"Cities are increasingly seen as ""engines of regional development"" and the main competitive hubs within a global web of economic, knowledge and physical flows. Cities are fertile ground for science and technology, culture, entrepreneurship and creativity. However, cities are also places where problems are concentrated, such as the decoupling of economic growth and employment, social and spatial segregation, poverty, environmental degradation and climate change.Europe’s competitiveness depends greatly on its cities and metropolitan regions, where enterprises can benefit from agglomeration economies and networks linking regional, national and global market places. In order to address the major challenges of cities a Joint Programming Initiative Urban Europe was launched in 2010 with the ambition to rethink and manage the increasing urban orientation and concentration in Europe and to create and exploit synergy in an urbanised Europe from an economic, social, environmental and transport-related perspective, leading to a strengthened position. 13 EU Member States and Associated Countries have therefore joined forces to coordinate and align their research programmes in order to boost urban research and innovation.BOOST – Cooperation in Urban Science, Technology and Policy, aims to support and strengthen the further establishment of JPI Urban Europe and facilitate effective internal and external communication of this initiative. It will do so by further establishing effective JPI governance structures, bridging scientific gaps, facilitating networking, launching a Research Alliance, outreach to the scientific, policy, industry and civic actors involved in urban development and by stimulating coordination efforts with stakeholders, funding agencies and other international programmes. As a result a sharply focused and realistic Strategic and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for JPI Urban Europe will be developed and appropriate instruments for its implementation defined."