Maximizing EU Funding for the Implementation of Green and Sustainable Initiatives in Cultural and Creative Cities

The path toward a green economy presents substantial challenges to cities and regions and will call for major investment and a creative approach. European Union (EU) funding has emerged as a central source of support for realizing this transition, especially through initiatives that combine culture, creativity, and sustainability. The paper analyzes the worth of EU funding for encouraging the green transition of cultural and creative cities, with a specific focus on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Operational Program Berlin 2014–2020. Berlin is a successful cultural and creative capital, and a shining best practice for how the EU funds can contribute to turning green, innovative, and sustainable urban development into a reality. A new examination of EU funding sources, namely the Green Deal, the Just Transition Fund and Creative Europe, makes the case for the need to balance cultural and environmental goals. Quantitative analysis has been employed in the research via linear regression models for the purpose of quantifying the impact of ERDF spending on markers such as high-tech jobs, science and technology human resources, GDP, and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the findings, EU funding plays a significant role in fostering economic growth alongside sustainability in creative cities. Moreover, the findings indicate that Berlin’s integration of creative into green policy has been successful, albeit with continuing challenges related to the implementation and assessment of cultural policy. This paper contributes to the literature by illuminating the means through which EU funds are best optimized for sustainable urban development in the culture industry, with policy recommendations for cities attempting to balance creativity with environmental stewardship.