Cities at the midpoint of the mandate

The role of cities in the world will become increasingly relevant for several reasons. Firstly, due to citizens' interest in influencing their immediate surroundings. Secondly, because cities are the setting where the effects of globalization, both positive and negative, are localized. And, thirdly, because, in a changing world, the little certainty about our reality will be given to us by the immediate and daily environment.

From my point of view, this predictability of cities, which gives citizens context about what the municipal government will do, is good that it manifests itself through an action plan and that, furthermore, this plan has KPIs ---for the acronym of key performance indicator--- to know how the application of this plan evolves.

In this midpoint of cities and two years away from the municipal elections of 2027, I reaffirm even more the need for this plan that makes the city as planned, as well as the demand for accountability for its fulfillment. Predictable cities that avoid randomness generate confidence in the face of the global Dragon Khan of this second quarter of the 21st century.

It is precisely this predictability of cities that allows citizens to undertake, create, innovate, enjoy, rest, and disconnect despite the geopolitical and economic context that moves at the whim of populist leaderships. In the face of global out-of-control, artificial intelligence, and fake news, we need safe spaces where we have the opportunity to discern what is real from artifice. I believe that cities allow us to enjoy the necessary proximity environment to stop living in the cloud. For this reason, the neighborhood, the bakery, or the trusted barber are our roots to a certain and secure reality.

In this midpoint of the mandate, Barcelona still faces challenges such as not only ensuring the most basic services like water and electricity after the drought episodes and the notorious "blackout", but also, and above all, facing the housing crisis, which is the basis of social cohesion. The city has already demonstrated its adaptability. But at this moment, citizens need certainties, they need the city as that safe place where what will happen is predictable and where everything will be fine.

And this will not be easy; two years are very few to show results in a long-term policy like housing. In this new world marked by uncertainty and geopolitical volatility, cities have the opportunity to behave as safe and robust spaces. Cities stand as the most predictable space for citizens, and this, in my opinion, is great news.