ZAGREB, February 1, 2020 – The European Commission presented about 30 projects at the Cities Forum 2020, held in Porto on Thursday and Friday, including the digitisation of the City of Zagreb’s administration and the conversion of a former factory into a cultural centre in Rijeka.
The Cities Forum is a European Commission initiative aimed at presenting positive examples of the absorption of cohesion funds including the future of the Urban Agenda for the EU. This year’s forum attracted about 800 representatives of cities, countries and the EU.
The City of Zagreb decided in 2012 to introduce “smart administration procedures,” and in 2016 and 2018 it participated in projects to digitise public administration procedures.
The European Commission cited the project “Organisational development – managing the City of Zagreb’s business processes” as an example of good urban practice. The project was exhibited along with projects from Rotterdam, Paris, Brussels, Brno, Turin, Lille, Bielefeld and Ghent.
The City of Rijeka launched a project in early 2019, which is expected to be completed by 2021, with the intention of transforming four buildings which once housed sugar, cigarette and engines factories into the city’s main cultural centre. The centre will house the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Arts, the City Museum, a children’s house and the city library.
The EC said that the project is an example of how to revitalise industrial heritage in an urban environment and how to combine different sources of financing.
The project received €13.2 million from the European Regional Development Fund which is aimed at strengthening economic and social cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions.
More Rijeka news can be found in the Lifestyle section.
