The EU provided in the funding period 2014–2020 approx. 325 billion Euro for cohesion policy and thus for the development of cities and communities. Germany received as the fifth largest funding recipient of the EU 10.7 billion by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and 7.5 billion by the European Social Fund (ESF).

The study points out the positive effects that Structural Funds produce for the integrated urban development in large, medium-sized and small cities and communities in Germany. It thus analyses

• the strategic and legal framework for the urban dimension in the funding period 2014–2020,
• the characteristics of the urban dimension during the programming,
• the challenges and opportunities of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI) on the basis of projects selected against BBSR's typology of municipalities as well as
• derivations for the funding period 2021–2027.

Project management
German Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development
Division I 3 – European Spatial and Urban Development
Dr. André Müller ( andre.mueller@bbr.bund.de )

Management in the Federal Ministry
German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community
Division SW I 1
Tilman Buchholz

Research contractor
Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU)
Professor Dr. Silke Weidner, Thorben Mielke

By way of a study group with
German Association for Housing, Urban and Spatial Development e. V. (DV)
Jonas Scholze, Rolf Engels and Miriam Rausch