Editorial from Anna Gener, Partner & Director of Aguirre Newman Barcelona

CITIES

Urban concentration is a growing trend. Urban experts and analysts of trends of the main universities worlwide confirm this fact. The future is in the cities. This is is very significant at political level as the relevance of the different administrative areas or even the states will be blurred and the cities will set the pace for leading the world.

The cities will clearly be larger than the ones we know today in an attempt to solve the shortage of supply of spaces to work and live.

With regards to Barcelona it is extremely important to promote its actual integration into the rest of the cities in its area of influence even beyond the metropolitan area. Barcelona is not only 100 square km but more than 3,200 square km if we add up its surroundings.

When we get in touch with an international company that looks for a headoffice in Barcelona, they also think of Sant Cugat or Cornellà as Barcelona.

Thus, in order to make our city have a competitive advantage in the international scenario, we must make Barcelona work in a more cohesive way, for instance working together regarding mobility, public transport and the way in which city spaces are developed.

However, this greater integration of close urban conurbations does not only depend on the administrative authoritie’s will but also on the technological solutions that are already available to us. In this respect, Barcelona is luckily one of the top Smart cities worlwide

Our city model has been a reference for ages.

The municipal authorities we had over the years, regardless of their political ideology, have made of Barcelona an international benchmark and they have capitalized on this opportunity.

Interestingly, not everybody likes the term smart city, and it should not be like that as behind the expression there is a strong commitment to improve the citizen’s quality of life through the use of technology.

The use of technology makes our lives significantly more comfortable and enjoyable, as it affects such important aspects as the control of environmental quality standards, management of traffic flows, improvements in public transport ( making it more efficient which allows citizens to have a better management of their time), an optimized management of parking areas and hospitals and so on. Ultimately, technology provide us with interconnection and efficiency. The city is working on it. Now, as citizens we should get involved and be aware of the fact that to make of Barcelona a Smart city means a significant improvement in our life.

Anna Gener Surrell

Managing director and partner Aguirre Newman Barcelona