Sketching the future of the city with the second edition of the ReAct meetings

With an eye on 2030, the city’s economic future is under discussion from now to Friday with the second edition of the ReAct meetings on the economic reactivation, held at the Disseny Hub building. The event is open to the public, with sixty experts and leaders from local, national and international spheres taking part.

30/03/2022 16:05 h

Daniel Guillen

One project being presented is the re-economisation of the city centre: over 150 million euros has been earmarked for this, with projects to include the transformation of Via Laietana, new facilities in La Rambla and the conversion of the Post Office building into a hub for economic and business activity, along with services for local people in Ciutat Vella.

The 27,000 sqaure metres of floor space will be used to create digital skills training spaces for young people, as well as for start-ups and consolidated companies in the digital sector.

This joint project by the Correus postal service and the Zona Franca Consortium gets under way at the end of 2023 and should generate up to 1,200 jobs. The project will receive fifty million euros in investment.

Boost for the Diagonal Sud area

Sustainable urban planning changes are in store for the area around the Campus Diagonal Sud. These practical and environmentally efficient changes will apply in an area allowing for activities which are compatible with and complementary to university activities, also aimed at citizens and all geared towards the creation of more dynamic learning communities.

The project envisages up to 40,000 square metres of green areas in all, designed to achieve a balance between the activity of 21,000 students and researchers on both university campuses.

Finally, the plan is also for this area of the city to be home to the Nou Clinic, a medical centre with the challenge of covering short and long-term care needs for teaching and research staff.

Other projects under way to remodel the city

The city’s economic future also entails over ten strategic projects which will change Barcelona from top to bottom, such as the remodelling of municipal markets (over 100 million euros invested in four years), the rollout of the Endolla recharging network (over 2,000 points installed by 2024), the Ciutadella del Coneixement, Palo Alto (the creative industries lab) and the remodelling project for the Olympic Port.