Metrovacesa creates a pioneering Sustainable Urban Development department to co-design the cities of the future

• The developer has formalised its efforts to better understand the urban and social reality where the developments are located, integrating solutions to the great challenge of urban sustainability.

• From this new department, urban transformation processes are carried out with the involvement of citizens at all stages.

• Metrovacesa is already tackling 7 projects in major cities using this innovative approach, with the intention of expanding its initiatives in its land portfolio, which totals 4.9 million m² of buildable land.

Madrid, 26 September 2023 Metrovacesa, a real estate developer with more than 100 years of history and 150 projects under development nationwide, has created a specific Sustainable Urban Development (SUD) department, which promotes participatory urban planning and integrates sustainability into the way it understands and develops its urban projects, with the aim of co-designing the cities of the future.

A pioneer in the sector, the developer has formalised its efforts to better understand the urban and social reality where the developments are located, opening new channels of communication with the public and integrating the best ideas, practices and solutions to the great challenge of urban sustainability.

The DUS department is integrated into the company’s Land area, which has the largest liquid land portfolio in the Spanish market, with a total surface area of nearly 5 million m² of buildable land. With this initiative, Metrovacesa has become a benchmark in sustainable land management, acting as a social developer in a wide variety of projects of different scales and at different stages of urban transformation.

Currently, urban developments throughout Spain are already being approached from this innovative perspective, including 7 projects in major cities such as Madrid, Valencia, A Coruña and Barcelona, which demonstrate the private sector’s capacity for impact when it comes to transforming cities in a different way.

Cities are at the forefront of tackling major future challenges such as decarbonisation, adapting to the effects of climate change, access to affordable housing and improving social cohesion. Metrovacesa has therefore involved more than 170 local entities in the planning and design of its projects, with the aim of contributing to creating more active, healthy, inclusive and resilient cities and sustainable communities in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda, the Urban Agenda for the European Union and the Spanish New Urban Agenda.

The director of the Land area, Miguel Díaz, stressed that the creation of the DUS department “is a strategic commitment of the company that strengthens its commitment to the territories and local communities where our projects are located, with the aim of improving their environment”.

Díaz pointed out that this work is being carried out “from an integrated and transversal vision that takes into account a triple dimension: environmental, economic and social”. In this way, “Metrovacesa takes advantage of the scope and impact capacity of its urban developments throughout the country to promote participation and communication plans that accompany the projects in the long term, fostering a participatory culture that is sustained and sustainable over time”.

The head of Metrovacesa’s DUS department, Almudena Cano, has stated her conviction that “any process of urban transformation, in order to be sustainable, must involve citizens in all its phases: from the design and planning to the management, execution and consolidation of the projects”.

A model of which Metrovacesa is already a benchmark in the sector, with citizen participation as a distinctive element. The company is thus leading the way to continue promoting a sustainable and responsible business model with society and the planet.

Sustainable urban development initiatives  

Metrovacesa’s Sustainable Urban Development Department channels collaboration and joint work between all those involved in the development of cities, from the public sector to the private sector and civil society.

To this end, the department has reference teams, experts in citizen participation and recognised experience in local administrations and national and international bodies, who coordinate work in different phases accompanying the development of urban planning projects.

Firstly, they carry out an analysis and diagnosis of the urban and social environment in which the developments are located. Next, they open new channels of communication with the public to publicise the progress of the projects and carry out participatory actions on different scales, aimed at and adapted to different groups and collectives in order to reflect the plurality of voices that make up the local community. Participatory formats include co-design workshops, thematic working groups, neighbourhood dynamisation actions, informative talks or open debates between experts and citizens to share concerns, needs and expectations for the future that the projects may include.

In parallel, alliances are generated with universities, research centres, urban innovation networks and all the agents that are already working to incorporate sustainability into our cities in a transversal manner.