Lighthouse of the Mediterranean and a city with a global reach. Between desire and reality, Barcelona and its metropolitan region drag pending tasks to fulfill the dream. To traditional needs such as liquidating eternal infrastructures or mobility problems are now added the possibility of water and energy crises, as the last year has shown. With the threat of a loss of influence and potential, taking a leap forward is increasingly urgent to avoid problems becoming entrenched, warns a report by the Public-Private Sector Research Center (PPSRC, from IESE) with the vision of 19 think tanks and organizations with impact in the city, seeking to reach the election programs.
Not all is lost and not all is perfect. The study identifies the need for tweaks in the economic, industrial, energy and training model. Without forgetting the housing, environmental and mobility front. These are familiar themes, repeated in previous reports. That is why it is concluded that Barcelona is short-sighted. “There is a lack of long-term vision, of a city project. Partisan polarization prevents the resolution of problems and consensus paralyzes”, says Xavier Vives, professor at IESE and director of the PPSRC. The struggle and color changes imply “overpoliticizing decisions.” For example, with twists and turns with the expansion of the airport, which has majority support for its growth among those surveyed.
Precisely mobility would be one of the most urgent issues. “Both in Barcelona, ??in its conurbation and internationally,” says Vives. The bottlenecks in traffic, the problems and lack of investment in Rodalies and the delay in La Sagrera, the L9 metro, the FGC L8, the B-40 or the Mediterranean corridor serve as examples. The proposed solution is to promote intermodality –metro, train, access, highway connections…–, but it is difficult if there is a governance deficit and “inter-institutional cooperation at the municipal and metropolitan level” is not even achieved, they argue. from Barcelona Global in the report.
The encystment ends up soaking everything. There is a lack of leaders and stability in public policies, it is detailed, keys to the change in the economic model that is coming in the region. Today the focus is on the negative externalities of tourism, “which are barely offset” by the contribution to the economy, they point out from FemCAT. But it’s not all about reorienting tourism or regulating overcrowding: there is a forced transformation of the industry. In the engine, for example, with the electrification of Seat and the departure of Nissan. “In order not to miss the electric car train, a lot of public-private coordination is needed,” says Vives. By rebound, with more electric cars on the streets noise and pollution would be reduced. But the doubts about Perte and the plan to replace Nissan show that there is a long way to go.
The ideal is to pivot to an economy based on talent and knowledge, he defends himself. Although international companies such as Cisco, Intel, Rovio, AstraZeneca or Ypsomed continue to arrive in recent times, there are also things to solve, such as less bureaucracy to create and bring firms. Another front is talent management, which is increasingly notorious. The disconnect between what companies want and what the centers teach makes talent scarcer and therefore expensive. “We don’t train as much as companies require, the cost becomes more expensive and they end up moving to other cities”, comments Enric Urreta, president of 22@Network Barcelona. “VET is a black hole in many ways, it depends on many factors and administrations. The transfer of technology (R&D) to the company has also run aground”, adds Vives. In addition, a more polyglot city is requested, which integrates more those who come from abroad, with less paperwork, better taxation and more equality.
Further, the model needs to diversify. It points to the smart city, the green economy (based on sustainability, as in food) and the blue (gaze at the sea). It is called to make better use of the port, with a future that is also decarbonized and that promotes the cruise tourist, “who spends considerably more”, they propose from the Port of Barcelona. The connection with the Mediterranean corridor would put it on the New Silk Road. “With an international perspective, the region will be international. With a provincial look, it will be that”, one of the participants points out. “You have to have axes of differentiation. Port, airport, tourism and smart city (with industry 4.0) can make the future come true”, points out Carlos Puig de Travy, dean of the Col·legi d’Economistes.
Less economical, but a priority and repeated, is to look for a model of green axes and superblocks that satisfy everyone, more green spaces, attacking insecurity, air quality or social housing.
So far the more or less known. Because there are more threats, new ones. Without correct management it can end up in a water crisis of “disastrous magnitudes”. Something that at the moment has not been given by the desalination plants, although at the end of the year the alarms for the drought were already activated. Among the proposed measures, the use of roofs to recover water.
The other front is energy. The war has demonstrated the volatility of costs. The industry has seen theirs skyrocket and drivers more of the same with fuel. We must reduce dependence on fossil fuels: only 20% of the energy consumed in the city comes from renewable sources, as cited in the report. As concrete measures, electrify mobility, promote self-consumption, installations in small orchards and grow in solar, wind, biomass and reversible hydraulics, which are not being used. Promote the decarbonization of energy, with more renewables. A process that “seems slow”. “We are late,” acknowledges Vives, something that is repeated at the regional level.
The partial or erroneous solutions in the different points weigh. “There are no illusions or collective projects”, they launch from the Eurecat technology center. “Many of the problems can only be resolved on a metropolitan scale. Cooperation is not achieved and it is essential ”, criticizes Vives. “The city needs the area and the metropolitan region. Go all together”, says Puig de Travy. And evaluate the repercussions of their decisions, she adds, because there will always be a gap between what is available and what the public demands.
There are problems, but top-level companies and events continue to be recruited. The Mobile World Congress, the ISE, the America’s Cup… “You have to sell yourself better, capitalize on achievements. We have fallen into a kind of pessimism,” Urreta believes. “You run the risk of lost potential. There is a lack of a long-term project and previous problems are not resolved”, sums up Vives.
The Catalan Association of Research Entities participated in the report; 22@Network; Barcelona Future; Barcelona Global; Barcelona-Catalonia Logistics Centre; Research Centers of Catalonia; the College of Road, Canal and Port Engineers; the College of Economists; the College of Industrial Engineers; Eurecat; FemCAT Foundation; Barcelona Fair; BEST Foundation; Global Health Institute of Barcelona; Port of Barcelona; RACC; UAB, UB and UPC.
