The Leipzig Charter as a guideline for contemporary and public welfare-oriented urban development was reformed under the leadership of the German EU Council Presidency. On 30.11.2020, it was officially adopted by the EU member states at an informal meeting of ministers for urban development and spatial planning.

This was preceded by a two-year evaluation process to adapt the Leipzig Charter adopted in 2007 to more recent global challenges. These include climate change and the loss of biodiversity, migration and demographic change, resource scarcity and changing economic conditions.

Under the title "The New Leipzig Charter - The transformative power of cities for the common good", the new edition defines three fundamental dimensions of sustainable urban change, which include social, economic and ecological aspects: "The just city, the green city and the productive city". As a level of consideration or scale, a distinction is made between the neighbourhood, the city as a whole and the city region. Five key principles of good urban governance are also defined: orientation towards the common good, the integrative approach, participation and co-production, multi-level cooperation and the place-based approach.

A new addition to the Charter is an implementation plan as a basis for good cooperation at local, regional, national and European level in order to strengthen the interests of cities and municipalities in Europe.

The Leipzig Charter 2020 together with the implementation plan and further information are available for download from the Initiative National Urban Development Policy. The documents are currently only available in English, a German version is expected soon.

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