Catalonia 2050:
a disruptive
urban agenda

We assisted the Catalan government design a forward-looking strategy that embraced green and digital transitions as the driving forces of territorial transformation towards a balanced and equitable future.

The challenge

Catalonia, while being an innovative and economically dynamic region with high levels of well-being, still faces evident territorial imbalances between its rural and urban areas and the metropolis of Barcelona and the rest of the region. Social inequalities are pressing, and the challenges posed by climate change threaten cohesion and development.

In response, the Government of Catalonia took on a formidable challenge – to establish a comprehensive, regionwide, long-term strategic framework for public policies that embrace green and digital transitions as the driving forces for innovative transformation. The ultimate goal is to pave the way towards a balanced and equitable future for all citizens, cities, and towns by 2050.

Our approach

Drawing upon the results of a multi-stakeholder participatory process initiated by the government in 2017, involving more than 800 individuals of all ages and organizations across the region, 262 action priorities were identified concerning urban and territorial development. Seeking our expertise, Anteverti was tasked with conceptualizing, structuring, and developing the strategy, ensuring it incorporates the outcomes of the prior collective reflection.

The strategy sets an ambitious and pioneering vision for 2050, focusing on three horizons: a balanced and cohesive territory, an innovative and high-value-added economy poised for the future, and an empowered and united society.

Concurrently, the Government recognized green and digital transitions as essential and indispensable allies to catalyze the necessary territorial and urban transformations towards these three horizons, along with the imperative of modernizing governance and management to enable their realization.

Our support revolved around defining the strategy’s vision and mission, outlining thematic axes, establishing lines of action and indicators for each, and assisting in setting objectives for each domain, suitably named. Additionally, we prepared the final document for the Government, known as the ‘Agenda of Towns and Cities. Catalonia 2050.’

The result

In June 2022, the Urban Assembly of Catalonia, the multi-actor entity facilitating the prior participatory process, approved the ‘Agenda of Towns and Cities. Catalonia 2050.’ Subsequently, the agenda was presented at the 11th World Urban Forum in Katowice, Poland.

Distinct from other urban agendas worldwide, the ‘Agenda of Towns and Cities. Catalonia 2050’ presents an innovative and disruptive vision, highlighting green and digital transitions as the primary drivers of the transformations that will shape the future of the region. It promises to deliver a high quality of life and territorial balance in the medium and long term. This aspect is genuinely groundbreaking in the realm of urban agendas and proudly reflects the ambitious and powerful vision we contributed to developing.