Sustainable urban development-smart cities and green growth.

The sustainable development of smart cities, which supports the green economy, in Slovenia highlights the challenges of energy efficiency in connection with the sustainable construction of buildings and sustainable mobility as key areas. Among the key development challenges of Slovenia's urban centers, the problems of air pollution, poor accessibility by public transport and the problem of bottlenecks, underutilized urban areas of cities in relation to the need to provide new areas for economic development, and degraded industrial areas stand out. Cities are focal points for solving social, economic and environmental challenges and a space that offers opportunities for the most sustainable forms of living. Cities are also hubs of connections, innovation, creativity and services. Cities are understood as key building blocks of the EU's global competitiveness both from the point of view of competitive economic regions and from the point of view of quality and healthy living. The strong role of cities in the EU is also reflected at the implementation level. The development of urban areas is gaining more and more importance also within the framework of European policies, where the policy of urban development has been built in a targeted manner for more than 15 years and pursues the goals of: balanced economic growth and spatial distribution of activities with a polycentric urban system; the creation of strong urban regions that they offer good access to services; the creation of compact urban settlements with limited suburbanization; high quality of the environment.