Long-term outlook for metropolitan area growth

Urban planning is a long and complex process. Agreed. However, it is still somewhat frustrating that it is taking so long to implement the new Metropolitan Urban Plan (PDUM), which was finally approved initially yesterday for the second time. The first approval, in 2023, received so many objections—5,180—that it took three years to present the new document. Let's put this in context. This plan is the necessary step to definitively retire the Metropolitan General Plan that was drawn up in 1976 under the direction of Joan Antoni Solans, a leading urban planner who, nevertheless, did so in a pre-democratic era and within a context of still-unprecedented urban expansion. developerOver a thousand modifications have been made, and the proof that it was a good plan is that it has lasted until today. However, things have changed a lot in these 50 years, and new rules of the game were needed. The process to create them began in 2013; it took ten years for them to be approved for the first time, and final approval is not expected until 2028. That is, from the time they were first conceived until work can begin on implementing them, 15 years will have passed. And that's if everything goes well.

And then, it will probably already be outdated, because it seems clear that the current Barcelona metropolitan area, which includes 36 municipalities, has become too small, and it is very possible that at that point the debate will be about creating a larger metropolitan region, which includes Maresme, the two Vallès departments, and the Gar department. And this is without taking into account that urban development possibilities would be much greater if the railway and road infrastructure plan that the country needs weren't even slower and more frustrating.

In this sense, the Urban Development Plan (PDUM) that has just been presented is pragmatic. It has opted for the dense city – a hallmark of the Barcelona model – but with a focus on mixed-use development, meaning that the areas where people work are not as clearly separated from those where they live. The aim is to break with the commuter town model and move towards what is now known as the "15-minute city," meaning that, ideally, a large part of the population would have their jobs and basic services (schools, health centers, shops) within a maximum of 15 minutes of their homes. Therefore, the plan has chosen not to favor sprawling growth – even reducing developable land – and to establish guidelines to promote densification and the regeneration of already urbanized areas. While the details haven't been explained in detail, this generally implies taller buildings, which will undoubtedly change the landscape of many cities. In addition, there are 16 large growth areas that will receive special treatment. The idea is to have a total of 200,000 new homes by 2050.

The details require much analysis, but the current concern is that this option is only feasible if these changes of use, their approval, and the negotiations with numerous small property owners are truly expedited. As a country, we cannot afford for all these processes to be so lengthy. The world is moving fast, and the wave has already passed us by. We need agile management tools and greater efficiency to avoid the possibility that, by the time it can be implemented, the planning will already be completely obsolete.