"Talent is the basic raw material for the cities of the future". This statement made at the Cercle d'Economia conference by economist and urban architect Alfonso Vegara, president of the Metrópoli Foundation, marks the path that Barcelona must follow to emerge strengthened from this crisis and take the lead in a new global context of competing cities where aspects such as quality of life, sustainability, and social equity are more important than ever.
For the president of Barcelona Global, Aurora Catá, now it is no longer capital that attracts talent, but rather capital goes where talent settles. "Today, talent is very liquid, and that is why global competition is focused on being attractive as a city for people, who increasingly decide where they want to live, create, work, or invest," says Catá. According to the executive, the association she presides over has set the goal for "Barcelona to become the city of talent" and believes it is perfectly possible because it "has always been an entrepreneurial and self-made city."
Catá considers that one of the great assets of the Catalan capital, essential for attracting talent, is its powerful higher education offer, that is, the network of public and private universities and internationally renowned business schools. In her opinion, the potential of this treasure we already have "is being underutilized" due to a purely administrative issue, which is why Barcelona Global is working to introduce reforms in the next university system law aimed at maximizing that attraction potential.
"Today, talent is very liquid, and that is why global competition is focused on being attractive as a city for people, who increasingly decide where they want to live, create, work, or invest," Aurora CatáTo achieve the set objectives and move in the right direction, a lot of optimism and another indispensable condition are needed: "We need ambition and a desire to do it", according toPere Navarro, special delegate of the State in theConsorci de la Zona Franca (CZFB), who sees it as perfectly possible to "create a great pole of attraction at a European and global level" with projects like DFactory, oriented towards developing Industry 4.0. "We are very well situated, we have all the ingredients to be a world leader in many things," considers Navarro, convinced that "Barcelona can be like a Renaissance city, powerful in many areas.
For the first deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni, Barcelona "has a bright future", but "a change of attitude" and "to believe more in ourselves again" are necessary. "We must be more aware of the city assets we have to compete, but I am optimistic," he stresses. The president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, also calls for changes, considering that to achieve this city success it is essential to offer the world "a less unpleasant image". "We have many possibilities, but the first thing to do is to put an end to Barcelona's image of antipathy. We must end the 'no' we give to all projects from the outset and offer a positive, friendly, dialoguing and cosmopolitan image that places Barcelona at the center of the world", in reference to initiatives such as the Hermitage or the airport expansion.
Collboni was in favor of both projects, but also of others he considers strategic such as the construction of a new Hospital Clínic, the expansion of Fira de Barcelona, the transformation of the Post Office building into an innovation hub or the bid for the Winter Olympics. "We have more than 22 strategic projects to relaunch the city's economy and its global positioning. We have a plan, we have projects and we have a budget to do it," he remarked.
After listening to them, Alfonso Vegara confirmed that "Barcelona has enormous potential" due to its "unique singularities". "It is necessary to have a city project, but not all cities have one," he reflected, after indicating another recommendation he considers vital: "this city project should not strictly cover the municipal area, but a 45-minute radius" that delimits "the functional reference space for people, that is, the space where they live, work and carry out their leisure activities." It is, in short, about promoting the concept of the great Barcelona or the so-called metropolitan region, an area that comprises 4.5 million inhabitants.
"The first thing to do is to put an end to Barcelona's image of antipathy," Josep Sánchez LlibreAll speakers considered this metropolitan vision accurate, but evidenced shortcomings in terms of infrastructure or difficulties in overcoming certain "political resistances." The list of pending problems, however, is much longer... Catá called for less bureaucracy and to bet on "intelligent taxation," demands also expressed by Sánchez Llibre who also demanded that conditions be created for the return of the headquarters of companies that moved their registered office outside of Catalonia. "We must seek the greatest complicity to ensure that companies return, a Barcelona of five million inhabitants needs large companies. I am convinced that they will return", asserted the business leader.