This case study on Strasbourg is part of the annexes of the ESPON URDICO final report. Strasbourg is the capital of the Grand Est region in France and one of the official capitals of the European Union. The city has around 292,000 inhabitants, while the Eurom?tropole de Strasbourg (EMS), which groups 33 municipalities, has 517,000 inhabitants. The broader functional urban area covers 268 municipalities with 865,000 inhabitants, excluding the cross-border Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau.

The EMS provides metropolitan governance with competencies in housing, transport, spatial planning, economic development, environment, and social policies. Since 2002, it has acted as an intermediary body managing European funds through Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI) and participates in direct EU programs such as Interreg, Horizon, and LIFE.

This annex examines how EU Cohesion Policy is implemented in Strasbourg, the city’s institutional capacity, and the alignment between EU funding and local development strategies, highlighting key challenges and opportunities for urban and metropolitan development.