La Junta Directiva aprueba contrato para diseñar estrategia urbana 360
The board of directors approved the contract on Thursday for the provision of services for the development of the new general urban planning plan, which will come to life as an urban 360 strategy aimed at preparing a urban planning document and implementing the city’s strategic simulator, an innovative digital tool.
In February, the delegate for urban planning, the environment, and mobility, Borja Carabante, announced that the municipal government will write and approve the urban 360 strategy that will regulate and define city planning at the urban level, addressing the three main challenges facing the city: housing, urban transformation, and sustainability. To support and promote this major stage in urban issues, the Municipal Council has now approved this contract. With a budget of 14 million euros, the contract will run for three years from its formalization, allowing the hiring of 38 specialists and technicians in urban planning, IT, and legal-economic management.
A Comprehensive Diagnosis Plan
The contract is divided into two lots. The first, with a budget of 11.1 million euros, focuses on developing the urban 360 strategy for the city of Madrid. This work involves various tasks that the winning company will carry out under municipal technical supervision and in coordination with the teams of the second lot. These tasks include creating a comprehensive urban diagnosis report, both qualitatively and quantitatively, with indicators and environmental considerations, along with defining possible scenarios and trends. The urban 360 strategy will be developed based on this diagnosis.
This urban planning document is expected to include a comprehensive content: municipality structure; criteria and priority areas; protected land; mobility structure and infrastructure; a future urban development scheme; definition of large spaces, green areas, and facilities; guidelines for designing urban developments and other municipal urban policies; and architecturally and culturally significant sites subject to protection, among other issues. The fields of action and the strategy to be followed will be defined by a strategic environmental evaluation, studying regulations and the various scenarios arising from plan implementation.
An Agile and Comprehensive Tool
This first lot also includes the implementation of the city’s strategic simulator, designed as a 100% digital tool to support the development of the urban 360 strategy, catering to all needs that arise during the process in an agile, user-friendly, and understandable manner for citizens and other stakeholders. It will rely on massive data and indicator analysis, georeferencing, and the application of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, or machine learning (the discipline that enables the identification of patterns in massive data and the development of predictions through algorithms).
On one hand, the strategic simulator must address each phase of developing the urban 360 strategy, and on the other, launch unique associated projects, such as developing models, augmented reality opinions, or virtual solutions. This tool will be developed in coordination with the Madrid Municipal Council’s IT and Digital Office. In essence, the strategic simulator will be crucial in decision-making by analyzing and anticipating future city impacts.
A Participatory Strategy: Bottom-Up and Outward
The second lot, with a budget of 2.9 million for the three-year contract period, aims to promote and enhance participation, dissemination, and promotion of the urban 360 strategy.
In this regard, the urban planning area has established nine specialized workgroups focusing on the city’s main challenges. These groups involved around 500 people from the three administrations (Municipal Council, Madrid Community, and General State Administration), as well as associations, companies, and professional organizations. Groups were also established in the 21 districts. Additionally, the "Dream Madrid" campaign and site were launched, through which over 530 people submitted proposals in just one month for the collective challenge of developing the urban 360 strategy.
