European Cities in "Co-opetition"

In this issue, devoted in large measure to European cities, Futuribles opens its columns to Gérard Collomb, the mayor of Lyon. Lyon is the third-largest city in France in terms of population, but above all it is a city with strong European connections through its partnerships with other great metropolises.
Interviewed by Jean Haëntjens, Gérard Collomb relates how essential these collaborative initiatives between European cities are today, so that, on the one hand, cities do not merely submit to globalization, but actively participate in it through cooperation in key sectors (by way of competitiveness hubs, for example) and, on the other, a healthy level of emulation is maintained and local authorities are encouraged to make progress in the economic, scientific, environmental and other fields. In this respect, the “co-opetition” (a combination of the words co-operation and competition) established between European cities no doubt plays a crucial role, which this article enables us to grasp more clearly. It also encourages the big metropolises to devise new, more “sustainable” modes of urban development. Here, the European Union ought perhaps to operate at city rather than regional level in a number of strategic fields, such as housing and mobility.