Repensem l'N-150

| Subject: Metropolis, Land Planning, International Relations

Citizen involvement to transform the N-150 road within the URBACT programme

Carretera N-150

On 3 March, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area organised an informative session open to citizens to present ‘Repensem l'N-150' (Rethinking the N-150 national road), which was attended by over 150 people. The goal of the project is to work with all the agents involved (government agencies, entities, associations and citizens) to co-design the role of the road when it passes through the municipalities of Montcada i Reixac, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Ripollet and Barberà del Vallès.

Everything included in the project was explained and attendees were asked to make suggestions and proposals, as well as be critical with aspects that need to be considered when creating this shared view. There were even opinions regarding the name of the project. All these contributions will form part of the co-creation process that will end with an integrated action plan that shows the way to the new N-150 road. 

This is a project of the RiConnect network of the European URBACT programme, funded whit ERDF funds.

Informative session

The session began with the welcoming speech by Jordi Sánchez, the Vice-president of Development of Urban Policies of the AMB, followed by a short presentation by different councillors of the affected local councils. They all stressed the need to rethink these mobility infrastructures in order to provide people with more appropriate urban environments.

Immediately afterwards, the benefits of forming part of the URBACT programme were explained, such as training, sharing experiences with other metropolitan cities, gaining visibility and the ease for accessing future European funds. Importance was placed on the metropolitan dimension of the RiConnect network that, besides the AMB, includes the metropolitan areas and transport authorities of Porto, Gdansk, Krakow, Paris, Amsterdam, Manchester and Thessaloniki. RiConnect aims to rethink, transform and integrate mobility infrastructures, so as to reconnect people, neighbourhoods, cities and natural spaces.

The next item on the agenda was to explain the goals of the ‘Repensem l'N-150' project, namely: transform the N-150 road into a metropolitan avenue so it may become a channel for public transport and active mobility that links neighbourhoods and cities, while connecting the metropolis from Barberà to Barcelona, as defined in the Metropolitan Urban Master Plan Proposal (PDU). At the same time, the avenue will need to act as the tool to regenerate neighbourhoods, improve public space and, in conclusion, convert what has historically been a barrier into a point of cohesion in urban centres.

To achieve these goals, a process is proposed that will be carried out by working groups made up of elected members, experts from the different government agencies involved, civil society agents, universities, organisations and local citizens, who will co-design the integrated action plan. This action plan must define the long-term view of this road and the necessary steps to accomplish it.

The session ended with an explanation of similar experiences carried out in the metropolitan area. Firstly, the ‘Imagina Badia' integrated action plan, which is the result of Badia del Vallès and the AMB's participation in the Sub>Urban URBACT network. Secondly, the attendees were shown the transformation of the C-245 road between Castelldefels and Cornellà de Llobregat, carried out by the AMB with the involvement of municipalities and the Government of Catalonia, as an example similar to the N-150 road.

Related documents
Related cooperation projects
  • IMG
    Action area:
    Europe
    Subject:
    Mobility and Transport
    Status:
    In progress