Other European cities can learn from Barcelona's experience over the last 20 years as it transformed its industrial heritage to fit the needs of the 21st century, the city's deputy mayor Jordi Williams Carnes has said in an interview with PropertyEU.
Other European cities can learn from Barcelona's experience over the last 20 years as it transformed its industrial heritage to fit the needs of the 21st century, the city's deputy mayor Jordi Williams Carnes has said in an interview with PropertyEU.
Speaking at the Barcelona Meeting Point real estate fair, Carnes said the city wants to share its experiences with public-private development partnerships with other European cities. 'At a time of recession the best way to look at the future is to share our model and experiences with others,' he said.
Barcelona, he said, had inherited disused mills from its industrial past. Instead of knocking them down and developing new properties, the authorities in Barcelona decided on a mixed approach - some new development and the conversion of the mills for residential accommodation and university and cultural centres.
'We have chosen perhaps a more complicated, sophisticated and slower model,’ he said. But the deputy mayor added that the city authorities felt that it would be more interesting in the long run to use the mills for a combination of activities including living, working and studying.
Click on the link below to watch the interview.
