Barcelona DF is born, a platform with a metropolitan vocation
The world is experiencing a period of great change and Barcelona has stagnated in recent years. The city faces the future with more doubts than certainties, a victim of the political instability that plagues Catalonia and the populism of the government ofThere is Colau. Four months before the municipal elections,Barcelona Federal District,a platform that advocates rethinking the current model and interprets Barcelona as the engine and capital of a metropolitan area much larger than the current one.
The premiere of Barcelona DF brought together more than 100 people in the Sala Martí l'Humà, of the Barcelona History Museum. Chaired by the lawyerJosé María Cardellach, is defined as a “cell for reflection on the present and future of Barcelona.”
ALBERICH, FERNANDEZ TEIXIDÓ Y NEBREDA
Also participating in the official presentation wereJosé Enrique Ruiz-Doménec,UAB professor of Medieval History;Ramon Garcia Bragado, lawyer and former manager and former urban planning councilor of the Barcelona City Council; and the businesswomanMartha Roger.Among the audience were, among others, Jordi Alberich, former president of the Cercle d'Economia; Montse Nebreda, former deputy of the PP in the Parliament of Catalonia; and Antoni Fernández Teixidó, politician and economist.
“Today's world is shaped by global cities and Barcelona, historically, has had this vocation,” said Cardellach, who lamented “the deterioration and erosion of the Barcelona brand.” The reasons, thesovereignty processythe mismanagement of Ada Colau.
Ruiz-Doménec, for his part, made a historical review of Barcelona, going back to the 12th century when the city was already recognized as an important commercial and mercantile center. He also highlighted the great leap experienced during the 19th century with the new urbanism ofIldefons Cerdàand the first Universal Exposition that the city hosted, in 1888.
García Bragado, Cardellach, Ruíz-Domenec and Roger, speakers from Barcelona DF/ HUGO FERNÁNDEZ
METROPOLITAN BARCELONA
Bragado, with a much more political profile, demanded a metropolitan Barcelona, “without borders.” After lamenting that “subtlety in politics has ended and we have entered the trenches,” he who wasfourth deputy mayor of the City Council with the PSCHe asked for “a reflection on the Barcelona area.”
“It is not enough to talk only about Barcelona. The metropolitan area is 36 municipalities, the metro city, while the metropolitan region covers a second crown,” Bragado stressed. “Today, Barcelona is on the ropes because it does not have the capacity to act outside its limits. Unfortunately, there is no homogeneity in the economic policies of the metropolitan area,” he insisted in a very critical tone.
Fernández Teixidó, second from the right, attended the premiere of Barcelona DF / HUGO FERNÁNDEZ
THE GREAT CITIES OF THE FUTURE
Bragado assured that “the inequalities are enormous” and stressed that “the problems ofSant Adrià and Santa Coloma, for example, they have no solution without Barcelona.” The former urban planning manager also stated that “citizens and institutions are not aligned at this time.” “When this happens, Barcelona is unstoppable,” resumed Cardellach, who gave Olympic Barcelona as an example.
Marta Roger, agricultural businesswoman, advocated establishing new synergies between the capital and all the populations of the province of Barcelona “because our city is part of a global network and has to be aopen metropolisto new technologies, to companies, to cooperation with other administrations.” In his speech he also pointed out that in 2050, “70% of people will live in large cities.”
Lluís Regàs