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The Slovenian capital Ljubljana looks quiet and picturesque,

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but just as in many other parts of Europe, this beautiful city is being taken over by traffic.

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Car ownership has tripled in the past decade.

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The car park of Ljubljana's huge out-of-town shopping center is packed,

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while the recently introduced train link produces just a handful of passengers.

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But the city authorities are determined to break up this love affair with the car

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as part of a major plan to improve the urban environment.

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We now have only a local bus, and we connect the region with Lako railway station.

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Solving traffic problems is just one part of a carefully structured plan in Ljubljana,

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which sees environmentalists working side by side with city planners,

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the housing department, tourism and commercial divisions.

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An integrated approach, in partnership with the national government,

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to keep the city a good place to live in.

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If we don't take a holistic approach, it means that we can solve some environmental problems,

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but at the other end, we can solve others.

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I can give an example.

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For example, if the city or the local community decides to start subverting,

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and also allows people to use public transport,

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and at the same time urbanistically stops the construction of new garage houses in the city center,

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of course, this will not solve the problem of traffic and emissions in the area.

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Alenka Burja has been a regular visitor to Brussels recently

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to help draw up a Europe-wide strategy to improve the urban environment

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throughout the European Union.

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That strategy is now in place.

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It makes no new legal demands on cities, but provides guidelines for actions.

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It highlights the need for national and regional governments to support local authorities,

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to help them comply with European environmental law,

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and to care for urban areas in an integrated way.

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Four out of five of us Europeans now live in towns and cities,

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so the state of the urban environment directly affects the quality of our life.

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The European Union's thematic strategy on the urban environment

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will help member states, regional authorities, local authorities,

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to work together to improve the environment of the urban areas.

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There's no one simple answer to improving Europe's towns and cities.

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Today, Alenka is taking the time to see what's happening in Brussels,

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where all sorts of regeneration projects have been carried out

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to improve the environment in inner city districts.

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It's this sort of exchange of ideas that the European Commission plans to promote,

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the sharing of best practice between urban areas.

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First stop is a once run-down neighborhood,

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which has been revitalized as a center of Belgian fashion and design.

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It's really those five last years where the quartier d'Anselm

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has become really well-known and a really fashionable place, you see.

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What had become a down-at-heel area is now a desirable place to live and work,

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with its own distinctive character.

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European funding plays a key role in many urban projects.

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That was how this abandoned warehouse, rather than being demolished,

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was reused and given a new life as an enterprise center.

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It provides both premises as well as business backup

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to fledgling companies such as this young Belgian fashion designer.

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And what's important is that many of the businesses developed here

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have stayed in the neighborhood,

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and what's important is that many of the businesses developed here

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have stayed in the neighborhood as they've grown.

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The next part of the visit was to a public park,

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created on derelict land in a nearby neighborhood,

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an area of high immigration with 70% unemployed.

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The local people were involved in the planning of this park at every step,

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including the design of the play equipment and the painting of the murals.

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It helped a lot because it helped to do other projects.

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So there were other projects done by the neighborhood committee,

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where they made frescoes and ceramics on the facades.

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And this project was a bit of a motor for people to reappropriate the city.

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To say to themselves, we belong, we exist,

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we have the right to say things and do things.

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Ljubljana doesn't have the same social problems as Brussels,

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but it's still interesting for Elenka to see

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how here improving the urban environment

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has played a big role in developing a sense of integration.

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It's extremely useful because many cities have common problems.

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I don't mean that the problems are exactly the same

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so that you can use the same approach,

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but of course in urban areas

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there are as well environmental as social and economic problems.

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So when you go around and see how other cities tackle these problems,

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you can learn a lot.

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Back in Slovenia, Ljubljana is already well on track

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with its integrated approach to developing the city.

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Here the planners are already working with the environment in mind.

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An old military barracks was demolished

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to make way for a whole new neighborhood

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with 600 apartments and its own school,

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as well as art and music academies.

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In this way, urban sprawl is contained.

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It reduces the need for commuting

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and protects the city's green spaces.

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In the city we have a lot of industrial and military complexes

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that have been abandoned lately

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because the army has moved out

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while the industry is reforming.

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Our policy is mainly to improve the living and working conditions

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for the inhabitants of Ljubljana.

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This means, first of all,

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increasing urban and local resources,

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and this is a good example of how we are achieving this.

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Good air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions

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are vital in any city.

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The district heating plant,

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which supplies 90% of Ljubljana's homes,

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has already reduced sulfur and dust emissions

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to a fraction of former levels by switching to cleaner coal.

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The plant is now planning to invest in natural gas and biomass.

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Buses run on biodiesel made from oilseed rape

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are operating on two of the city's bus routes,

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a pilot project to promote the use of renewable fuels

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as part of the EU-backed Civitas scheme,

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one of several sources of European funding

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to improve the urban environment.

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Cities with clean air and water,

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efficient transport and good housing

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become good places to invest.

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When Ljubljana built its out-of-town shopping centre,

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some businesses moved out of the city centre.

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The challenge is now to entice others in,

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to keep the city centre alive and successful.

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There are competitions for the most attractive shops.

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The approach has been to encourage

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a more distinctive feel to the centre

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and promote a pride in the city.

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We decided in Ljubljana

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to renovate the old town centre,

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to make it beautiful,

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and we have renovated more than 250 houses

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in the old town centre.

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We are also stimulating them

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by providing more comfortable accommodation

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for the tenants.

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We are planning to have fewer apartments

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for the construction site,

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so that the old town is filled again

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with different personalities.

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Ljubljana can't afford to leave

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its future development to chance.

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Half of Slovenia's wealth is generated in the capital.

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The authorities are keeping a watchful eye

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over the way the city grows,

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and the environment is cared for,

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which is just what the new European Urban Strategy

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wants to promote.

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We all want Europe's towns and cities

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to be healthy and sustainable places

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where citizens want to live and work

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and where businesses want to invest.

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The quality of the urban environment

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has a key role to play in the success of a modern city.

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The European Strategy can help cities face up

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to their environmental challenges

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to create urban areas where we all want to live.