D2.3 - UP2030 benchmarking report against state-of-the-art and identification of pilot opportunities 2

This deliverable proposes a qualitative benchmarking system for orientating cities’ goals and guide climate implementation strategies. It aims to align urban policies, projects, and designs with the innovative carbon neutrality approach of UP2030 and its concept of “just and resilient carbon neutral city”. This integrated perspective guides the benchmarking systems for questioning city goals and implementation roadmap, trying to drive cities toward carbon neutral pathways which are not gentrifying (i.e., process through which the economic value of an area increases, often leading to the displacement of current inhabitants), nor inducing trade-offs with climate change adaptation measures. Therefore, the aim of this benchmarking rests on the principles of preventing green gentrification and green-washing, while simultaneously supporting the carbon-neutrality transition. 
The deliverable starts by introducing a state-of-the-art about existing frameworks and benchmarking, followed by a literature review to identify the current cities’ urban transformation barriers across Europe, to better understand why and where (which governance dimension) to focus in order to unlock the potential for sustainable change. In a second part, the UP2030 benchmarking system is explained. It consists of a three-step system, each having a different focus: i) elaborated through city models it aims at inspiring cities in the definition of their goals, ii) introducing an “action filter”, whose goal is to ensure that climate actions consider all the aspects of the UP2030 approach, and iii) develop a set of KPIs depending on cities’ climate action implementation pathway, to measure its progress.