Ada Colau Ballano

Barcelona is a clear example of social and environmental commitment and how cities face global challenges. Together with other metropolitan areas around the world, we are working as a network to address environmental emergencies, overcoming our limitations as a local administration.

The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of sustainable urban design policies. Barcelona is committed to reducing emis- sions and promoting new urban growth, with sustainability as an in- evitable principle, and to building partnerships with other players. An example of this is the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB): In 2021 the Zona Franca has consolidated its position as the Barcelona metropolitan area’s premier platform for generating new opportunities, a key area where the city can plan, analyse and experiment with new models of production, mobility and economy 4.0 on a real scale and in real time.

The Zona Franca has exhibited courage in developing new production models such as the 3DIncubator high-tech centre, the DFactory 4.0 technology hub and facilitating the expansion of Mercabarna. It has also faced the environmental and energy challenge by participating in the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation (Proyecto Estratégico para la Recuperación y Transformación Económica or PERTE) of electric and connected vehicles, promoting photovoltaic panels on the roofs of industrial buildings, extended the bicycle lane network or contributing, together with TMB, to the construction of the first green hydrogen filling station for transport in our country.

There is no doubt that few cities in the world have such outstanding public spaces as the Zona Franca de Barcelona, which serves as an urban laboratory for new productive uses and, by extension, for new emerging professions.

As the Mayor of Barcelona and President of the Board of the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, it is a pleasure to see the brilliant culmination of the DFactory as an industrial 4.0 hub and a magnet for talent and new job growth, the consolidation of the Barcelona New Economy Week (BNEW) and the commitment to gender equality of the Barcelona Woman Acceleration Week (BWAW). These initiatives and many others demonstrate the important role played by the Consorci de la Zona Franca in implementing a climate and productive agenda from a truly social perspective.