Jorid Borja receives the Gold Medal for Civic Merit
The geographer and urban planner Jordi Borja has received the Gold Medal for Civic Merit in recognition of his exemplary trajectory in the field of urban planning, critical thinking and his civic and political commitment to the city.
Jordi Borja (Barcelona, 1941) studied Sociology, Human Geography and Urban Planning at Sorbonne University in Paris, where he lived in exile after fleeing Francoism, as well as a doctorate in Urban Geography from the University of Barcelona (UB). In 1968 he co-founded the Bandera Roja communist association and in 1974 he joined the PSUC.
With the arrival of democracy, he became a member of the Parliament of Catalonia, from 1980 to 1984, as well as a Deputy Mayor of Barcelona from 1983 to 1995, firstly with the PSUC and later as an independent councillor with the PSC. Borja was one of those responsible for the organisation of Barcelona’s districts, one of the great contributions of his career, as well as one of the speakers for the Barcelona Municipal Charter.
His time teaching saw him give classes at various universities at a local and international level, including the UB, the UPC, the UOC and universities in Paris, Rome, New York, Mexico and Buenos Aires. He also worked as an advisor for strategic plans in Rio de Janeiro, Bogotá and Medellín, and between 2011 and 2016 he was the chair of the DESC observatory.
Notable works among his publication include La ciutat conquerida (2003), Llums i ombres de l’urbanisme a Barcelona (2010) and Ciutats resilients, ciutats possibles (2017).
The award was agreed on in June’s Full Council Meeting, with favourable votes from Junts per Barcelona, the PSC, Barcelona en Comú and the ERC, while the PP abstained and VOX voted against it.
