The conference "A Metropolitan Agenda for Spanish Cities", held at the Museu de les Aigües in Barcelona, brought together mayors and representatives from cities such as Bilbao, A Coruña, Zaragoza, Málaga, Valencia, Tarragona, and Barcelona. The primary objective was to express a "shared will to strengthen the metropolitan dimension of public policies".
The event, organized by the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) as part of its 15th-anniversary celebrations, focused on discussions about mobility, waste management, and water management. Antonio Balmón, Executive Vice-President of AMB and Mayor of Cornellà de Llobregat, emphasized the importance of building "metropolitan territories based on consensus to improve citizens' lives".
The meeting was structured into three debate areas: metropolitan governance and housing policies; climate change and digital transformation; and civil society and metropolitan strategic thinking. Participants included representatives from city councils and organizations such as Bilbao Metropoli 30, Fundación CIEDES, and Ebrópolis.
The conclusions of the conference, presented by AMB manager Ramon Torra, outline a ten-point plan of shared challenges. These include ensuring access to decent and affordable housing, accelerating the ecological transition, promoting the metropolitan scale as a governance space, advancing digital transition, fostering public-private cooperation, strengthening resilience, promoting a favorable state framework for metropolitan policies, ensuring local participation in European funds, articulating collaboration between administrations, and ensuring continuity for an open and stable alliance of metropolitan areas.
The ultimate goal is to consolidate a shared metropolitan vision based on loyalty, cooperation, public innovation, sustainability, and social cohesion to respond to present and future challenges.
