Municipal plan under way to attract European recovery funds

The roadmap ‘Barcelona, planning for the future’ sets out the strategies for accessing European economic recovery funding. The plan has seven key points for revitalising the city which have the backing of economic, social and health stakeholders and others from the sphere of innovation and research.

15/12/2020 15:54 h

Ajuntament de Barcelona

The municipal plan has been designed to attract European funds from the economic aid package to mitigate the Covid-19 crisis. Specifically, Barcelona would like to access subsidies from the Next Generation European recovery fund, worth 140,000 million euros for Spain as a whole, of which 52% will go to autonomous regional or local projects offering innovative plans which are sustainable on an environmental, social and economic scale. Projects seeking to access the subsidies must be presented before 30 April 2021.

Seven points for reactivating the city

The municipal plan ‘Barcelona, planning for the future’ is the result of the work by the technical secretariat, which has worked with the city’s main stakeholders to develop a project based around seven strategic points. Each one brings together a series of goals to get the most from European funding:

  • Boost for the economy: to create quality jobs, help towards the redistribution of wealth and the social recovery, diversify the economy to reduce reliance on services and strengthen local commerce and the entrepreneurial network.
  • Renewable energies and renovation: to drive energy renewal plans for buildings, increase the pool of affordable housing through renovation and consolidate the business network based around sustainable energy.
  • Fair digital transition: to reduce the digital divide and drive citizen empowerment, extend the use of new technologies in all spheres of society, roll out the 5G network and back digital sovereignty.
  • Sustainable mobility: to consolidate a quality public transport model and help improve air quality, to strengthen metropolitan connections and drive more sustainable forms of travel and the reuse of urban spaces.
  • Social and health infrastructures: to improve social and health facilities and digitalise their resources, consolidate the care sector and ensure access to social and health services, particularly for the most vulnerable.
  • Innovation and knowledge: to revitalise the city’s innovation ecosystem with the participation of universities, research centres and local, national and international companies, and to build a competitive and sustainable economic development model in line with the 2030 Agenda.
  • Recovery of nature: to promote a recovery plan for urban ecosystems, with special attention to the areas around the Besòs river, and to create spaces linked to nature and recreation which promote health and community well-being.

 

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