Until the global financial crisis hit almost all European countries severely, the GDP growth per capita over the past decade showed an unprecedented growth at the fringes instead of in the European core. This was the case for Cork, Tallin, Sevilla, Budapest and most Polish metropolitan areas. Currently, the former dynamics in these cities are inversed in a strong downward trend. In any case, we witness both the potential and the vulnerabilities of the economies of the new member states. This is reflected in the urban development dynamics. After a period of very strong upward market driven development, we now witness an almost complete stop of capital influx. Still, these mostly secondary cities have to compete in an open European market economy and these cities need to invest heavily in their infrastructure, residential and workspaces and governance structures. In most medium sized cities there is a clear lack of expertise and institutional capacity to develop and guide the necessary developments. Stadslab's aim is to offer design expertise to its hosting-cities while offering its participants a unique way to develop their personal skills, knowledge and European network.