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Development

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Austria / Vienna / Development / Mobility

Vienna expands bike infrastructure – 20 km for 2023

The big highlights of the project are two cycling highways, one leading to Lower Austria in the south and another leading to Donaustadt

Mar 23, 2023 13:16
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Romania / Development / Energy efficiency

Romanian town starts geothermal project for district heating

Sântana has only 11,000 residents, yet several municipal buildings will get connected to a renewable geothermal reservoir deep underground

Mar 22, 2023 17:06

Economy and Finance

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Germany / Economy and Finance / Mobility

Despite revenue drop - Leipzig to invest in public transport

With a decline in passengers due to Covid-19 and the energy crisis, among other factors, the city will focus on increasing the quality of service

Mar 23, 2023 16:22
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Italy / Development / Economy and Finance

Italian government greenlights bridge between Sicily and mainland

The idea dates back even to Antiquity, but how feasible is it?

Mar 17, 2023 18:02

Politics and Reforms

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Luxembourg / Politics and Reforms / Welfare and Health

Luxembourg makes contraception free in April

While the new health policy will fund the morning-after pill and various progesterone treatments, it will not cover condoms

Mar 24, 2023 15:47
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Italy / Rome / Culture and Tourism / Politics and Reforms

Italy’s far-right government OKs construction of Holocaust museum

The cultural and victim remembrance facility will be located in Rome

Mar 21, 2023 17:11

Innovation and Research

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Bulgaria / Sofia / Development / Innovation and Research

Sofia seeks young people's innovative ideas in Academy for VISIONARIES 2023

The city wants new approaches to developing the urban environment and is willing to fund the best solutions

Mar 15, 2023 17:46
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Germany / Berlin / Economy and Finance / Innovation and Research

Berlin offers targeted support to make more businesses sustainable

Around 75% of German CO2 emissions come from the private sector, yet less than 1% of businesses are considered fully sustainable

Mar 14, 2023 16:59

Digital transformation

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Belgium / Leuven / Digital transformation / Welfare and Health

Leuven tries to tackle party noise with smart tech

City officials found that simple messages about respecting residents’ sleep were most effective if coupled with the right presentation

Mar 24, 2023 13:29
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Germany / Hamburg / Digital transformation / Mobility

Germany commits to AI-driven public transport in Hamburg

The city has a strategy of putting 10,000 human-controlled and autonomous shuttles on the streets by 2030

Mar 21, 2023 15:48

Energy efficiency

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Germany / Hamburg / Culture and Tourism / Energy efficiency

Hamburg sets guidelines for placing green infrastructure on heritage buildings

The city has learned a lot from an ongoing project for a solar roof on the Altonaer Museum

Mar 24, 2023 17:25
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Romania / Development / Energy efficiency

Romanian town starts geothermal project for district heating

Sântana has only 11,000 residents, yet several municipal buildings will get connected to a renewable geothermal reservoir deep underground

Mar 22, 2023 17:06

Mobility

See all
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Germany / Economy and Finance / Mobility

Despite revenue drop - Leipzig to invest in public transport

With a decline in passengers due to Covid-19 and the energy crisis, among other factors, the city will focus on increasing the quality of service

Mar 23, 2023 16:22
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Austria / Vienna / Development / Mobility

Vienna expands bike infrastructure – 20 km for 2023

The big highlights of the project are two cycling highways, one leading to Lower Austria in the south and another leading to Donaustadt

Mar 23, 2023 13:16

Public Spaces

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Spain / Barcelona / Public Spaces / Social City

Barcelona to host Spain’s first pet cemetery

It will open its doors in 2024 and offer cremations and burials

Mar 16, 2023 17:55
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Greece / Athens / Culture and Tourism / Public Spaces

Athens to build Greece's first 100% ‘green’ museum

The building will be on the site of Plato’s Ancient Academy

Mar 15, 2023 16:11

Culture and Tourism

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Germany / Hamburg / Culture and Tourism / Energy efficiency

Hamburg sets guidelines for placing green infrastructure on heritage buildings

The city has learned a lot from an ongoing project for a solar roof on the Altonaer Museum

Mar 24, 2023 17:25
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Austria / Culture and Tourism / Welfare and Health

Nursing homes in Graz embrace classical music as therapy

The city has arranged four tailor-made programmes for the different residences as a way to reconnect with patients’ life and memories

Mar 22, 2023 15:51

Education and Sport

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Belgium / Leuven / Education and Sport / Social City

Leuven to fight discrimination with role-playing games

The city has developed its own way to teach young people how to react when they witness unjust treatments

Mar 21, 2023 17:24
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Luxembourg / Education and Sport / Welfare and Health

Free and 100% organic sanitary pads - Esch-sur-Alzette has you covered

The city will supply and maintain 138 dispensers in public buildings

Mar 10, 2023 17:19

Welfare and Health

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Luxembourg / Politics and Reforms / Welfare and Health

Luxembourg makes contraception free in April

While the new health policy will fund the morning-after pill and various progesterone treatments, it will not cover condoms

Mar 24, 2023 15:47
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Belgium / Leuven / Digital transformation / Welfare and Health

Leuven tries to tackle party noise with smart tech

City officials found that simple messages about respecting residents’ sleep were most effective if coupled with the right presentation

Mar 24, 2023 13:29
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Interviews

Kaisa Karjalainen: “It’s better to be an imperfect zero waster for the rest of our lives than a perfect one for two weeks”

Mar 14, 2023 12:56
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Romania / Cluj-Napoca / Digital transformation / Interviews / Politics and Reforms

Online public services as efficient as TikTok: Cluj-Napoca’s Digital Transformation

Feb 16, 2023 13:51
Denis Balgaranov
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Bulgaria / Interviews / Read Twice

Veni Markovski: It's about time the media stopped inviting “experts” who spread false info

Nov 28, 2022 11:30
Denis Balgaranov
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Netherlands / Utrecht / Green City / Interviews

Sharon Dijksma: Without cities, it will be impossible to tackle global warming

Nov 21, 2022 13:41
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Interviews / Politics and Reforms

Vasco Cordeiro: The European project is at stake when solidarity is at stake

Aug 1, 2022 11:34
Denis Balgaranov
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Interviews

Cities Mission has made citizen engagement and participatory processes an important part of its functioning

Jul 14, 2022 14:57
ICLEI Europe
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Portugal / Matosinhos / Interviews

Luisa Salgueiro: Climate resilience work is never completed, it’s a continuously upgraded project

Jun 23, 2022 12:41
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Interviews

EBRD's aim is to support increased climate ambition within cities

May 18, 2022 13:33
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Greece / Athens / Interviews / Welfare and Health

Melina Daskalaki: Our mission is to promote the social reintegration of homeless individuals

May 16, 2022 11:04
Svilena Iotkovska
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Sweden / Interviews

Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh: Malmö Resilience Hub will have the potential to connect cities on the Baltic Sea

May 11, 2022 15:26
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov

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Italy
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Florence

Florence
Dario Nardella
Mayor

Dario Nardella

Biography
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Founded by the Villanovians, presumably in the 10th century BC, the city of Florence was later inhabited by the Etruscans who were based in Fiesole, a village on a nearby hill.

Some of them had settled down below to guard the Arno river, which being navigable allowed the movement of goods with ease. The strategic position was later occupied by the Romans, who made the place their camp for the control of the river and the Via Cassia.

Up until the Middle Ages it was only a modest town without any particular importance on the Tuscan scene.

Its rise began in the 12th century

Florence was considerably enriched thanks to the trade in artefacts. It became a free municipality in 1115 and began to establish itself against the nearby cities of Pisa, Pistoia, Siena and Arezzo. The Artisan Guilds were formed by noble and rich merchants, who in that period effectively ruled the city.

Subsequently, the numerous conflicts between the most prominent families divided the city into the factions of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, and the continuous disagreements between aristocrats and people, caused a general instability that led the Medici, a family of rich merchants and bankers, to assert themselves in the local ​​government.

Starting with Cosimo Il Vecchio, they practically exercised a regime of Lordship, extending their power over the whole of Tuscany. The family managed to have three popes and two queens of France from among its ranks.

However, they were also attentive to the needs of the population and embellished Florence with monuments, palaces and works of art. It was above all Lorenzo, Cosimo's nephew, who won the benevolence of his fellow citizens. Gifted with a charismatic personality, a lover of the arts and an artist, he surrounded himself with illustrious men and made his city a reference center for humanist culture and international politics. For these reasons, he was called Il Magnifico (The Magnificent).

The Medici

The Medici, with the exception of a period at the end of the 1400s characterized by the policies of Friar Girolamo Savonarola, ruled the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the extinction of the family in 1737. The Grand Duchy, by agreement between dynasties, then passed to the Lorraine family, who became Habsburg-Lorraine with the marriage of Francesco Stefano and Maria Theresa of Austria.

The Lorraine were also just and liberal princes. They contributed to the economic progress of the region, reclaimed the Maremma, eliminated the restrictions on the export of goods and encouraged studies.

Furthermore, with Pietro Leopoldo the Leopoldino Code was issued, which made the Grand Duchy of Tuscany the first state in the world to have formally abolished torture and the death penalty.

Except for a brief period of French domination, Tuscany remained under the dominion of the Habsburg-Lorraine until 1860, when with a plebiscite it was annexed by Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy.

In 1865 Florence was chosen as the capital of Italy. The city remained the capital until 1871 when Rome took over.

Florence is universally considered as the birthplace of Renaissance, and is remembered for being the native city of illustrious personalities from the artistic and literary fields who with their art would influence the rest of the world.

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Italy / Florence / Culture and Tourism / Development / Social City

Florence in 2030: less open to tourism, but more convenient to locals

The new Structural and Municipal Operational Plans aim to launch a fairer and more forthcoming city

Jan 12, 2023 16:58
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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France / Florence / Energy efficiency / Politics and Reforms / Welfare and Health

Generators of hope – European cities to bring the power back to Ukraine

Local authorities are rallying through Eurocities to send power generators to the devastated country for the winter

Nov 24, 2022 12:24
Denis Balgaranov
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Italy / Florence / Culture and Tourism / Public Spaces

First time ever: Florence’s Ponte Vecchio to undergo restoration

Did you know it was the only bridge in the city which survived World War II?

Oct 27, 2022 12:31
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Belgium / Bulgaria / Italy / Spain / Florence / Madrid / Rome / Innovation and Research / Public Spaces

Bloomberg expands Asphalt Art Initiative to 19 European cities

It promotes the use of colour and design to make streets safer and communities stronger

Oct 11, 2022 10:48
Denis Balgaranov
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Italy / Florence / Milan / Culture and Tourism / Economy and Finance

Florence and Milan sign Charter of values of Italian catering

The document aims to give the sector agency in safeguarding traditions

Mar 30, 2022 14:02
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Mobility

Italy starts introducing hybrid trains on regional railways

The new Blues model can be triple-powered

Mar 10, 2022 13:38
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Culture and Tourism

Florence covers copy of Michelangelo’s David in black

As a gesture to honour the victims of the war in Ukraine

Mar 07, 2022 17:47
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Economy and Finance / Politics and Reforms

Recent Florence light festival caused controversy with AMEX logo projection

Another, though more subtle, example of heritage desecration

Jan 13, 2022 16:04
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Green City

Artificial or natural Christmas tree? If you’re green-minded, opt for the latter

That’s the expert advice dished out by researchers from the University of Florence

Dec 07, 2021 16:05
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Green City / Public Spaces

Florence residents can now adopt an olive grove

The idea is not only to preserve the plants but to also start producing oil from them

Nov 03, 2021 13:20
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Growing City / Mobility

Florence to extend its ‘bike subway’ with two new lines

Italian cities have been adopting the concept of ‘bicipolitana’

Sep 24, 2021 17:48
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Florence / Green City / Politics and Reforms

Mayors Alliance, or how climate action is unthinkable without cities

New initiative by Eurocities to lobby for increased visibility of urban climate efforts

Jul 12, 2021 10:30
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Development

Florence collects video ideas for a better Europe

The contest will evaluate the ideas, and not the cinematography

Jul 05, 2021 17:54
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Digital transformation / Mobility

Florence traffic is about to get smarter

A first step towards active interaction between urban transport and its surroundings

Jun 03, 2021 12:43
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Culture and Tourism / Green City

Flowers on the balcony and Florence is blooming

Encouraging residents to convert these spaces into gardens

Mar 31, 2021 18:08
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Culture and Tourism

Florence and Dante: 700 years of memories

In preparation for the big day of Dantedì

Mar 17, 2021 15:24
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Social City

Tuscany sees migrant inclusion through the lens of common goods management

An inter-governmental agreement was signed in order to promote this project

Mar 11, 2021 17:58
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Italy / Florence / Mobility

Florence will get a state-of-the-art mobility management room

Centralizing this urban aspect is the first step of the Smart City strategy

Jan 07, 2021 19:30
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Florence / Culture and Tourism

How the pandemic brought back a Renaissance tradition to Florence

The delectable little wine windows dotting many facades have been rediscovered

Dec 23, 2020 17:41
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Florence / Culture and Tourism

Verona joins in the grand commemoration of Dante’s legacy

Next year is the 700th anniversary of the great poet’s passing

Dec 11, 2020 15:24
Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
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Florence / Interviews

Dario Nardella: Top priority is the further enhancement of the role of cities at European level

Interview with the Mayor of Florence and President of Eurocities

Nov 17, 2020 10:04
Monika Dimitrova
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Florence / Economy and Finance

Florence to allocate 650 thousand euros to culture

Cultural associations will be able to use the funds by the end of 2020

Jul 30, 2020 09:05
Monika Dimitrova
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Florence / Culture and Tourism

Free entry to the Civic Museums for residents of the Metropolitan City of Florence

As part of the initiative twenty free days a year

Apr 04, 2019 08:31
Monika Dimitrova
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Florence / Culture and Tourism

You can now be fined for eating on the street in Florence

Many of Italy's tourist hotspots are struggling to reconcile the influx of visitors with the needs of locals

Sep 10, 2018 12:10
Olya Georgieva
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Florence / Culture and Tourism

The most beautiful summer cinema arena in the world is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

Free entry

Jul 12, 2018 08:16
Monika Dimitrova
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Florence / Rome / Culture and Tourism

Participate in Dance Grand Prix from 18 to 22 June in Florence, Rome and Venice

You are the protagonist in the International competition

Jun 06, 2018 13:08
Monika Dimitrova
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Florence / Culture and Tourism

Easter in Florence and one of the most dramatic spectacles - the Scoppio del Carro

Visitors from all parts of the world come to Florence to participate at their holiday celebration on Easter Sunday

Mar 30, 2018 09:34
Olya Georgieva
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Florence / Milan / Mobility

Florence and Milan – the first Italian cities to launch dockless bike-sharing schemes

Every bike is equipped with smart-lock technology and built-in GPS

Mar 06, 2018 09:01
Olya Georgieva

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