Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona

Last Friday, June 15th, AMB presented at IBEI  a study analysing the different models of cooperation and organisation of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Greater Manchester, Stuttgart and Zurich metropolitan areas. The document includes a set of political recommendations that could be implemented in the metropolitan area of Barcelona.

In the event, shared challenges were analysed, as well as possible ways to adopt the recommendations proposed in the study. The presentation was organised in collaboration with the Europe for Citizens MEANING project. The conference involved the participation of representatives of the metropolitan areas studied.

The study was developed by the Metropolitan Research Institute in Budapest, a renowned European organisation in the field of urban and metropolitan issues.

Exchange and cooperation with others

The author, Ivan Tosics, presented the main conclusions and later moderated a debate where participants and audience contributed with their opinions. The discussion focused on issues such as direct election of metropolitan governments, metropolitan identity, competencies and resources of metropolitan authorities, urban planning, and the relationship that must be established with stakeholders, such as universities or SMEs, in order to foster development.

Alfred Bosch, Vice-President of AMB's Area for International Relations and Cooperation, highlighted the institution's strong commitment to the metropolitan project, and stated that exchange and cooperation with other metropolises is the best way to learn, to improve governance and to ensure that better services are provided to citizens.

Bosch emphasized that the AMB has proved its commitment to the international agenda by actively participating in the debates of the New Urban Agenda.

"We have recently organised an international conference on Post-Habitat III, where more than 200 experts addressed the challenges of future cities and identified the most relevant issues in the metropolitan agenda" said the Vice-President.

The purpose of this work is to contribute to the debates on governance, competencies and funding of the AMB. This has been carried out within the European Metropolitan Authorities (EMA) initiative, which provides leaders in European metropolitan areas with a platform to discuss current metropolitan challenges. The conclusions of the study will be presented in October at the annual EMA summit that will be held in Rome.