Translation of "directeur de centre-ville " (French → English) :

David Hulchanski, Professor and Associate Director, Cities Centre, University of Toronto;

15. Recalls that, while a concentration of shops outside city centres can be convenient for some consumers, it can also have negative environmental effects and can be a challenge for other consumers, in particular for older people, people with reduced mobility or those without a car; calls, therefore, for local and regional authorities to a adopt a balanced approach, also taking into account the fact that in many regions, especially in view of the economic crisis, the saturation point has already been reached; emphasises that retail developers should continue to assume their shared responsibility to promote sustainability, true freedom ...[+++] of choice for consumers and access to the market for small shops; notes that rents in shopping centres outside city centres can be too high for smaller, independent shops and stresses the need to ensure a level playing field for these shops, for example by basing rents on a percentage of turnover, in cases where this is not already an existing practice;

14. Stresses that towns and cities can make a key contribution, as growth centres and growth drivers, to a given region; points, at the same time, to the need for it to be made possible for rural settlements to participate in integrated solutions for a given functional geographical entity by means of the fostering of partnerships and networks; stresses that larger urban centres face specific challenges because of the complexity of their social, economic and environmental tasks; sees, in this context, the endogenous potential of rural and peri-urban areas as offering an opportunity for development, although not only around agglomeratio ...[+++]ns and big cities; notes, furthermore, the opportunity for the economic development of particularly disadvantaged regions through appropriate exploitation of, and support for, the endogenous potential of rural areas, including their environmental and cultural assets; considers also, in the context of structural and cohesion policy, urban-rural partnerships more in terms of providing rural areas with the same conditions for development and quality of life with regard to social and economic factors; calls on the Member States, given the dynamic influence of towns and cities on economic development in the regions and in stimulating the economy in surrounding rural areas, to guarantee the resources needed to implement the urban and sub-urban projects required;

14. Stresses that towns and cities can make a key contribution, as growth centres and growth drivers, to a given region; points, at the same time, to the need for it to be made possible for rural settlements to participate in integrated solutions for a given functional geographical entity by means of the fostering of partnerships and networks; stresses that larger urban centres face specific challenges because of the complexity of their social, economic and environmental tasks; sees, in this context, the endogenous potential of rural areas as offering an opportunity for development, although not only around agglomerations and big citi ...[+++]es; notes, furthermore, the opportunity for the economic development of particularly disadvantaged regions through appropriate exploitation of, and support for, the endogenous potential of rural areas, including their environmental and cultural assets; considers also, in the context of structural and cohesion policy, urban-rural partnerships more in terms of providing rural areas with the same conditions for development and quality of life with regard to social and economic factors; calls on the Member States, given the dynamic influence of towns and cities on economic development in the regions and in stimulating the economy in surrounding rural areas, to guarantee the resources needed to implement the urban and sub-urban projects required;

49. Points to the need to recognise the diverse nature of European local players; notes that Europe is distinguished by a unique multicentric structure consisting of large, medium-sized, and small towns and cities and that most Europeans live in medium-sized and small towns; considers it essential that measures for urban areas should extend beyond traditional metropolises and also allow for the role of the cities, satellite towns, and urban marketplaces linked to the leading urban centres;

49. Points to the need to recognise the diverse nature of European local players; notes that Europe is distinguished by a unique multicentric structure consisting of large, medium-sized, and small towns and cities and that most Europeans live in medium-sized and small towns; considers it essential that measures for urban areas should extend beyond traditional metropolises and also allow for the role of the cities, satellite towns, and urban marketplaces linked to the leading urban centres;