Background and objectives:

To support essential reforms in territorial and urban development, to stimulate investments and to assist the EU integration process, a regional effort for strengthening of institutional, human and investment absorption capacity is essential. This sub-regional programme serves as a framework for demand-driven capacity building and TA, investments for sustainable communities and self-sustaining regional co-operation.

The objectives were to:

• Begin regional co-operation activities by strengthening collaborative networks of central governments’ agencies, national municipal associations, civil society and academic institutions.
• Define and launch priority capacity-strengthening activities at all levels and produce outputs for dissemination.
• Formulate and implement a number of key project initiatives, selected because of their potential for replicability and broader impact.
• Support the implementation of the Vienna Declaration on Informal Settlements.

Activities:
The main activities include:

• Monitoring of the implementation of the Vienna Declaration commitments.
• Pilot activities implemented in Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia.
• Strategy for development and scaling-up being refined and revised in consultation with regional partners and interested donors.
• Resource mobilisation to finance the main phase.

Results:
The results achieved are:

• Regional co-operation strengthened and formalised through a system of exchange networks and an inclusive Regional Urban Forum devoted to the analysis and the reform of the urban sector.
• Major progress in legalisation processes through improved procedural frameworks and enhanced municipal planning.
• Improved national urban policy frameworks through legal, regulatory, institutional reform and the formulation of strategic programmes based on broad public consensus.
• Enhanced urban management capacities through the introduction of improved instruments.