The Commission sets up an online platform to better support development of regions and cities

Today, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) launched a new online in-house ‘Knowledge Centre on Territorial Policies’. This platform brings together a wealth of existing data, methods, and tools to support regional and urban policy, covering areas such as demography, air quality and transport. The aim is to ensure user-friendly access to data for EU, national and international policy makers. The Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies will also help identify gaps in scientific knowledge related to territorial policies, as well as carry out related research. Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, responsible for the JRC, said: “Managing and integrating evidence and data is indispensable for high quality decision making. The Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies will provide a single-access point in order to synthesise and coordinate information that will support Europe’s cities and regions in boosting economic growth and job creation.” The new centre will, for instance, offers access to data and indicators on trends and the status of European urban areas, collected from sources such as EUROSTAT, national statistical services, and the OECD. This data will be displayed in a user-friendly way, through dashboards and maps presenting territorial analyses and trends in territories, including population growth, air quality, and accessibility of regional territories. The Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies was launched at the JRC annual conference focusing on human capital for territorial growth