The twin transition in action: what can urban policies do for retail SMEs in cities?

• Giulia Del Brenna, Head of the Food, retail and health Unit, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
• Camille Viros, Head of the Inclusive growth in cities Unit, Centre for entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and cities, OECD

• Pedro Guimarães, Assistant Professor, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning and Centre for Geographical Studies, Lisbon University, Portugal

This session will explore policies support directly retail SMEs’ competitiveness and resilience while enhancing digitalisation, and urban logistics, aiming to improve retail SMEs capacity to adapt to the twin transition in cities and will discuss how can urban policies and infrastructure help retail SMEs face the green and digital transitions in cities and turn the twin transition into opportunities?

• Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga, Portugal, Vice-Chair of the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth Initiative, executive Committee Member of EUROCITIES – The City of Braga implemented the “Digital Commercial District” initiative to help retail SMEs to adapt to the digital transition and face e-commerce competition
• Helena Loredan, Director of the Institute for Youth, Culture, and Tourism, Koper, Slovenia – The City of Koper implemented innovative initiatives to improve retail SMEs competitiveness, such as rent reductions in municipality-owned shops and subsidies to launch pop-up shops
• Philippe Crist, Senior Advisor, Mobility Innovation and Foresight, International Transport Forum, OECD – The ITF has carried out in-depth research on the transformation of urban logistics driven by changes in retail and new mobility patterns. The Forum also explored how cities can implement sustainable logistics policies to respond effectively to the growth of e-commerce and digitalisation
• Q&A session

This session will explore how urban policy instruments such as land use and spatial planning can improve accessibility and foster vibrant commercial activity in city centres, focusing on revitalisation initiatives that enhance urban environment, increase city centre’s attractiveness and local foot traffic, ultimately supporting the growth of local retail SMEs. The session will discuss how can urban environments be designed and enhanced to better support the growth and sustainability of retail SMEs in city centres?

• Holly Lewis, Co-founding Partner at We Made That and Town Architect for London Borough of Hackney, United-Kingdom –We Made That is a trusted voice in shaping healthy, fair and well-designed places in the United-Kingdom. The practice especially worked on comprehensive high street regeneration projects.
• Diane Gallais, Deputy head of the Action Coeur de Ville national programme, Agence Nationale pour la Cohésion des Territoires, France – The Action Cœur de Ville programme is the French government’s flagship programme to support medium-sized cities in their efforts to revitalise city centres through multi-dimensional policies (retail, housing, public spaces)
• Claire Albaret, Chief Operating Officer, Belgian Association of Town Centre Management, Member of the board of directors of Town Centre MAnagement Worldwide – The association advises municipalities on how to better manage their retail development and city centre through town centre management
• Q&A session

• Camille Viros, Head of the Inclusive growth in cities unit, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, OECD