In the Barcelona metropolitan area, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) is planning 16 new innovation hubs across its territory, with the aim of turning obsolete industrial zones into new economic centres. The proposal forms part of the Metropolitan Urban Master Plan, known as the PDUM, which received initial approval from the AMB Metropolitan Council in February.
The PDUM is intended to replace the General Metropolitan Plan, which has been in force since 1976. It sets out a polycentric metropolitan model designed to ease congestion in Barcelona and revive areas that have lost competitiveness over time, while shifting towards a more mixed urban model with greater value added through innovation. For background on the region, see our Catalonia news coverage.
The 16 metropolitan project spaces, or EPMs, often cover more than one municipality. They will be linked by metropolitan avenues, strategic road axes intended to connect the wider urban territory. The plan also points to the role of public transport and active mobility in supporting these new economic areas.
Several of the proposals focus on the Llobregat corridor. In the Porta Garraf EPM, which includes Castelldefels and Gavà, the PDUM proposes changing the C-31 motorway to improve access to the beach and strengthen the blue economy, with a focus on marine and coastal activities. In the Delta Gran Via EPM, covering Sant Boi, L'Hospitalet and El Prat, the plan says local industrial estates employ more than 1,000 people but have limited capacity for innovative activity, so it proposes adding research and development functions.
Within that same area, the PDUM says El Prat Nord should host biotechnology support companies, hospital logistics and specialised laboratories. In Sant Boi, it proposes consolidating a large healthcare, social care and research facility, with the Cruïlla Sant Boi EPM looking to build on possible links with the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital Teaching Campus, affiliated with the University of Barcelona. It also proposes a Metropolitan Ateneu as a new cultural hub for performing arts, with the aim of strengthening Sant Boi as a cultural cluster.
Other proposals focus on sustainable mobility, healthcare and the Besòs area. In the Cornisa Verda EPM, which includes Cornellà and L'Hospitalet, the AMB says activity in the Almeda and Femades industrial estates could support a cluster for manufacturing components for sustainable mobility. The plan also links the Carretera del Mig industrial estate in L'Hospitalet with the future Clínic Campus on Diagonal avenue and the emerging biomedical cluster around it, as part of the Diagonal Ponent EPM. In the Besòs area, the PDUM points to the Catalunya Media City project at the Tres Xemeneies del Besòs, which will transform 22,600 square metres into an audiovisual and digital hub with investment of more than €70 million.
The document says the next stage will be detailed planning and implementation. It also highlights other areas, including Sant Cugat, the Vallès municipalities and several industrial estates along the lower Besòs, as part of a wider effort to create a more balanced metropolitan economy across Catalonia’s Barcelona area.