Sustainable Urban Development

At a time when cities face significant future challenges, such as adapting to the effects of climate change, progressing in decarbonisation, accessing affordable housing or improving social cohesion, cities are at the front line of the search for solutions. Their importance in the transition towards a sustainable lifestyle for everyone has been acknowledged in the Urban Agenda for the European Union (EU) and global agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the New Spanish Urban Agenda.

Therefore, it is necessary to integrate sustainability into how we understand and transform our cities, consolidating collaboration and joint work between all the agents participating in its development, both the public and private sectors, as well as civil society.

Metrovacesa currently has a portfolio of around 5 million m2 of land under development all over Spain, with projects of very different sizes and in various phases of urban transformation.

Consequently, a Sustainable Urban Development Department -DUS- has been created in the Land Area as a strategic commitment to improve the urban environment and help to build more active, healthy and inclusive cities. Our planning and land management work is aligned with the company’s General Sustainability Strategy (ESG24), to really transform the company’s culture, integrating sustainability into all its activities.

To be sustainable, any urban transformation process must involve citizens in all its phases, from design and planning to management, execution and consolidation of our projects. A pioneering way to do urban planning, with citizen participation as its hallmark, and in which Metrovacesa is a benchmark in the sector, paving the way for a horizon of opportunities to continue to strengthen a sustainable business model responsible with society and the planet.

The DUS project

Metrovacesa’s Sustainable Urban Development Department -DUS- channels and consolidates the company’s commitment to local territories and communities where we work to improve their environmental, economic and social setting.

Our objectives are the following:

• To understand the urban and social reality of areas where our urban development projects are carried out.

• To open new communication channels with citizens so our projects and their progress are known.

• To Integrate into our projects the best ideas, practices and solutions to urban sustainability challenges.

We currently have urban developments of different scales in progress all over Spain, among which we can highlight seven projects in large cities such as Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and Coruña, which are already being implemented using these key elements.

3DUS alliances

The Department of Sustainable Development -DUS- is committed to generating alliances with relevant agents, enabling us to enter the urban innovation ecosystem, where many other people are already working for sustainability. Moreover, to lead our urban development processes, we have teams that are experts in citizen participation, which are a benchmark in the country, with acknowledged experience and having worked for local administrations, as well as national and international entities. Some of our collaborations are:

1

SUSTAINABILITY AND PARTICIPATION NETWORKS

Integration as an ambassador organisation in European programmes such as Missions València 2030 or learning communities such as the Participatory Group promoted by the City Council of Madrid, in which public entities, companies and citizens’ organisations work together.
2

UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH CENTRES

We collaborate with academic entities such as the UNED, ELISAVA – Facultat de Disseny i Enginyeria de Barcelona, the Universidade da Coruña and the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia to generate knowledge and R&D applicable to our urban developments.
3

INNOVATION CLUSTERS AND SUSTAINABLE INITIATIVES

We participate in clusters that strengthen public-private collaboration to promote strategic actions related to city sustainability, such as Ciudades Sostenibles 2030 by Forética.
4

FORA AND MEDIA TO DISSEMINATE GOOD PRACTICES

We strive to communicate our actions so they can be a reference to exemplify the values of this new way of making cities by participating in sector fora, where we can share our projects or collaborate with the media as correspondents.

1

SUSTAINABILITY AND PARTICIPATION NETWORKS

Integration as an ambassador organisation in European programmes such as Missions València 2030 or learning communities such as the Participatory Group promoted by the City Council of Madrid, in which public entities, companies and citizens’ organisations work together.

UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH CENTRES

We collaborate with academic entities such as the UNED, ELISAVA – Facultat de Disseny i Enginyeria de Barcelona, the Universidade da Coruña and the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia to generate knowledge and R&D applicable to our urban developments.

INNOVATION CLUSTERS AND SUSTAINABLE INITIATIVES

We participate in clusters that strengthen public-private collaboration to promote strategic actions related to city sustainability, such as Ciudades Sostenibles 2030 by Forética.

FORA AND MEDIA TO DISSEMINATE GOOD PRACTICES

We strive to communicate our actions so they can be a reference to exemplify the values of this new way of making cities by participating in sector fora, where we can share our projects or collaborate with the media as correspondents.

DUS initiatives

Vitally important aspects such as the progressive ageing of the population, the recent pandemic, digitalization, energy transition and decarbonisation, the renaturalization of built-up surroundings and adaptation to climate change, the circularity of productive processes to minimise waste or recovery of the material and immaterial heritage are key questions on the public agenda, being demanded socially.

Our projects are an opportunity to contribute to all these questions, taking advantage of the scope and impact capacity of our urban developments in Spain.

Therefore, we promote participation and communication plans that accompany our projects in the long term, encouraging a participative culture that is sustainable in time. Involving citizens in the design and evolution of urban transformations we implement.

The principal formats for participation are:

• Informative talks to explain the projects and their progress.

• Co-design workshops to incorporate the contributions of citizens and evaluate alternatives in the design phase.

• Thematic workgroups to integrate the best ideas regarding specific aspects of the projects.

• Neighbourhood revitalisation actions to activate, connect and unite the local community around the projects.

• Meetings between experts and citizens to discuss the more technical aspects of the urban planning process.

Sustainable Urban Development