiana Merendeiro (CRESCER, Lisbon, Portugal), Ahmed Mokgopo (C40), Solene Molard (Eurocities), Pol Montemayor Cejas (Barcelona Education Consortium, Spain), Kamilla Krystad Myrvold (Tromsø Municipality, Norway), Ruth Owen (FEANTSA), Alexandra Peca (GEYC), Sergio Perez Barranco (FEANTSA), Emilia Postolache (Council of Europe Development Bank), Milan Prchal (City of Brno, Czechia), Lucy Pyne (Department for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Ireland), Valentine Quinio (Greater London Authority, the United Kingdom), Alex Quinn (European Youth Forum), Kahina Rabahi (European Anti-Poverty Network), Nazia Rehman (Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities), Tristan Reilly (Directorate for Youth, Popular Education and Community Associations, France), Francesco Ripa (Urban Agenda Secretariat), Camila Ríos Armas (UniR Universités et Réfugié.es), Orna Rosenfeld (Orna Rosenfeld), Tiina Saarits (Pärnu HUUB, Estonia), Alessandro Sancino (University of Milan, Italy), Rosario Scandurra (University of Barcelona, Spain), Belén Sánchez-Rubio (Fundación Secretariado Gitano), Patricia Serrano López (City of Fuenlabrada, Spain), Kamila Smyczek (City of Łódź, Poland), Elodie Sojic (City of Strasbourg, France), Giulia Sozzi (City of Bergamo, Italy), Benny Souto (Camden Council, London, the United Kingdom), Victoria Sutherland (What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth), Petra Svanh (City of Turku, Finland), Elif Timur (Council of Europe Development Bank), Vittoria Torrisi (European Youth Forum), Asimina Tsalpatourou (City of Saint-Denis, France), Kaisa Üprus-Tali (City of Tallinn, Estonia), Ignas Valentinavičius (City of Vilnius, Lithuania), Maarten van Ham (TU Delft), Michiel van Keulen (City of Rotterdam, the Netherlands), Marije van Mens (City of Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Philipp Voswinkel (Council of Europe Development Bank), Josie Vranken (City of Ghent, Belgium), Kati Väyrynen (City of Helsinki, Finland), Christina Yancey (American Institute for Research), Margrit Zauner (City of Berlin, Germany).
Thanks are also due to the delegates of the OECD Working Party on Urban Policy (WPURB) to whom the report was submitted for comments by 20 May 2026 under cote [CFE/RDPC/URB(2026)14].
The report was edited by Eleonore Morena and prepared for publication by Bridgette Joyce, Alix Philouze and Jack Waters. Finally, thanks are extended to Mana Sakamoto and Nanami Yano for their support in organising project events.