Let's go back 5 years, from 2017 until today: social discouragement, political agitation, economic crisis, black swans like a pandemic, terrorism... what else? And, despite everything, do we really see Barcelona in black? Honestly, I don't: I see white swans, like those in 2022, two (three) swans about which we have many reasons to see brightly.
I often walk with entrepreneurs, as with visionaries, I talk with investors, I meet with scientists, and, leaving aside the SDGs and the pin on the lapel, I can affirm that, in their most absolute majority, what they want is to make a better world. Genuinely. And, in passing, make a living.Some want to help people take care of their mental health or fight cancer; others to connect people eager to work with people who need things delivered to their homes; many want to prevent the environmental degradation of our rivers and oceans; there are those who are obsessed with helping us avoid administrative and/or financial expenses, and I know one who helps musicians upload their works to digital music platforms; in general, projects based on research, science, and technology. In the last two years, many of them, and all of us, have fought against the pandemic: some in laboratories, others in offices or in for-profit or non-profit entities, and all of us, in the vast majority, complying with life restrictions.But Barcelona continues, at street level, growing at its own pace, taking advantage of good momentum.I encourage observing the rhythm of this city above political debates, trends, crises, and comparisons. When you perform this exercise, you realize that it continues to grow and take advantage of bad times to draw us a good future. The city offers a warm welcome to visionaries, dreamers, technologists, scientists, doctors, designers, to women and men from here and there who from here make great projects possible and, we Barcelonans, come out winning. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one", says the song. They are not alone, not at all, and in the history of Barcelona there are hundreds of examples of great stories born here from scratch. And this, despite everything, continues to happen. In my professional role of helping visionaries change our environment for the better, I risk money, time, and energy. Whether it goes well or badly, I don't care: I only see and have recorded that these efforts bear fruit, without big headlines, without big calls for celebration or freedom, with the vision of doing things well, with directed ambition and in the right place and time.But let's pause for a moment this idyllic and perhaps self-congratulatory vision: where are the spaces to protect those who take risks with new business models? Where are the supports to experiment with new frameworks for economic and social development? Where is the city's response to the population's demand for certain rights or claims? Where is an adequate and competitive fiscal perspective that does not curb the platform capacity of this city? Barcelona is antifragile because it is, but its rulers cannot also leverage the initiative of those who want to try, of those who want to test a disruption in areas such as the environment, culture, music, or health.
Do we want a cleaner city? Of course we do! Let's talk to entrepreneurs or research centers that have scientific tools to compensate with technology for the externalities of those who do not have the option of public transport to get to work, or those businesses that generate an excess of trash on the street. Do we want respectful tourists and creators of sustainable jobs? Agreed! It is necessary to sit down systematically with the sector and draw the axes of these collaborations within a framework that includes applied innovation from tourism and computer engineering schools, or initiatives from hoteliers and merchants with the best of intentions. Among many other projects. Let's look at the streets of Barcelona where, for a few months now, the large flagship stores have been setting up (flagship) of international brands. All of them internationally respected and present on the main streets of world capitals. It's not that they opened years ago and are holding on, it's not that they had closed and are now reopening, no!: they are setting up for the first time. Could it be that they see something in the future of this city that some don't see coming? Could it be that they trust in our future more than we do?Could it be that big international brands see something in the future of this city that some don't see coming? Could it be that they trust in our future more than we do?Let's visit the scientific and technological parks where they are studying and developing new materials for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, or developing antibodies to prevent metastasis, or let's cycle through Poble Nou and we will see offices full of ingenious young people who spend hours coding a different world (and which, in general terms, can lead us to a better world). When will we talk about these white swans? Does Barcelona resist? No: it grows, it becomes strong, and it follows a path in which innovation, sustainability, and creativity stand out in an increasingly distributed, uncertain, and confusing world. My grandfather spoke in terms of jobs, chairs in the factory or in the office; and size was a sign of joy. Then, we focused on sales, volumes, square meters. Today, we are already focused and surrounded by intangibility, by what is not seen or touched, but which strengthens us all. Economic value, but also social value.
Barcelona grows, becomes strong, and follows a path in which innovation, sustainability, and creativity stand out in an increasingly distributed, uncertain, and confusing worldBarcelona has tools, if used well, to make visible all this potential that we often underestimate. I believe we don't look closely. There's no need to name companies, we all know them, unicorns or garage mice where thenext big thing, hotel groups or entities fighting against inequality, etc. One only needs to be aware that, in the world we live in, where the only certainty is uncertainty, Barcelona navigates well. It has demonstrated this by focusing on industries with a future: health, innovation, technology, climate change, art, quality tourism, culture, architecture, etc. Barcelona navigates worse in a rigid, centralized world where everything is controlled by limiting and bureaucratic regulations.
Via Laietana, a vital artery built in 1908, holds the record for being one of the streets in the world that has registered the most revolts, demonstrations, and other social demands, and, unfortunately, on many occasions, with undesirable results. But it is also the thermometer of the society we have and, specifically, of its antifragility. Barcelona allows itself to be and evolves, because it protests, but it continues, it strengthens itself and grows. And antifragile Barcelona will be ours if we make it ours, observe it and walk it more, precisely, in everything that makes it unique and different, towards those directions and sectors where it is a strong and consolidated city. It turns out that, in addition, this is where a world full of challenges, uncertainties, and also opportunities is heading. Barcelona is ready...
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