Jordi Hereu

The PEMB has contributed to several matters relevant to our development: together we have thought about the world we find ourselves in, we have ‘thought together’ as a metropolitan city and, by thinking together, we have generated the idea and practice of the city as a collective project where we all play an important role. We did all this in 30 years during which the world has changed more rapidly than ever. While the ‘we’ started out as municipal Barcelona, it is now the real metropolitan Barcelona. That’s where we need to design and build the city as a governance project, which is increasingly evident in Barcelona and everywhere else.

If 30 years ago we needed to create a roadmap, in today’s Barcelona and in today’s world that need is even greater. If 30 years ago we understood that we needed dialogue and consensus among everyone building the city in order to move forward, now we know it is essential. In the coming years we will continue to live in a world of fast-paced disruption, and only by thinking and transforming collectively will Barcelona have a prominent role and not solely be a passive stage for change. The well-being and freedom of our citizens are at stake. In a world that is largely urbanised without city-planning projects, Barcelona must remain a good reference point for a collectively designed project.