What should the urban area of Girona be?

GironaIn 2000, the city of Girona had just over 73,000 inhabitants. Currently, there are more than 107,000 registered residents. In a quarter of a century, the population has grown by 43%. But this growth isn't limited to the city itself; the entire metropolitan area has seen an even more significant increase (48%). Vilablareix has doubled its population, but Fornells de la Selva, Sant Gregori, Sant Julià de Ramis, Campllong, and Quart are close behind. These towns, with inadequate public transportation, depend directly on Girona for their residents' daily lives: many commute to work in the city. Thinking of Girona no longer means thinking only of the city itself, but of the entire metropolitan area. But which municipalities should be included?

With this reflection, the second Repensem Girona conference concluded on Friday, November 21st, where the city's mayor, Lluc Salellas, asserted that "the urban area is not the future, but the present." The challenge lies in finding governance mechanisms and the best model to suit the urban area, but above all, in figuring out how to finance the decisions that are made. "Girona is not lagging behind the rest of Spain in this respect, given the very limited metropolitan activity," he reflected. Mariona Tomàs—a professor of political science at the University of Barcelona and an expert in governance in metropolitan environments—. “It’s not a debate that’s at the center of the political chessboard, but the Europe Effect can be an incentive for cooperation with European funds.”

To define the boundaries of this supra-municipal area, which is still not clearly defined, the City Council commissioned the University of Girona at the beginning of the summer to conduct a study to establish the foundations of the new urban area. While awaiting its conclusions, the City Council released its initial plan on Friday. This multi-criteria proposal for urban areas comprises four concentric rings, the main one stretching from Cervià de Ter and Celrà to Vilobí de Onyar and, surprisingly, Cassà de la Selva. "With almost 11,000 inhabitants, it's a municipality that has grown significantly due to its proximity to Girona," explained Jaume Feliu, a researcher with the Territorial and Environmental Analysis and Planning (APTA) research group in the UdG's Department of Geography. The analysis considered various factors, including daily commutes within the city, distance, urban continuity, and also the area of industrial parks and major transport infrastructure. That's why Vilobí de Onyar is also included, which is expected to experience even more significant growth once the high-speed rail (AVE) station to the airport is operational. In total, the first ring of this urban area would comprise 15 municipalities, already anticipating future growth, and would have up to 185,000 inhabitants. The challenge, in this sense, is how to structure governance mechanisms among municipalities of unequal size: from Salt, with a third of Girona's population, to the smallest, Sant Andreu Salou, with only 172 inhabitants. Or municipalities with economic disparities and different political affiliations.

For Mariona Tomàs, Barcelona could be taken as an example, but if there's one thing she's learned over time, it's that "there are no clear recipes to copy" when it comes to creating metropolitan areas. Whether it's through the creation of a supramunicipal institution, as in Barcelona, ​​Paris, or London, without direct citizen elections, or through voluntary cooperation or the creation of an association of municipalities, as Tarragona has just done, the common approach often ends up being the creation of a metropolitan agency to provide a service—as in the case of Girona's ATM—which, according to Tomàs, offers a "fragmented and short-term perspective."

High use of bicycles

Metropolitan areas are also key to sustainable mobility. With the construction of the bike lane leading to Celrà nearing completion, Girona is about to be connected by bike lanes to all the surrounding municipalities. But as Josep Honey-Rosés, a researcher at ICTA-UAB and promoter of City Lab Barcelona“A greenway is not the same as a good, well-lit, and paved bike lane that should allow you to cycle to work every day.” During her presentation, just after the announcement of the Girocleta's arrival in Salt in 2026, she pointed out that bicycle use in Girona “is one of the highest in Spain,” representing 10% of journeys, on par with cities like Strasbourg. “The entire region is getting closer to the 15-minute commute if we cycle,” she asserted. In this regard, Mercè Teixidor, Head of Mobility for the Girona City Council, explained that they are in the final stages of approving the project. Girona's Supra-municipal and Sustainable Mobility Plan (PMUS)Work began in 2019, it includes eleven municipalities and details all the steps and recommendations that each city council must follow for decarbonization with very specific measures, such as the construction of the long-awaited large park and ride facilities.