Build city

[dropcap letter="E"]

n this May's municipal elections, voters will have to vote not only for a political force to govern the city, but also for what model of city they want to inhabit. Some may establish the dangerous dialectic of having to choose between the city of the pharaohs or that of the slaves who built the pyramids. Others will propose to citizens that their vote will decide whether the city government will be from inland Catalonia or from cosmopolitanism. All electoral offers will propose large constructions, many of them linked to ideals that escape the management of a city subject to problems that have nothing to do with the politics ofthe causes exceptional. However, all offers are condemned to speak of Barcelona and to face its challenges. The most interesting thing is to observe that Barcelona is still capable of creating strong civic activity with social platforms that defend the technological city, the tourist city, the business city, or animal defense. No party, regardless of what is trapped in the Catalan conflict in relation to Spain, will be able to avoid a series of requests that I detail below: [subscribe_newsletter_esp]

1. Establish a program of action capable of combining policies in favor of economic dynamism to address and correct social inequality, under the ideal of growing together and breaking with the business city that only benefits a few.
2. The technological city united with the creative city where talent unfolds in the urban fabric. Establish an economic dynamic that positions young people as a factor of change and regeneration of the city's economic and social offer.
3. Promote sustainable tourism, avoiding growing tourismphobia. According to surveys, 19% of Barcelona residents are concerned that the city model is determined by tourist flows and not by a policy that guarantees quality and responsible tourism for the city.
4. Culture as a factor of change in the city. Barcelona has a strong network of institutions and artistic manifestations that need to be put at the service of creation, establishing greater collaboration between them to forge cultural singularities capable of interesting not only the world but also its citizens.
5. Environmental sustainability and mobility. The city is not only expressed by its territory but by the speed at which inhabitants move within it. Offer greater autonomy in displacement with public transport that guarantees that one's own vehicle is only a second option.
6. Advance towards Greater Barcelona as a metropolitan area, where major challenges are faced by harmonizing the interests of the different municipalities but without being trapped in political inaction.
7. Consolidate security and compliance with municipal regulations to re-establish in some cases municipal authority against the demands of groups that hijack the city.
8. Bet on an open city, connected to the world, as opposed to the fortified city that fears change.
9. Promote liveability; working to make it worthwhile to live in the city implies continuing to advance to have the best healthcare, infrastructure, education, security, and culture.
10. Achieve strengthened cooperation between institutions, Diputación, Ayuntamiento, Generalitat, and Estado, to have the capacity to face Barcelona's challenges with guarantees.

Proposals, ideas, challenges and needs that are being discussed in different forums in recent months and that show to what extent the vote in these municipal elections will decide, not only who governs the city, but what model of city will be built.