Stirring Together Urban Design, Business, Academia and Social Development

Design London introduces the team transforming Barcelona into a knowledge intensive city

Earlier this week Design London hosted the Barcelona City Authority, represented by Miquel Barcelo President of 22@ Barcelona and Sergi Guillot.  The 22@ team are managing the largest city centre regeneration project currently taking place in Europe.

The project is redeveloping over 200 hectares of Barcelona’s old industrial district of Poble Nou.  The goal is to establish a thriving and area focused around four industry clusters.  Companies working in ICT, biomedical, digital media and energy are being approached and invited to relocate in the development.  The team hope to establish a critical mass of these industries in the zone and so become an international hub of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Design London’s Nick Leon has been involved in the project and hosted the speakers.  Nick’s helped to create an international district of innovation and transform the level of engagement of the international community with local firms and institutions.   He said:
“The team are working to bring the best ideas from the private sector, to engineer an infrastructure to support a new community and to ensure the planning and design elements of the project complement their vision.” Adding, “Very close to the method Design London has been set up to promote.”

The scale of the project is impressive.  Almost 4 million square metres of construction and deployment of new infrastructure are planned.  All essential services to support the knowledge based networked economy.

At the end of the project, the team hope to have created around 100,000 new jobs in the district.  Around the firms will be related research centres, universities, technology transfer centres, business incubators and live/work spaces. Helping to grow specialist expertise and, in time, to allow cross fertilisation of the four industries.

Leading architects such as Jean Nouvel who recently completed Torre Agbar, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Enric Ruiz Geli are all involved in 22@.  They are designing the high speed rail station, an impressive centre piece in the energy park and others.

Nick Leon added:
“Their approach stirs together urban planning, great architecture, systems for innovation, economic incentives and programmes to support community engagement and increase social capital.”
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For more information, contact:

Elliott White,

Business School Press Manager

020 7 594 9154

e.white@imperial.ac.uk