Eurocities Pulse Mayors Survey 2025 is a state-of-cities report published by Eurocities, drawing on an online survey of mayors from the network’s member cities. The publication includes contributions from Eurocities leadership (including President Mathias De Clercq, Mayor of Ghent, and Secretary General André Sobczak) and guest essays from EU and research figures, including Raffaele Fitto (European Commission), Kata Tüttő (European Committee of the Regions), Matthew Baldwin (European Commission Housing Task Force) and Charlotte Halpern (Sciences Po). It compiles findings from 86 responses from mayors in 26 European countries, based on nine open-ended and 13 closed questions collected between December 2024 and February 2025.
The survey frames European cities as central actors in delivering climate action, mobility transformation, social cohesion and housing solutions, while facing tightening fiscal conditions and geopolitical uncertainty. It also adopts a format inspired by Eurobarometer-style pulse checks, presenting aggregate and (where specified) regionally disaggregated results, and highlighting recurring requests for stronger multi-level governance and more direct EU support for city priorities.
Climate action remains the leading priority for 2025 for the third year in a row, selected by 63% of mayors as a top priority. Affordable housing rises to second place, selected by 33% as a top priority and by more than one in three mayors overall among their leading concerns. Social inclusion and equity remains close behind (34%), while urban planning and infrastructure is cited by 30%, and economic recovery and attractiveness rises to 27%. The report also notes a shift in prominence for affordable housing: it is the number-one priority for one in six mayors, twice as many as in the previous year.
Housing affordability is presented as a deepening Europe-wide challenge. Over one in three mayors (39%) report that housing costs are unaffordable in their city, while only 14% say housing remains affordable; 47% place their city in a “moderate/at risk” category. The report highlights severe pressures in parts of Southern and Western Europe, citing cities such as Barcelona (rated the most unaffordable in the survey), with other large metropolitan areas such as Amsterdam and Zurich also in the “unaffordable” range.
Mayors identify the main drivers of housing unaffordability as demand exceeding supply (76%), rising construction costs (71%) and limited land availability (60%). Additional drivers cited include speculative investment (29%), short-term rentals (25%) and regulatory constraints (26%). The report also notes city-specific shocks affecting supply and demand, such as rapid population increases linked to displacement and refugee arrivals, or sudden destruction of housing stock following disasters.
In response, mayors prioritise increasing the supply of affordable housing: 93% place it among their top three housing development priorities, and 47% rank it as their top priority. Other commonly selected priorities include reducing the housing cost burden for vulnerable groups (69% in top three), expanding social housing stock (76% in top three; 32% rank it as top), and improving housing quality and sustainability (47% in top three). Examples referenced include tighter regulation of short-term rentals and strategies that combine affordability with energy-efficient renovation of existing stock.
On EU support, the strongest request is for more direct EU budget resources for housing, ranked as the top priority by 56% of mayors. Mayors also call for EU incentives that make it easier for national governments to invest in housing by easing budgetary constraints (25%), and for improved availability and access to European Investment Bank loans (12%). The report emphasises barriers cities face in practice, including administrative complexity, fragmented funding instruments, and unstable or quickly exhausted funding envelopes, and links these concerns to the forthcoming European Affordable Housing Plan and the European Commission’s housing consultation work.
