Urban Development, Works and Equipment
DESCRIPTION
Reinventing Cities is a call for projects, investment and management that is sponsored by the C40 international network of cities with the aim of redeveloping publicly-owned parcels of land or dilapidated and abandoned buildings with projects that represent a new, more environmentally sustainable and more social way of understanding urban development.
Madrid has taken part in two editions of the competition and is considering participating in the third, to be held in January 2022. At the first edition, Madrid offered two vacant industrial lots in the districts of Villaverde and Vicálvaro, as well as Orcasur Market, which is currently closed, and an underused building on the South Campus of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) which is owned by said university.
At the second edition, it invited proposals for the old Clesa factory building as well as an industrial lot in Atalayuela industrial park and a public co-housing parcel in the vicinity of Barajas Airport. Transfer of these lots is currently underway, as the legal and financial terms of the assignment agreement still need to be finalised.
C40 uses the international reach of its powerful network and all of its social media resources to support and promote this competition. In addition to submitting a project proposal, participants must propose a plan for subsequent management of the planned facility or space as well as a sound financial structure. Madrid City Council is one of 19 cities around the world to have taken part.
Competitors must submit imaginative projects tailored to the local environment (bioclimatic architecture) with innovative uses that can turn the site into an urban regeneration hub that helps revitalise surrounding neighbourhoods. The sites offered by Madrid are in outlying areas and were selected in accordance with the Urban Regeneration Strategy.
OBJECTIVES
Madrid’s participation in this international programme is based on three key objectives:
1: Usher in a new form of urban management to foster innovation in urban development, construction, and the environment in particular, as well as all sorts of innovation in general. This method of public-private partnership is already innovative in itself in Madrid, where it is unprecedented. With this programme, Madrid has opened the door to the most innovative urban management ideas, joining the ranks of the cities that are exploring new models of governance in line with the latest trends.
2: Foster the implementation of projects that exemplify responsible land use, which are based on environmental sustainability, propose zero-carbon buildings and promote energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, sustainable mobility and the circular economy. Madrid’s aim with this programme is to include techniques and procedures in its urban policies which offer imaginative solutions to the urban and environmental challenges of the 21st century.
3: This programme is undertaken simultaneously by 19 cities from all over the world, which have proposed 49 sites for the development of innovative projects that regenerate the land and are based on environmental sustainability. Madrid is thus one of the cities that are leading the fight against climate change, striving to mitigate its effects and adapt the urban environment to new conditions with the aim of building a better world for future generations.
DURATION
Madrid joined Reinventing Cities by means of a signatory letter from its mayor on 15 November 2017. The first edition, held from December 2017 to May 2019, consisted of two “Expression of Interest” phases to select the finalist teams and the “Final Proposal” phase to select the winners. The second edition was held from December 2019 to May 2021 and had a similar structure. It also featured the participation of a broad international jury and the involvement of the relevant councils and departments, professional colleges and associations, political parties and experts on architecture, sustainability and innovation.
Madrid City Council (and, where applicable, UPM as owner of one of the South Campus parcels) will transfer use of the land and buildings offered in the competition via a process of negotiation in which the parties will agree on the terms of the contract to be signed. Of the 7 sites, 4 projects have the greatest feasibility of being developed, and formalities are being carried out to award concessions for operation of the sites for the relevant time period in each case based on the economic/financial study conducted and conditional upon subsequent construction and management of the project.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Reinventing Cities >>
C40 >>
