Four Polish metropolises advanced to the final sixteen in the “European Green Capital 2023” competition. Although the final winner was Tallinn, no other country in the EU could boast as many representatives this year. The international research project ESPON analyzed the green projects implemented by the finalists of the previous editions of the event, proposing actions to help cities achieve their common climate goals.
ESPON is a programme covering all the Member States of the European Union plus the United Kingdom, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. In cooperation with many academic and research institutions, ESPON experts contribute to the development and implementation of Community policies.
The “European Green Capital” competition is one of the tools aimed at encouraging the authorities of growing metropolises to pursue pro-ecological development policies. The title, awarded by the European Commission since 2010 to cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, comes with a prize of 600,000 euros.
In the competition for the title of European Green Capital 2023 Warsaw, Rzeszów, Gdańsk and Krakow advanced to the final sixteen. Although the Estonian capital ultimately won, the high marks of the largest Polish cities in the competition for the implementation of pro-environmental solutions show how far they have come in recent decades. The political transformation found the urbanized areas of the country dominated by cement and concrete, where parks, squares, and recreational areas had only symbolic functions.