Conferences on metropolitan development
| Subject: Urban Public Spaces, International Relations, Urban Planning
Avitem holds its third seminar in Barcelona on urban and territorial development in the Mediterranean
This seminar let participants grasp and understand the deep changes in the metropolitanisation process that the Barcelona area has experienced and the responses given by professionals and those in charge of territorial organisation policies who took part. Over the course of the week, participants could learn first-hand about some of the projects implemented in the metropolitan area, such as the development of the Poblenou neighbourhood and 22@ (in Barcelona) and in the La Mina neighbourhood (in Sant Adrià de Besòs). There were debates on governance and the way in which the AMB has successfully managed rapid urban growth and developed a strategic plan from different angles—economic, environmental, mobility—and how it has coordinated the different public and private stakeholders in the territory to develop joint strategies between institutions and civil society.
AMB's presentation of its competences and of the challenges faced by the metropolitan territory was done by Francesc Magrinyà, AMB Director of Strategic Planning. Héctor Santcovsky, AMB director of Social and Economic Development, also spoke, setting out the main strategic lines to boost economic activity, employment and the creation of companies in the territory. On 26 October, seminar participants could attend the commemorative event for the 25th anniversary of MedCities. The last day focused on sustainable urban territories, with Carles Conill, AMB director of Sustainable Mobility, presenting the strategy for energy transition, sustainable mobility and climate change for the metropolis. Xavier Segura summarised the main actions in the metropolitan public space. And the closing debate, which included participation by Santcovsky and Josep Maria Carrera, director of the Presidency division, centred on the Metropolis Barcelona project.
Since 2014, AViTeM has organised an annual seminar series on urban and territorial development in the Mediterranean for political leaders and senior executives that deal with common challenges, with the aim of promoting an exchange of experiences through reciprocity, debate and learning from the different focuses of urban project at all territorial levels.