PAMLED - Building Effective PArtnerships among European and Mediterranean Municipalities for Local Economic Development Promotion

Homepage Partner Skopje

Skopje is the capital and largest city in the Republic of Macedonia, with more than a quarter of the population of the country (506 926 inhabitants), as well as the political, cultural, economic, and academic centre of the country. It was known from the Roman period under the name Scupi. The city developed rapidly after World War II, but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake. Eighty percent of the city was destroyed by the earthquake, and numerous cultural monuments were seriously damaged. A major international relief effort saw the city rebuilt quickly, though much of its old Ottoman aspect was lost in the process. The ruins of the old Skopje train station which was destroyed in the earthquake remain today as a memorial to the victims along with an adjacent museum.Today Skopje is a modern city with a wide range of cultural monuments. It is also a major centre for metal-processing, chemical, timber, textile, leather, and printing industries but has suffered many closures since 1991. Industrial development of the city has been accompanied by developments of the trade and banking sectors, as well as an emphasis on the fields of culture and sport.

Within the PAMLED Project the City of Skopje whishes to share the experience gained in preparaton and implementation of it’s Strategy for Local Economic Development. The City of Skopje describes this practice as a good one because of its participatory methodology in drafting and designing the City Strategy. The importance of the benefits and the potential impact of this approach was recognised as a positive one by all other municipalities, the national government and the international organizations as the OSCE, EU etc.
The City Strategy for local economic development covers the period 2007- 2009.
Local Authority available for technical assistance is the City of Skopje, the Department for local economic development is available to present the methodology, positive and negative experience using of participatory methodology, and strategy management and planning methodology.

Last updated: 03.07.2008