Cooperation of municipalities in Tartu urban area

In cooperation with Tartu city and the local governments bordering it, Geomedia prepared the document “Tartu urban area sustainable development strategy 2015-2020”. For the implementation of the vision of “Tartu urban area as the best urban living environment with growing population and high internal cohesion, which is recognised as a worthy place for self-fulfillment”, it is important to connect the region’s growth doctrine to the well-being/quality of life doctrine. In the cooperation between local governments, it is important to enhance the cohesion inside the urban area and its international competitiveness. In order to use the region’s territorial potential and to develop the links between living areas and functional links, there is a need for independent and continuous city policy. As part of the regionalization of the public sector and the extension of educational establishments and workforce settlement, the position of Tartu as the center of South Estonia has strengthened. With its socio-economic development Tartu urban region has to be able to drive the growth of South Estonia as a whole in order to hinder the widening regional development gap. Strong efforts are necessary in the organization of the region’s development in order to assure the horizontal and vertical cooperation of different fields and the coordination of activities based on multilevel governance.