Revista Econòmica de Catalunya nº 64: Knowledge Economy and Territory

3 Introduction
5 Dossier ‘Knowledge Economy and Territory’
7 Foreword
SÒNIA RECASENS
9 22@: 10 years of economic transformation
ORIOL MOLAS AND MARTÍ PARELLADA
18 The ‘Barcelona, City of Knowledge’ project and 22@ Barcelona
JOAN TRULLÉN
27 The impact of 22@ on urban development and real estate:
Barcelona’s future central business district
SARA MUR AND JOAQUIM CLUSA
50 The economic impact of infrastructures in 22@
RAMON SAGARRA RIUS
62 Theory and development of clusters
ALESSANDRA CHEVALLARD AND EMILIÀ DUCH
The 22@ Barcelona model: a city organized into clusters
MONTSE CHARLE
66 Science and technology parks as global business platforms
RICARD GARRIGA, RAÚL SÁNCHEZ AND FRANCESC SOLÉ PARELLADA
76 22@ Barcelona and the management of innovative and entrepreneurial talent
FRANCISCO J. GRANADOS
85 A conversational capital (KCv) perspective of 22@ Barcelona
JOAN MUNDET, MICHELE GIROTTO, JORDI GARCIA BRUSTENGA AND XAVIER GÓNGORA
96 Open innovation in the public sector: the case of urban labs
ESTEVE ALMIRALL AND HENRY CHESBROUGH
22@Urban Lab, the example of Barcelona
ANNA MAJÓ
106 22@ Barcelona: exporting the model
AURORA LÓPEZ, ANDREU ROMANÍ, RAMON SAGARRA AND JOSEP MIQUEL PIQUÉ
117 The triple helix at the science and technology parks of Catalonia
M. CARMEN ADÁN AND JOAN BELLAVISTA
126 Creative cities: a new paradigm for local agendas?
MONTSERRAT PAREJA-EASTAWAY
137 How can governments create clusters of innovation?The case of 22@Barcelona
ITXASO DEL PALACIO AND JEROME ENGEL
146 Smart territories
ALFONSO VEGARA
154 Do world cities need knowledge districts?
Observations on 22@Barcelona and its counterparts
GREG CLARK
175 22@ Barcelona: a knowledge city beyond science parks
HENRY ETZKOWITZ AND JOSEP MIQUEL PIQUÉ
No. 64
Catalan version
published in:
October 2011
English version
published in:
July 2014
Catalan version co-funded by ERDF
Eu r op ean Un ion
European Regional
Development Fund
Investing in your future

3 Revista Econòmica de Catalunya
This issue of Revista Econòmica de Catalunya turns its
attention to analysing the links that form between the
knowledge economy and the territory. If we had to focus
on the best international experiences in this area, we
would all agree that 22@ Barcelona has known how to
combine urban transformation with economic and social
transformation. Therefore, coinciding with the 10th
anniversary of the project, we have invited various authors
to help us understand, from their own point of view, the
complexity of the discourse surrounding this binomial
that is transforming cities around the world.
Coordinated by Josep Miquel Piqué and Mònica
Flores, this dossier analyses the economic foundations of
22@ (JoanTrullén) as well as the economic impact of busi-
ness activity (Oriol Molas and Martí Parellada). We also
wanted to include the economic impact of urban transfor-
mation, at the hands of Mur&Clusa Associats.
The phenomenon of entrepreneurship has been
analysed by Francesc Solé Parellada, and the clusters
model dealt with by Emilià Duch's working group from
the consultancy Competitiveness. We have also analysed
the 22@ model based on the experience of the profes-
sionals working there, in order to understand the key
points in terms of urban planning, infrastructure and
models of social and economic transformation.
We have invited a researcher from the IBEI (Francisco
Granados) to give a social reading from the perspective of
talent management, and we have analysed the relational
and conversational capital garnered in the district with
Dr Joan Mundet's working group from UPC.
We did not want to overlook the international view-
point, in relation to other international projects and clus-
ter models, open innovation models and the triple helix
model. Of particular note is the presence in this issue of
authors such as Henry Chesbrough (UC Berkeley), Greg
Clark (Urban Land Institute), Herny Etzkowitz (Stanford
University), Jerome Engel (UC Berkeley), Itxaso del
Palacio (Imperial College) and Joan Bellavista (XPCAT).
Lastly, an analysis of smart territories by Alfonso
Vegara, of Fundación Metrópolis, as well as creative cities,
by Professor Montserrat Pareja-Eastaway of the University
of Barcelona, complement this series of articles.
Introduction

Dossier
Knowledge
Economy
and Territory

Revista Econòmica de Catalunya7
Foreword
Sònia Recasens
Deputy Mayor for Economy, Business and Employment
Barcelona City Council
For its 64th issue, Revista Econòmica de Catalunya chose
a prime theme for the city of Barcelona: the Knowledge
Economy and Territory, aimed at analysing in depth the
22@Barcelona Innovation District.
Given the success of the issue, and the interest
expressed from hundreds of international delegations in
the institutional, business and academic spheres that visit
Barcelona every year, we felt it was the right moment to
print a special issue in English to disseminate and share
our experience.
Throughout its history, Barcelona has been able to
detect the opportunities that have come its way and has
overcome the challenges posed. As a city, Barcelona has
certain assets that place it in optimum conditions for pro-
moting the knowledge economy, an economy which
speaks in terms of innovation and internationalisation.
In this sense, 22@Barcelona is a very good example of
how an area such as Poblenou is transforming 200
hectares of industrial land into a knowledge economy. A
district that has all the elements necessary to promote the
creation of wealth and jobs, based on concentrating uni-
versities and businesses in a territory along with advance
infrastructure that coexists with residential areas and pub-
lic spaces. Thanks to this process, the district is currently
home to more than 7,000 businesses that have provided
over 56,000 new jobs.
Barcelona Growth Centre’s location at the heart of
22@, a symbol of the new Barcelona at the service of com-
panies, focused on economic growth and the creation of
employment, is yet another way the City Council is lend-
ing its support to strengthening the district’s position as
an economic driver of the city.
I would like to thank all of the authors who made this
issue of Revista Econòmica de Catalunya possible, as well as
the Economists’ Association, for promoting this publica-
tion, which helps us analyse our economic situation and
plot new work horizons for our future.

The 22@ Barcelona project
In 2000, Barcelona City Council created a municipal
company, 22@ Barcelona, to promote and manage a proj-
ect whose aim was to transform obsolete industrial zones
of Poblenou into an area with high urban and environ-
mental quality, where new knowledge and innovation-
related activities could be carried out. The project was
based on a model of a compact Mediterranean city with
neighbourhoods in which to live, study and work at the
same time. To achieve this, the former land use designa-
tion of 22a, which established that these city centre areas
should only be used for industry, had to be changed to
the new status of 22@, which permits the coexistence of
all production activities that do not cause a nuisance or
pollution, normalizes the presence of dwellings that have
been affected since 1953, and favours their restoration.
The objectives were, and continue to be: urban, social
and economic transformation that involves combining
dwellings, premises, facilities and green spaces; the pro-
motion of industrial, commercial and service activities;
and the fostering of technical, scientific and cultural
development. The project does not overlook the infra-
structures and public services that ensure opportunities
and quality of life. Thus, the 22@ Barcelona district has
adopted a high-quality, compact, diverse and sustainable
urban model to make the resulting city more balanced,
more hybrid and more ecologically efficient, with a
stronger economy and greater cohesion.
This is a city project that covers urban development,
planning and the management of urban development,
heritage and infrastructures, as well as economic devel-
opment through the promotion of clusters, the organiza-
tion of public-private platforms, and the establishment
and support of companies.
Below we highlight two basic characteristics of the
project, beyond the political commitment to its imple-
mentation. There is an emphasis on the required legal
and financial resources, and a form of project gover-
nance that distinguishes 22@ Barcelona from most
urban operations whose objective is to promote the
location of economic activities.
One factor that has boosted the location of‘@ activ-
ities’in the district, particularly in the initial stage, is the
incentives included in the urban development plan. As
a result of these incentives, property developers could
make better use of the zone than of other spaces in the
city and metropolitan area. This has clearly been an
important factor in the location of new activities in the
district.
A second factor to consider is the project gover-
nance. The municipal company 22@ Barcelona is not
only responsible for the district’s urban planning, but
also for implementing its urban and economic renewal
project. To achieve this, the company’s team has pro-
moted around 40 projects to attract new companies in
sectors in which Barcelona could attain a certain degree
of international leadership; to promote the establish-
22@: 10 years of economic transformation
Oriol Molas
Gaps
Martí Parellada
University of Barcelona
9
1. In accordance with Article 7 of the MPGM approved in 2000, activities
that are characteristic of the 22@ zoning designation are those related to
the sector of information and communication technologies, and those asso-
ciated with research, publishing, design, culture, multimedia activity, data-
base management and knowledge management.

ment of the main institutions’university centres; and to
enable the installation of the required support services.
To assess the introduction of activities defined as
‘@’1
, that is, activities that use talent as the main pro-
ductive resource, the 22@ Barcelona district carried out
studies on their evolution in 2007, 2008 and 2009. In
addition, the need to assess the overall impact of public
policies in this district and to evaluate the results
obtained during the first decade of the project led to a
study2
to identify indicators that could be used in a syn-
thetic analysis of the economic growth generated by the
project. The initial results of this study are presented in
this article.
As the object of study is broader than in previous
research, we should be able to perceive the clearly strate-
gic nature of the sectors that have been promoted. For
beyond the intrinsic added value of the @ economy, it is
clear that it has positive secondary effects: from the gen-
eration of indirect activity (restaurants, shops and busi-
ness services, among others) to the renewal and consol-
idation of a brand - a territorial identity that could attract
other independent activities (in the hotel and catering
trade, traditional sectors that are being updated and
freelance professionals, among others). Furthermore,
taking into account the model of a compact city that
inspired the 22@ Barcelona project, this brand could
even attract residential housing, which, in turn, would
generate more economic activity.
Urban developm ent and populat ion growt h
The first focus of transformation of the 22@ district,
which is the most obvious and the most relevant from the
perspective of public investment, is the territory. The
urban area3
that the project covers forms part of the
transformation project itself and constitutes one of the
greatest challenges that the city of Barcelona has taken
on in recent years.
The 22@ district covers an area of 198.26 ha (which is
equivalent to around 115 blocks of the Eixample neigh-
bourhood), with a potential 4 million m2
of gross floor
area, of which 80% is destined for the establishment of
production activities and 20% for dwellings, facilities
and services. The original number of dwellings in a cen-
sus of the area was 4,614, and the aim is to construct a
further 4,000 new subsidized dwellings.The transforma-
tion is closely tied to a 180-million-euro infrastructure
plan, which has provided the district with new fibre
10
2. TC-field work, ‘22@ Barcelona: 10 anys, 2000-2010’. February 2011.
• Start of the renovation of 65%of the industrial areasof Poblenou
• 117 plansapproved: 78 (76%) private initiative, 2,830,596 m2
of grossfloor area:
- 136,837 m2
of land for facilities
- 119,720 m2
for open spaces
- ± 3.000 dwellingsbuilt assubsidized housing
• Eight public green areashave been designed: 21,898 m2
(6.724 m2
are under construction)
• A total of 82,137 m2
of facilitieshave been built above grade (Cal’Aranyó/Pompeu FabraUniversity, Mediacomplex building, etc.)
• Planningof 70%of the subsidized housingenvisaged
• 1,502 dwellings: 892 dwellingsconstructed, 521 under construction and 107 with buildingpermits
• 2,041 dwellingsbuilt, in the permit stage or approved (51%of the 4,000 envisaged in the General Metropolitan Plan)
• Permitsfor atotal of 1,323,000 m2
of grossfloor area:
- 70%for economic activity uses
- 18%for dwellings
- 12%for facilities
PLANNING
FACILITIESAND
GREEN AREAS
DWELLINGS
CONSTRUCTION
3. Geographic boundaries of 22@: C. Wellington / Av. Meridiana / Pl. de les
Glòries Catalanes / GranVia de les Corts Catalanes / Rambla de Prim / Pl. de
Llevant / C. del Taulat / Ronda del Litoral / (coastal area).
Source: municipal company 22@Barcelona.
Table 1
State of urban development activity up to 31/12/09

optic, electricity and general infrastructure networks,
and with a detailed mobility plan. It has been accompa-
nied by the promotion of private investment, which has
led to the development of 117 plans for facilities, open
spaces and dwellings, as shown in the table below.
One effect of the investment is that the resident pop-
ulation of 22@ has increased by 16,750 people since 2001
(according to 2009 data). Currently, the 22@ district has
over 90,000 inhabitants, which represents 5.6% of the
population of Barcelona (according to the municipal regis-
ter of 2009). In percentage terms, the population growth
in the 22@ district (23%) has been much higher than in
the city as a whole (8%), in the metropolitan area (14%)
and in Spain (18%) for the same period.
Likewise, the characteristics of the 22@ district have
meant that its population is younger on average than
that of the entire city of Barcelona.This indicates that the
zone is attractive to the younger age groups who opt to
live in this area of the city.
The location of new economic activities in the zone
and the population growth have boosted, and continue
to boost, a considerable amount of indirect activity. This
helps to increase the number of services in the neigh-
bourhood that make it more habitable. In turn, an
upwards spiral is generated that feeds back on itself.
Cadastral data reveal an increase in land use for activi-
ties associated with the increasing vitality of the zone, as
the area occupied by non-residential premises is 10 dec-
imal points higher in the 22@ district than in the rest of
the city (42.4% compared to 32.6% in Barcelona).
This process has been intensive in recent years, as the
city lost almost 5% of premises dedicated to non-resi-
dential uses between 2002 and 2010, whilst in the 22@
district the percentage rose by over 7%4
.
The number of companies located in t he dist rict
has doubled in t he last ten years
It is calculated that there are now 7,064 companies in
22@ Barcelona, which represents 3% of all companies in
the province of Barcelona (according to DIRCE data). It
is also estimated that 4,400 freelancers work in the dis-
trict. The number of companies has more than doubled
in the last ten years, as in 2000 there were just over 3,400
entities. Therefore, there has been a growth of 105%,
which is far higher than that experienced in the entire
province or in Catalonia (around 60%).
Most of the 3,437 companies in the district at the
start of the 22@ project remain there today (just over 7
out of every 10 companies, or around 2,500 ﬁrms in
total). However, approximately 1,000 have disappeared
or moved to other zones (27%). Nevertheless, this is just
a snapshot, and is therefore static. During 2000-2010, the
zone was particularly dynamic, and was witness to the
emergence and relocation of a large number of compa-
11
Graph 1
Comparison of population growth (as a %)
for the 2001-2009 period
30%
0%
20%
10%
22.8%
22@ Barcelona Metropolitan area Catalonia
7.8%
13.7%
17.9%
90,214 1,621,537 4,992,193 7,475,420
73,464 1,503,884 4,390,390 6,343,110
Population 2009
Population 2001
Source: Statistics Department of BarcelonaCity Council and IDESCAT.
4. Currently, the district has around 42,000 premises for dwellings, almost
30,000 for parking, just over 6,000 for industrial use, close to 4,300 for
shops, restaurants and hotels, around 1,300 ofﬁces and approximately 270
for other services (education, health, sport, etc.).

nies. Furthermore, we should not underestimate the
effects of the recession, which have made it impossible
for companies founded in recent years to consolidate
their position. According to information provided by
companies specialized in business surveys and in the use
of commercial registers, each year between 800 and
1,000 companies have been founded in the area, but
between 500 to 700 have folded. This is a very fast pace,
which shows the dynamism of the territory.According to
these sources, the balance of growth was clearly positive
up to 2008. However, in 2009 and 2010 a slightly higher
number of companies folded than were founded.
1
Despite the recession, since 2000 approximately
4,500 companies have been established in the district
(almost 25% in the first three years, 2000-2003, 40% in
the second, 2003-2006 and 35% in the third, 2007-2010).
If we add the 2,500 companies that were already present
in the area, we reach the figure of over 7,000 companies
present in the zone today. On average, 454 new compa-
nies have set up in the area per year, or 1.2 per day. Just
under half of the new companies registered since 2000
are start-ups; the rest are companies that have relocated.
In absolute figures, it is calculated that around 2,150
companies have been newly founded in the district,
whilst the rest (around 2,400) moved from other zones,
mainly the city and its metropolitan area.
Knowledge and technology as a strategic focus
of growth
In line with the original vision of the project, 22@
Barcelona is fully committed to clustering in various sec-
tors in which Barcelona could become a notable leader,
such as the audiovisual sector, information and commu-
nication technologies (ICT), media technologies, energy
and design. ‘The aim in these zones is to increase the
innovative capacity of companies by creating production
environments that bring together leading companies,
institutions, public agencies, universities and research,
development and innovation centres in each sector. In
these entities, an enterprising culture shall be promoted.
Added value services, tools and infrastructure shall be
provided for the competitive development and growth
of companies, and contact shall be promoted with the
leading business and research, development and inno-
vation projects worldwide’.
Thus, in addition to the objective of attracting lead-
ing companies, the project has promoted the establish-
ment in the district of various university centres, with
over 25,000 students, and numerous research and tech-
nology transfer centres.
Initially, five clusters were promoted (Media, ICT,
Medical Technologies, Energy and Design), which are
those that have been analysed in studies carried out to
date and on which we have data. However, the eco-
nomic development in recent years has led to the inclu-
sion of new, priority strategic sectors such as Agri-Food,
Higher Education, Aeronautics, Automotive and
Logistics. These are emerging areas that also require
special attention and should continue to be promoted in
the future.
12 Revista Econòmica de Catalunya12
Graph 2
Comparison of the increase in business activity (as a %).
2000-2010 period
150%
0%
100%
50%
105.5%
22@ BarcelonaProvince Catalonia
57.3% 60.0%
7,064 companies
3,437 companies
Companies2010
Companies2000
225,652 companies 299,989 companies
143,411 companies 187,445 companies
Source: TC-fieldwork, ‘22@Barcelona: 10 anys. 2000-2010’.February 2011 and DIRCE.

There has been a clear change in the types of activi-
ties carried out by companies in the district. Records of
the Barcelona City Council’s business tax (IAE), which
are only available up to 2005, are an indicator that can be
used to measure change in production structure.
Statistics on this information indicate that the number of
service companies in the zone has increased consider-
ably, at the expense of manufacturing . In 1996, 27% of
the companies in Poblenou carried out industrial activi-
ties. In 2005, when the 22@ project was already fully
underway, this figure had dropped to 18%. This change
occurred extremely rapidly if we compare it to the evolu-
tion in manufacturing activity in the city as a whole.
Currently, over 3 of every 4 companies in 22@ work
in the service sector, 15% in manufacturing and 8% in
other sectors.This production structure is very similar to
that of the entire province of Barcelona, although the
proportion of manufacturing is still 4.7 points higher in
the zone. The main industrial activity is related to pub-
lishing, the graphic arts and the production of recorded
media. These represent 4.5% of the total activity in the
district and 30% of the existing manufacturing activity.
Within the service sector there is greater diversification
of companies. However, commercial activities (24%)
and business services (19%) predominate.
If we use as an index the OECD categorization, which
groups economic activities according to their level of
knowledge and/or technology intensity5
, we can see that
traditional manufacturing sectors have contracted, whilst
knowledge- and new technology-intensive sectors have
expanded . If we use as a reference data from the IAE
records, the number of companies in these sectors has
increased considerably in 22@. In 1996 - 4 years before
the launch of the 22@ project - knowledge-intensive
13
Graph 3
Companies in 22@ by activity. 2010
Manufacturing
14.8%
Other
8.4%
Services
76,8%
1,043 companies596 companies
5,425 companies
Sample group: 7,064 companies
% BCN Province
Manufacturing: 10.1%
Services: 76.0%
Other: 13.9%
Source: TC-fieldwork,‘22@Barcelona:10 anys.2000-2010’.February2011,and datafromDIRCE2010.
5. Groups based on CCAE-93 rev.1, in parenthesis. High-tech manufactur-
ers: Pharmaceutical products (224), Office machinery and computer equip-
ment (30), Manufacture of electronic materials, radios, televisions and
communication devices (32), Medical and optical precision instruments
(33), Aeronautical and space construction (353); Mid- to high-tech man-
ufacturers: Chemical industries - except pharmaceutical products - (24-
244), Machinery, equipment and mechanical material (29), Machinery and
electric material (31), Manufacture of vehicles and trailers (34),
Manufacture of railroad material and other transport equipment
(352/354/355); Knowledge-intensive services: Mail and telecommunica-
tions (64), Finances and insurance (65 a 67), Business services, except real
estate activities (71 to 74), Education (80), Health (85).

activity in the zone was five percentage points below the
figure for Catalonia. By 2005 it had reached the same
level, and now it is three points above it. In 2010, 27.4%
of the companies located in 22@ carried out knowledge-
intensive activities, compared to 24.4% in Catalonia and
22.8% in Spain.
Some activities that are prioritized in the strategic
plans of the 22@ Barcelona project, such as graphic arts
and cultural and recreational activities, are not includ-
ed in the aforementioned OECD classification. If we
group these activities together, we find that in 2001
they represented 17% of activity in the district (accord-
ing to data from IAE records), whilst in 2005 their pres-
ence had increased to 21%. Currently, 31% of the com-
panies in this territory, or around 2,200 firms overall,
carry out @ activities, whilst in the whole of Catalonia
only 23.6% of companies undertake such activities.
Probably the employment data most clearly reveals
how the district has successfully attracted knowledge-
and/or technology-intensive sectors throughout the
process. It is estimated that approximately 2 out of
every 3 current employees in 22@ work in knowledge-
and/or technology-intensive companies. This high per-
centage is mainly due to the establishment of compa-
nies in recent years.
14
Graph 4
Companies in 22@ who undertake activities @. 2010
@ activities
31.0%
Remaining activities
69.0%
2,190 companies
Sample group: 7,064 companies*
Publishing and graphic arts (22)
ITand o ce equipment manufacturing (30)
Electronic material and communication device
manufacturing (32)
Medical-surgical, precision and optical material
manufacturing (33)
Telecommunications and email (64)
Ancillary financial intermediation and insurance
activities (65)
ITactivities (72)
Research and development (73)
Business activities (74)
Education (80)
Cultural and leisure activities (92)
@ activities in Catalonia. 2009 31.0%
Source: IDESCAT (2009). Datafrom DIRCE.
Sectors Total 22@ Before 2000 After 2000
Table 1
Distribution of workers in 22@ by knowledge intensity
of the company that employs them.
2010
Population:± 90,000 workers.Calculation basis:1,029 companiesthat haveprovided information on this
aspect.These resultsshow atrend.However,they do not show the exact distribution of workersin the
district (they are calculated usingestimations). They are not comparable with the information available
for the city or for Barcelonaasawhole (datafrom registers).
Source: TC-fieldwork, ‘22@Barcelona: 10 anys. 2000-2010’.February 2011.
Knowledge-intensive activities 67.5 56.6 73.8
High-tech manufacturers 3.7 5.9 2.3
Mid- to high-tech manufacturers 4.2 8.0 1.7
Knowledge-intensive services 59.6 42.7 69.9
Non-knowledge-intensive activities 32.5 43.4 26.2
Mid- to low-techmanufacturersa 0.8 1.6 0.3
Low-tech manufacturers 6.8 9.5 5.2
Non-knowledge intensive services 21.3 26.3 18.7
Unclassified in OECD 3.6 6.1 2.0

In 2009, it was established that one of the distinctive
elements of workplaces in @ companies is their high
human capital. On average, 72.5% of employees in @
companies with workplaces in the district were univer-
sity graduates. This figure is significantly higher than
the 37% of the employed population of Catalonia with
higher education qualifications, stated in the labour
force survey (EPA) for the fourth quarter of 2009. The
2009 figures also show that @ companies are with-
standing the impact of the recession better than others.
Managers of such companies were aware of the difficult
context, but most stated that their companies were sta-
ble or growing. Therefore, we can conclude that one of
the main objectives of the project is being met: that of
attracting and concentrating economic activity based on
talent, which must act as a catalyst for an economy with
high added value, to better face the current economic
challenges.
In addition to the establishment of large firms in the
district, small and micro companies have played a key role
in the economic dynamism.
Some company relocations to the neighbourhood
are particularly well-known and attracted media atten-
tion. During 2010 or 2011 alone, companies such as
National Geographic, Aenor, Marcus Evans, Quantum
Solutions, Bassat Ogilvy, CMT and Telefónica moved or
were in the process of moving to the area. Although
these companies have a strategic value beyond their
quantitative value, much of the success of the 22@
Barcelona initiative is due to the attraction of a large
number of small and even micro companies who see an
opportunity for their projects in the area.
It is calculated that there are currently around 90,000
people working in 22@, which is approximately 10.2%
of the number of workers in the city of Barcelona6
. Of
these, 62.5% work in ‘new’companies that have moved
to the district in the last decade.
Approximately 8 out of every 10 companies employ
fewer than 10 workers. Small companies, which employ
between 10 and 49 workers, represent 12% of the total,
whilst medium-sized and large companies that have 50
or more employees represent 5%. If we compare these
15
Graph 5
Distribution of workers in companies in the 22@ district. 2010
% BCN
Province
0.4
1.6
9.0
89.0
1.7More than
200 workers
Between 50 and
199 workers
Between 10 and
49 workers
Up to
10 workers
0% 20% 60% 80%40% 100%
3.2
12.4
82.6
41.9% of 22@ workers
]
]
Source: TC-fieldwork, ‘22@Barcelona: 10 anys. 2000-2010’. February 2011, and DIRCE2010.
6. The number of workers in the district is not exact,but is the result of an estima-
tion calculated on the basis of a sample of 1,029 companies for which data are
available on the total number of employees in the company and the number of
employees working in 22@.Using the ratio of the number of workers in the dis-
trict by ranges of company size,and information on the number of employees in
the rest of the companies that are registered, we made the subsequent estimates.
Sample group: 7,064 companies

figures with those for the production fabric of the
province of Barcelona (DIRCE), we can see that 22@ has
a higher percentage of medium-sized and large compa-
nies (4.9% compared to 2% in the entire province).
However, these data are on entire companies, not
just the staff at workplaces within 22@. The use of
aggregate data shows that micro companies employ
22% of the workers in the district, whilst small compa-
nies employ 36% and the 160 or so medium-sized and
large companies are responsible for 42%.
Some final considerations
1. The results of actions carried out in the 22@ dis-
trict in its first ten years of existence are clearly positive,
if we consider the initial objectives that were estab-
lished. This is demonstrated by some of the most rele-
vant indicators:
• The population in the 22@ district increased by
23% in the 2001-2009 period, which is much higher
than the population growth in the city (8%), the metro-
politan area (14%) or the whole of Catalonia (18%).
• Since 2000, approximately 4,500 companies have
set up in the district. When we add this figure to the
2,500 existing companies, the total number of firms in
the zone in 2010 was just over 7,000. Of the 4,500 com-
panies in the district in 2010 that had been installed
during the decade, around 2,150 were start-ups, whilst
the rest had moved from other zones, mainly in the city
of Barcelona itself or its metropolitan area.
• One of the main objectives of the project was to
boost @ activities in the district. These activities include
those related with the ICT sector, research, publishing,
design, culture, multimedia activity, database manage-
ment and knowledge management. The results show
that 17% of companies in the district undertook @
activities in 2001. By 2010, this figure had risen to 31%
of the companies in the district, whilst in Catalonia the
figure for the same year was only 23.6%.
• The specialization due to the increasing presence
of 22@ activities in the district has considerably
increased the human capital that is found there. In total,
72.5% of employees of companies that have workplaces
in the district are university graduates.This is in contrast
to a figure of 37% for the whole of Catalonia.
2. Considerable social consensus has been attained
on actions carried out in the district7
. All the political
groups in Barcelona City Council voted in favour of the
change in the General Metropolitan Plan (PGM) to
renew the industrial areas of Poble Nou-District with
22@ activities. The actions that have been progressively
implemented have attained sufficient consensus to be
able to continue with scheduled activities. Disagree-
ments about PERI Llacuna, priority reservation for resi-
dents of some of the subsidized flats built in the neigh-
bourhood, and the safeguarding of items of industrial
heritage in the zone are areas of debate in which con-
sensus has been reached.
3. Although the territorial area of the 22@ disctrict is
limited, it could be an example of the renewed impor-
tance of considering territories as units of economic
development. This contrasts with economic develop-
ment through the expansion of mass production, in
which large companies sought the most efficient terri-
tories on a global scale. In this case, development with-
in a territory was no longer able to guarantee the devel-
opment of the territory.The rediscovery of an urban and
regional policy has led to a re-evaluation of the role of
social and institutional conditions and the mobilization
of endogenous resources as a way to ensure develop-
ment, together with the factors that have traditionally
been taken into account, including training, innovation,
infrastructures and enterprising ability8
.
4. Studies carried out to assess policies implemented
in the 22@ district have focused not on determining
whether they have contributed to attracting activities
such as those classified as @, which is clearly shown by
available data, but on evaluating whether the changes
that have occurred in the district are specific to this zone
16
7. See M. Martí, ‘El proyecto 22@Barcelona. Glocal governance, renovación
urbana y lucha vecinal en Barcelona’. VII Congreso Español de Ciencia
Política y de la Administración.
8. M. Parellada, prologue to the book El distrito industrial de la cerámica,
A.M. Fuertes (dir), Fundación Dávalos Fletcher, 2005.

or reﬂect a trend can also be found in the rest of the city
or the metropolitan area. Comparisons of the situation
in the district with other districts of Barcelona, the met-
ropolitan area as a whole or towns with industrial spe-
cialization close to the central city show that there are
slightly different positive effects in 22@. In addition, the
results show that economies of location, that is,
economies that value the importance of proximity to
other companies in the same sector, have been relevant
to determine the location of companies that carry out @
activities9
.
Therefore, although the 22@ project has only been
implemented for a relatively short period of time and
the attraction of the 22@ district is evidently dependent
on the attraction of the Barcelona metropolitan area, the
results obtained to date can only be classed as positive.
5. The importance of location factors in the
Barcelona metropolitan area and the development of
new territorial areas whose characteristics make them
suitable for policies similar to those implemented in the
22@ district (for example, in the city of Barcelona itself,
the impact of the La Sagrera station and the BZ
Barcelona Innovation Zone project in Zona Franca; and
in the metropolitan area, the Barcelona Synchrotron
Park around the Alba synchrotron and the DeltaBCN
Aerospace and Mobility Park) mean that is it reasonable
to consider the promotion of location policies for new
economic activities that include the offer of land
required for these urban development activities in the
city of Barcelona itself and in the metropolitan area.The
desire to promote all of these areas together under the
brand ‘Barcelona Economic Triangle’, the experience
gained in the 22@ district, the potential represented by
the provision of land for the aforementioned projects
and those that could be developed, and the opportuni-
ties for action provided by an entity such as the
Barcelona metropolitan area are all essential factors that
will help to ensure the introduction of economic activi-
ties associated with the knowledge society.
17
9. E.Viladecans-Marsal, J.M. Arauzao Carod, ‘Can a knowledge-based clus-
ter be created?.The case of the Barcelona 22@ district’, Papers in Regional
Science, 2011, own publication.

1. Introduction
Since the engineer Ildefons Cerdà’s plan for the
reform and extension of Barcelona in 1859 (Pla de
Reforma i Eixample de Barcelona), the city has undergone
various urban development interventions of great
scope that have made it a benchmark for scholars of
urban phenomena. Some notable examples are the
Jaussely Plan of 1905, Le Corbusier’s Macià Plan of
1934 (which was not implemented, due to the Civil
War), the General Metropolitan Plan of 1976, and the
transformation that took place as a result of the
Olympic Games of 1992. Major international events,
such as the Universal Exhibition of 1888 and that of
1929 (on electrical industries) were also major drivers
of economic and urban development.1
The transforma-
tion of Poblenou that began in 1998, together with the
opening up of Avinguda Diagonal to the sea and the
Universal Forum of Cultures, constitute, in my under-
standing, an important link in this chain of plans and
projects. In particular, what is known internationally as
the 22@ Barcelona project has aroused great interest in
the field of urban development and in that of local eco-
nomic development.
The redevelopment of the industrial areas in the
Poblenou-22@ BCN District of Activities must be con-
sidered within the context of economic and urban devel-
opment operations of greater scope, known as the
‘Barcelona, City of Knowledge’project, which is promot-
ed by Barcelona City Council.
The aim of this article is to identify the economic
model underlying the urban development proposal of
22@.This model is characterized by the internationaliza-
tion of the economy, the tertiarization of activity, the
increasing flexibility of production, and the emergence of
a new technological paradigm based on information and
communication technologies.
Barcelona, which is one of the few cities in southern
Europe that was in the front line of the commercial rev-
olution in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and
played a leading role in Spain in the industrial revolution
during the second third of the nineteenth century2
, faced
at the end of the twentieth century a new technological
and organizational revolution known as the Knowledge
Economy.3
The economy and urban planning must adapt to the
new production context. In particular, zoning, which is
one of the main instruments of urban planning, must be
altered to fit the new reality of production. Zoning, which
emerged as a central tool of functionalist urban develop-
ment, must be adapted to the new reality, and along with
it planning must be modified.We can no longer seek spe-
cialization in zones by defining uses on the basis of a
classification of production sectors (specifically in indus-
The ‘Barcelona, City of Knowledge’ project
and 22@ Barcelona
Joan Trullén
Director of the Barcelona Institute of Regional and Metropolitan
Studies (IERMB)
1. Joan Busquets, Barcelona. La Construcción urbanística de una ciudad
compacta, Ediciones del Serbal, Barcelona 2004.
2. Jordi Nadal has developed these arguments in different studies. On
Poblenou and its evolution since the industrial revolution see: Jordi Nadal
and Xavier Tafunell, Sant Martí de Provençals: pulmó industrial de
Barcelona, 1847-1992, Ed. Columna, 1992.
3. For information on the knowledge economy and the city, and on measure-
ment of the knowledge economy in urban areas and its application to
Barcelona see: Joan Trullén, Josep Lladós and Rafael Boix, ‘Economía del
conocimiento, ciudad y competitividad’, Investigaciones Regionales, no.
1, 2002, p. 139-161.

trials zones) into ‘what’ they produce. To generate
increasing yields, we should not try to achieve vertical
integration in large production plants, sector zoning and
radical separation of uses. Instead, we should generate
economies outside the company that come from different
sectors and converge in the territory. The important fac-
tor is no longer ‘what’ is produced, but ‘how’ it is pro-
duced. As Giacomo Becattini stated, to understand the
keys to contemporary economic development, the unit of
analysis should shift from ‘sector’to ‘district’4
.
Production has moved away from large industrial
production plants that incorporate most of the produc-
tion stages and added value. The focus has shifted from
specialized industrial cities. Instead, the form of produc-
tion in the knowledge economy shall essentially be flex-
ible and have a considerable intangible component. In
this form of production, the city plays an important role:
it provides the urban dimension that generates
economies associated with diversity; and economies of
location are associated with the integration in a territory
of groups of innovative companies dedicated to specific
production activities.
The cities compete more than the companies.5
Therefore, the conditions need to be created so that
dynamic external economies can emerge in the territory
of a metropolis.The dimension of metropolis is relevant,
as is the grouping of innovative companies into clusters
and Marshallian industrial districts. These territorial fac-
tors are crucial to competitiveness.6
Therefore, old spaces with industrial zoning that are
situated in central areas could be used for new produc-
tion activities under certain conditions. This notion goes
far beyond the concept of a digital or information city
proposed at the beginning of the 1990s in some scientific
circles. Here what we are talking about is the city of
knowledge.
2. The ‘Barcelona, City of Knowledge’ project
The Barcelona, City of Knowledge project is the main
focus of Barcelona’s economic and urban development
policy after the Olympic project. The Barcelona project
gave rise to what would later become known as the 22@
Barcelona project. Joan Clos, who was chosen to replace
Pasqual Maragall as Mayor of Barcelona in September
1997, made the concept of ‘city of knowledge’a guiding
principle of municipal government action:
Barcelona must be faithful to its tradition of moderni-
ty, which has been demonstrated so many times
throughout its history, and must accept that the
knowledge revolution shall be a driving force in this
part of the world. Barcelona is in a favourable situa-
tion to position itself as a leader.7
In response to this idea, an ad hoc structure was cre-
ated in October 1998 to promote the new project, with
the appointment of two commissioners: one for urban
planning and one for the economy.8
After the elections
of May 1999, the post of councillor for the City of
Knowledge was created and headed by Vladimir de
Semir. The Municipal Action Programme 2000-2003
described the objective of making Barcelona a city of
knowledge.
The economic context in which this proposal arose
was strongly influenced by two fundamental factors:
weakening of the major impetus of the Olympics, which
boosted economic activity between 1986 and 1992; and
the recession of 1993-1995, which had a severe effect on
Barcelona until 1996. Barcelona needed to turn towards
new objectives and the focus became the concept of the
city of knowledge. The adoption of a proactive strategy
has characterized municipal economic policy since 1998.
4. Giacomo Becattini, ‘Del ‘sector’ industrial al ‘districte’ industrial. Algunes
consideracions sobre la unitat d’anàlisi de l’economia industrial’, Revista
Econòmica de Catalunya, no. 1, 1986. Michael Porter’s clusters or groups
of innovative companies are concepts that are very similar to Becattini’s
notion of ‘Marshallian industrial district’.
5. Roberto Camagni, Economia urbana, Antoni Bosch (editor), 2005.
6. JoanTrullén, ‘Factors territorials de competitivitat a la Regió Metropolita-
na de Barcelona’ in Revista Econòmica de Catalunya, no. 34, January
1998, p. 34-51.
7. Joan Clos. ‘Una ciutat amb idees’,Barcelona, Metròpolis Mediterrània, no.
1.Monograph on Barcelona,City of Knowledge,2001,p.4.The reference was
to Richard V. Knight (1995): ‘Knowledge-Based Development: Policy and
Planning Implications for Cities’, Urban Studies, 32.
8. José Antonio Acebillo, Director of Barcelona Regional, Commissioner for
Infrastructure and Urban Planning, and Joan Trullén, Commissioner for
Economic andTerritorial Assessment and Diagnosis for the Barcelona, City
of Knowledge project were appointed by Resolution of the Mayor’s Office,
22 October 1998.

In this line, the economic strategy was based on the
emergence of ‘a new macroeconomic context from the
time of integration into the monetary union, with a
reduction in nominal and real interest rates that would
facilitate the adoption of strategic changes, which would
necessarily involve the mobilization of considerable
financial resources’9
. Unlike the pattern found in many
Spanish municipalities, Barcelona would not prioritize
residential construction, but a change in the economic
basis, supported by new concepts of urban development.
Preparatory work on the new strategy began in the
mid-1990s. In fact, the Revista Econòmica de Catalunya
published two monographs in issues 33 and 34 on La
Barcelona metropolitana: economia i planejament
[Metropolitan Barcelona: economy and planning]. The
issues contained eighteen articles that described the
state-of-the-art in these matters and in other related
areas such as finances, ecology, demography and
mobility in the metropolis10
. The aim was to identify
elements that could be used to construct a new story
after the Olympic project, which had put Barcelona on
the world map for the first time. A change in scale of
the Barcelona metropolitan area was detected, as well
as Barcelona’s new role as a central supplier of servic-
es to the network of metropolitan cities, and the con-
siderable competitive capacity of a metropolis in
which SMEs are predominant, due to the existence of
territorial factors of competitiveness. A new story
needed to be created to bring together the city’s strat-
egy. And this story would be defined in a new project
for the city: Barcelona, City of Knowledge.
Next, we will highlight some of the main points of
the urban development strategy.11
First, the city of
Barcelona’s function as a central server for the metropol-
itan area was identified. In other words, the city needed
to adopt functions of a tertiary nature, and consequent-
ly traditional industrial and logistic uses would be
replaced by tertiary ones. Second, the city should expand
not towards the west, as it had in the past, but towards
the east. To achieve this, two actions were required:
Avinguda Diagonal needed to be opened to the sea, and
Poblenou needed to be transformed.The third point was
to associate this new strategy with a major infrastructure
decision: to make La Sagrera the central station for a
new high-speed train, and thus opt to redevelop the
Besòs area and the triangle Sagrera-Besòs-Front
Marítim. A singular building (the Jean Nouvel water
tower) would act as a sign of the new direction of urban
growth of Barcelona towards the east.12
The economic and territorial strategy of the
Barcelona, City of Knowledge project was drawn up
between October 1998 and May 1999. An executive
summary was subsequently published without the sta-
tistical workings in the monographic issue of the journal
Barcelona, Metròpoli Mediterrània, [Barcelona, Mediterra-
nean Metropolis] in 2001, which was dedicated to the
City of Knowledge project.13
A description of Barcelona’s economic model and a
specific analysis of the city and the knowledge economy
were published in 2001 by Barcelona City Council in the
book La Metròpoli de Barcelona cap a l’economia del conei-
xement: diagnosi econòmica i territorial de Barcelona 2001
9. The new financial framework that was emerging was comparable to that
found at the start of the twentieth century with the repatriation of capital
from Cuba and the Philippines, which provided the opportunity to fund one
of Barcelona’s biggest urban development operations: the urban reform and
construction of the Via Laietana road.This point had been debated in one of
the last urban strategy councils chaired by Pasqual Maragall.The transfor-
mation of Poblenou was a project of comparable financial magnitude to the
urban reform of Via Laietana eighty years earlier. On the funding of the
reform and construction of Via Laietana, see Francesc Roca i Rosell, Política
econòmica i territori a Catalunya, 1901-1939, Ed. Ketres, Barcelona 1979.
10. These issues were presented at Barcelona City Council’s Saló de Cent in
April 1998.
11. The urban planning strategy would mainly be defined by José Antonio
Acebillo. The subsequent urban transformation project for Poblenou, led by
Ramón García-Bragado,had to be in line with this strategy.Xavier Casas,the
deputy mayor and the president of the Commission for Urban Planning,
Infrastructures and Housing would play a central role in the urban develop-
ment of Barcelona between 1998 and 2008, particularly that of Poblenou. See
Ramón Garcia-Bragado, in the preface of the book 22@ Barcelona. 10 anys
de renovació urbana, Barcelona, 2011.
12. The group of specialists who drew up the Modification of the General
Metropolitan Plan for redeveloping the industrial areas of Poblenou,
approved in July 2007, was comprised of the Urban Planning Manager,
Ramón García-Bragado (who proposed the 22@ name for the project), the
architects Ricard Fayos, Àurea Guillén and Pau Batlle, the economists
Rafael González Tormo and Joaquim Clusa, who drew up the economic and
financial study, and the jurists Enric Lambies and Sònia Cobos. See the
preface of the book 22@ Barcelona. 10 anys de renovació urbana,
Barcelona, 2011.
13. This monograph includes different contributions that together give an idea of
the nature of the project. It includes studies on ICT (Tere Serra), R&D (Jordi

[The Metropolis of Barcelona Towards the Knowledge
Economy: An Economic and Territorial Analysis of
Barcelona 2001].14
The economic and territorial strategy is set out in the
study ‘Projecte Barcelona Ciutat del Coneixement.
Informe Final. Elements per a una diagnosi econòmica i
territorial’ [Barcelona, City of Knowledge Project. Final
Report. Elements for an economic and territorial analy-
sis], published by the Department of Applied
Economics, UAB, on 26 May 1999.This study was part of
a programme of research on the urban and metropolitan
economy of Barcelona.15
The main hypotheses and pro-
posals are given below.
a) The importance of know-how and knowledge to
explain the generation of added value in advanced
economies and the continuity of production. Together
with labour and capital, knowledge will gain relevance
as a production factor. Intangibles such as education are
increasingly important.The relevance of capital is dimin-
ishing. Codified knowledge is becoming less important.
b) Skilled labour is becoming more important than
unskilled labour. ‘Tangible’ capital is increasingly
important.
c) The growing importance of increasing returns in
industrial and service sector production, which leads to
further specialization of territories. The technical
change is occurring both in industrial and service sec-
tors. For the first time, economies of scale, scope and
network are affecting the service sector considerably
and increasingly.
d) The importance of territorial factors to explain the
continuity of industrial and service sector production.16
The notion of a knowledge-based economy is further
reaching than the concept of an‘information society’. It
not only includes knowledge of a scientific nature or
from advanced research, but also knowledge of different
production areas. It distinguishes between information
(codified knowledge) and non-codified or non-codifi-
able knowledge.17
In Barcelona, one opportunity to exploit was the exis-
tence of a strong tradition of industrial know-how, built
on a foundation of arts and trades and a worldwide rep-
utation in design and art, and in fields related to medi-
cine and health, training and knowledge transmission.
Some of these areas will be brought together in clusters
or groups of innovative companies based in Poblenou.
On the basis of works by Masahisa Fujita and
Takatoshi Tabuchi, a process of recentralization of
knowledge-intensive production activities was identified
in large metropolises, in contrast to trends in the 1970s
and 1980s, which showed greater growth of medium-
sized cities. Considerable economies of agglomeration
would emerge that would generally boost the process of
relocation of the most knowledge-intensive activities to
the centres of large metropolises.
Behind the growth in economies of agglomeration
lies: economies of scale in the provision of public servic-
es (international airports, major ports, large hospitals,
large universities and research centres) and economies
of location (through cross-fertilization as in Jacobs, spe-
18. Camí), 22@ BCN (Ramón García-Bragado), indicators for ‘Barcelona, City of
Knowledge’ (M. Antònia Monés), urban ecology (Salvador Rueda), economic
activity and employment in the Barcelona as a city of knowledge (Maravillas
Rojo), culture (Ferran Mascarell) and education and training in the knowledge
society (Marina Subirats).The Technical Programming Unit of Barcelona City
Council, headed by M. Antònia Monés, drew up a series of indicators for cen-
tral themes in the new strategy, including the penetration of ICT and the
Internet,the quantificationofadvanced businessservices,knowledge centres,and
ICT production, among others. A map of the city of knowledge was drawn up
for Barcelona,which precisely identified the the presence in the territory of edu-
cationalcentres,libraries,theatres,museums,auditoriums,exhibitionrooms,and
highlighted the uneven distribution is the municipality of the offering of these
services,particularly in the Sant Martí,Nou Barris and Sant Andreu districts.
14. Joan Trullén, La metròpoli de Barcelona cap a l’economia del coneix-
ement: diagnosi econòmica i territorial de Barcelona 2001.
Ajuntament de Barcelona, Gabinet Tècnic de Programació, Barcelona
2001, with foreword by M. Antònia Monés.
15. This programme of research in the UAB’s Department of Applied
Economics resulted in various publications, such as the Pla Delta I. El
16. model econòmic i territorial de Barcelona (1995) and Noves estratè-
gies econòmiques i territorials per a Barcelona (1998). These studies
were promoted by Narcisa Salvador until 1998 and by M. Antònia
Monés from 1999, from Barcelona City Council’s Technical Programming
Unit. In addition, Carola Adam collaborated extensively (with Natividad
Hernández, Hugo Fuentes and Guillermo Gandara, among others) and
subsequently Rafael Boix (with José Antonio Santana and Rafa Porcar).
Rafael Boix headed the study ‘Barcelona ciutat del Coneixement.
Economia del coneixement, tecnologies de la informació i de la comuni-
cació, i noves estratègies urbanes’, Barcelona City Council’s Technical
Programming Unit, 2004.
16. Projecte Barcelona Ciutat del Coneixement, May 1999, p. 17.
17. Knowledge includes both categories and codes for interpreting the infor-
mation itself, abilities or specializations with tacit content, and solutions
to problems or research of a heuristic nature that cannot be well defined
by algorithms. See Moses Abramovitz and Paul A. David, Technological
Change and the Rise of Intangible Investments: The US economy’s
Growth Path in the Twentieth Century, 1997.

cialization in certain activities or Marshall, Arrow and
Romer externalities). In addition, the increasing impor-
tance of network economies has also been detected
(Roberto Camagni, Carlo Salone).18
The‘Barcelona, City of Knowledge’study identified a
change in economic base in Barcelona, and detected
some trends, including the following:
a) Loss of relative importance of industry and its
metropolitan decentralization. Two thirds of the metro-
politan industrial base are outside of Barcelona. Conse-
quently, Barcelona increasingly acts as a service provider
for the metropolis.
b) Greater cyclical sensitivity in industry than in
services.
c) Sharp increase in the demand for land for knowl-
edge-intensive tertiary activities.
d) Poly-nuclear nature of the metropolis of Barcelo-
na, with considerable concentrations of industrial activi-
ties in historic metropolitan towns and cities, and con-
centrations of the tertiary sector in Barcelona itself.
e) The metropolis is not a city of cities, but a poly-
nuclear metropolitan area that is diverse in general, but
specialized in certain production activities in its main
nodes. Barcelona has strong economies of location for
many tertiary activities. This is considered to be highly
relevant in the new strategy of the city of knowledge,
promoted by the municipality of Barcelona 19
.
f) Spending on research and development has been
found to be insufficient in comparison with other
European metropolises. Shortfalls have also been found
in the stock of human capital per employee. Conse-
quently, these areas need to be strengthened.
The strategic consequence of this evaluation is clear:
‘Barcelona, as the central city of a poly-nuclear metro-
politan region, must strengthen its specialization in
knowledge-intensive activities’20
. This has an economic
and territorial consequence:
The traditional urban economic strategy of Barcelona
was based on the fact that the predominant economic
activity was manufacturing, and that zoning of land
uses in the central city of the metropolis was essential
to maintain manufacturing activities.To pass from an
industrial manufacturing model to a model adapted to
the technological revolution, it is essential to open up
the 22a zoning to these new activites, to protect their
production and employment base.21
The sixth section of the document is on ‘Poblenou,
Technological District’. It proposes the establishment in
Poblenou - and within a new scientific, technical and
cultural axis that covers Nou Barris, Sant Andreu and
Sant Martí - of a new technological district to strategi-
cally locate productive, research, learning and develop-
ment activities that are knowledge-intensive.The instru-
ments proposed to meet this objective include those of a
town planning nature and those of a university and
research and development nature. Furthermore, to
implement this proposal to attract new technological
activities of a scientific, technical and cultural nature, a
new industrial land policy needed to be defined to
include these activities in the industrial zoning: ‘The
notion of sector must be replaced by that of activity, to
promote knowledge- and employment-intensive
activites in old zones with 22a designation’.22
One of the main arguments in all of this debate is
that the new knowledge-intensive activities are more
employment-intensive than industrial manufacturing
activities.
Together with a specific approach centred on land
uses, we should focus on the importance of creating an
environment with a high quality of urban development
in the Poblenou zone that includes ‘educational services
to cater for a population from different countries and
cultures with a high degree of mobility’.23
To strengthen new research and development activi-
ties, a new university centre for teaching and research
needs to be created in Poblenou. To achieve this, land
must be provided to meet the space requirements of
these uses, and new forms of managing these services
18. A later systematization can be found in La metròpoli de Barcelona cap
a l’economia del coneixement: diagnosi econòmica i territorial de
Barcelona 2001, Chapter 3.
19. Projecte Barcelona Ciutat del Coneixement, May 1999, p. 22.
20. Ibid., p. 29.
21. Ibid., p. 29.
22. Ibid., p. 31.
23. Ibid., p. 32.

will be needed to facilitate interaction with the environ-
ment, in a context of transition from the Humboldtian
University to the post-Humboldtian.24
3. Zoning based on the knowledge economy in the
22@ Barcelona strategy
The new economic and territorial strategy laid out in
the Barcelona, City of Knowledge project has an impor-
tant consequence for urban development: the need to
increase the land available for knowledge-intensive
activities, particularly in the municipality of Barcelona.
However, much of the land available for locating eco-
nomic activity in Barcelona is designated in the General
Metropolitan Plan as industrial.
Studies on the location of economic activities in the
metropolitan area indicate that the demand for industri-
al land in the municipality of Barcelona has decreased,
whilst the demand for land for the service sector has
increased considerably.25
In addition, service sector activ-
ities have two essential characteristics: high employment
density and high demand for centrality. This opens the
door to reusing old industrial land for new service sector
activities.26
Furthermore, there was a considerable amount of
industrial land available in central zones of the metrop-
olis, particularly in the districts situated in the north and
east of Barcelona. This land is classified as industrial and
is designated as 22a in the General Metropolitan Plan
(PGM).This is consistent with an economic model based
on the specialization of Barcelona in manufacturing pro-
duction.
The aim is now to modify this traditional zoning
instrument to adapt it to the new strategy of Barcelona
as a city of knowledge: ‘To pass from an industrial man-
ufacturing model to a model adapted to the new tech-
nological revolution, it is essential to open up the 22a
zoning to these activites, to protect their production and
employment base’.27
However, the question was how to achieve this. The
aim was not simply to expand the activities in the 22a
zoning to include ICT activities, but to incorporate a
wide range of activities that are ‘knowledge-intensive’.
Teams of engineers who worked on the definition of the
@ activities, led by Miquel Barceló, had a vision that was
focused on ICT in particular, and based on the constitu-
tion of a ‘digital city’, along the lines of cities such as
Bangalore or projects such as that of Silicon Alley in New
York or the Cyber district of Boston.28
However, now the
aim is to adopt a more general vision, based on the prin-
ciples of the knowledge economy, and implemented
according to the new paradigm.
Indeed, the classical zoning is based on the notion of
a production sector defined by the characteristics of
what it produces. The new zoning should be based on
‘how’ it is produced, in accordance with the criteria in
the paradigm of the knowledge economy. If we had
opted for a highly precise definition of @ activities as
those that are strictly related to the production of infor-
mation and communication technologies, then an
extension of the existing list of activities of a manufac-
turing nature by incorporating ICT manufacture and
services would have been sufficient. In contrast, if we
adopt a vision of the knowledge economy, as foreseen
by the OECD, then activities that produce ICT and those
24. Here the main reference was the OECD document Science,
Technology, Industry. University Research in Transition, Paris, 1998,
p. 7 and 8. A document by Pedro Conseiçao, Manuel V. Heitor and Pedro
Olivera was also used, entitled: ‘Expectations for the University in the
Knowledge-based Economy’, and published in Technological
Forecasting and Social Science, 58, 1998, p. 203-214.
25. Joan Trullén (1998): Noves estratègies econòmiques i territorials per
a Barcelona, p. 20.
26. On changes in employment demand in Barcelona see ‘Tendències de l’ocu-
pació a Barcelona a partir de INSS i IAE (1993-1997)’, research agree-
ment between Barcelona Activa and the UAB, Joan Trullén with Rafael
Boix and Juan Antonio Santana, Department of Applied Economics, 25
September 1998, duplicated.
27. ‘Introducció: la nova zona 22@ i la ciutat del coneixement’, Chapter 2 of
the ‘Modificació del PGM per a la renovació de les àrees industrials del
Poblenou-Districte d’Activitats 22@BCN’.
28. Studies that were first promoted by Miquel Barceló from the Catalan
Institute of Technology and then by the 22@ Barcelona development com-
pany, on the introduction of ICT in Barcelona and in the metropolitan
area, were essential to define the technological and business strategy of
Poblenou, and, in particular, the initial list of @ activities. In addition,
Barceló boosted the location of the Catalan Institute of Technology in
Poblenou, and was behind the technological drive focused on information
and communication technologies. A detailed description of the project and
its relation with the model of the digital city can be found in Antoni Oliva,
El districte d’activitats 22@bcn, Aula Barcelona, Barcelona, 2003.

that intensively use ICT and have highly qualified
human capital should be included. This latter perspec-
tive requires new dynamics, and is supported by the
‘Barcelona, City of Knowledge’ document and other
previous economics studies.
Therefore, on the basis of studies on the location of
economic activity, it was argued that much of the
demand for land in Poblenou would be for non-indus-
trial activities that are mid- to high-tech or high-tech,
and services in particular.29
These activities have one fun-
damental characteristic: they have very high employ-
ment density.30
Therefore, a proposal was made to adopt the
OECD’s notion of knowledge economy, set out in its
document OECD Science, Technology and Industry
Scoreboard 1999: Benchmarking Knowledge-based
Economies. This led to the adoption of general criteria
rather than just lists of the sectors and subsectors
defined in national classifications of economic activi-
ties; and to the use of a method for approving propos-
als that required the formation of an advisory commis-
sion to evaluate whether proposed activities met the
established criteria.
In its first document to propose how to measure
knowledge-based economies, the OECD warned of the
adoption of simplistic criteria:
The importance of technology-based activities has
often been approximated by the share of high-technol-
ogy industries in manufacturing. However, this
approach focuses only on the main producers of
high-technology goods.
It is desirable to include otehr activities that are inten-
sive users of high technology and/or have the rela-
tively highly skilled workforce that is required to ben-
efit fully from technological innovations.Therefore, in
addition to the commonly identified manufacturing
industries, service activities such as finance, insurance
and communications are included here.
This approach went far beyond what was initially
established and what emerged from the model of a dig-
ital city.31
These activities were identified by the acronym CITI
and the categories 72 (communications), 8 (bank insur-
ance, estate agents and business services) and 9 (com-
munity services, social services and personal services).
Consequently, a criterion was adopted that enabled a
wide range of service sectors to be included in the @
designation.
Finally, the approved text included in detail a wide
range of ICT manufacturing and service activities, and
also referred in general to ‘those other tertiary activities
that are based on knowledge and increase competitive-
ness, according to the OECD Science, Technology and
Industry Scoreboard 1991, page 18, particularly in techno-
logical, commercial and financial areas’.32
This important amendment was accompanied by the
adoption of a list of criteria that @ activities had to meet,
which are as follows33
:
a) Use production processes characterized by inten-
sive use of new technology resources.
b) Have a high employment density (number of
workers or users/area).
c) Generate high added value.
d) Be directly related to the generation, processing
and transmission of information and knowledge.
e) Not pollute or be a nuisance, and be suitable for
central urban environments.
The decision to include a reference to new knowl-
edge-intensive activities and to potential changes in the
OECD method, and to establish some principles or gen-
24
29. ‘Noves estratègies...’ p. 20 and 21.
30. A comprehensive study was carried out on the location of economic
activities in Barcelona, in the district of Sant Martí and the blocks of
Poblenou, based on the business tax and covering the period 1992-
1997. The study revealed a trend of deindustrialization and ter-
tiarization and examined at two-digit level the area of the blocks in
Poblenou. See Joan Trullén and Rafael Boix, ‘Tendències recents de
l’activitat econòmica al Poblenou de Barcelona a partir de les dades de
l’impost d’activitats econòmiques’, collaboration agreement between
Barcelona City Council and the UAB, Department of Applied
Economics, 1999.
31. See Miquel Barceló and Antoni Oliva, La ciudad digital, Pacte Industrial
de la Regió Metropolitana de Barcelona, Beta Editorial, L’Hospitalet de
Llobregat, 2002, p. 121.
32. Modificació del PGM per a la renovació de les àrees industrials del
Poblenou-Districte d’Activitats 22@BCN, p. 249. Annex 1. Relació d’ac-
tivitats @.
33. Ibidem Art. 7.2, p. 227.

eral criteria for assessing whether an economic activity
was suitable for inclusion within @ activities, required
the creation of decision-making procedures that were
different to those that had been used up to that point in
Barcelona’s urban planning regulations. Specifically, it
was agreed to create an advisory commission, comprised
of people of recognized technical and professional abili-
ty in the area of ICT, the information society, and the
knowledge economy. This commission would be
appointed by the Mayor of Barcelona, and would have
three objectives: report on the special plans that would
have to develop @ activities, propose updates to the list
of @ activities and assess, in cases of doubt or impreci-
sion, whether or not an activity met the criteria estab-
lished in the @ regulations.
4. Conclusion: Poblenou, 22@ Barcelona District
of Activities
In this article, we focus on the inclusion of the
process of redevelopment of the industrial areas of
Poblenou and 22@ Barcelona in a broader project to
transform Barcelona, which was drawn up between
1999 and 2000 and which is known as Barcelona, City
of Knowledge. This project not only covers strategic
aspects of economy and urban planning, but also a
wide range of fields such as technology, research and
development, culture, education, employment and
information.
Barcelona’s new strategy is based on economic and
urban planning theories brought together in the princi-
ples of a new urban economy (the cities compete,
according to Roberto Camagni) and a new theory of
Marshallian industrial districts (the old criteria of classi-
fying activities by sectors no longer apply, as many of
the advantages are in the ‘district’, says Giacomo
Becattini).
If the key is not the ‘sector’ but the ‘district’, then
urban zoning must change. The old system of zoning
designation identified the sector as the basic economic
category. However, in the redevelopment of Poblenou a
new classification of ‘activities’ is proposed that
includes ICT and service activities that are ‘knowledge-
intensive’, according to the OECD definition.
To pass from an industrial manufacturing model to a
model of knowledge economy, it is essential to open up
the new zoning to these activites, to promote a new
production base with high employment density. This
will lead to the introduction of the new ‘district of
activities’ 22@ Barcelona, within the general project of
‘Barcelona, City of Knowledge’, of which the district
forms part.
References
ABRAMOVITZ, MOSES, & DAVID, PAUL A. (1996), ‘Technological Change
and the Rise of Intangible Investments: The US Economy’s Growth-
path in the Twentieth Century,’ Employment and Growth in the
Knowledge-based Economy, Paris: OECD.
ACEBILLO, JOSÉ ANTONIO (1998), ‘Barcelona: servidor central de la
xarxa metropolitana de ciutats’ in Revista Econòmica de Catalunya, no.
34, pp. 96-106.
BARCELÓ, MIQUEL, AND OLIVA, ANTONI, (2002) La ciudad digital. Pacto
Industrial de la Región Metropolitana de Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de
Llobregat: Beta editorial.
BARCELONA, METRÒPOLI MEDITERRÀNIA Monograph dedicated to
‘Projecte Barcelona Ciutat del Coneixement’, Ajuntament de
Barcelona, 2001.
BECATTINI, GIACOMO, (1986) ‘Del “sector” industrial al “districte”
industrial. Algunes consideracions sobre la unitat d’anàlisi de l’econo-
mia industrial’, Revista Econòmica de Catalunya, no. 1.
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coneixement, tecnologies de la informació i de la comunicació, i noves estratè-
gies urbanes, Gabinet Tècnic de Programació, Ajuntament de Barcelona.
BUSQUETS, JOAN, (2004) Barcelona. La construcción urbanística de
una ciudad compacta, Barcelona: Serbal.
CAMAGNI, ROBERTO, (2005) Economia Urbana, Antoni Bosch Editor.
CLOS, JOAN, (2001) ‘Una ciutat amb idees’, Barcelona, metròpolis
mediterrània monographs, no. 1. Barcelona : Ajuntament de Barcelona.
Àrea de Relacions Ciutadanes.
CONSEIÇAO, PEDRO; HEITOR, MANUEL V. AND OLIVERA, PEDRO, (1998)
‘Expectations for the University in the Knowledge-based Economy’,
Technological Forecasting and Social Science, 58, p. 203-214.
GARCÍA-BRAGADO, RAMÓN, (2011) 22@Barcelona. 10 anys de renovació
urbana [prologue], Barcelona, 2011: Ajuntament de Barcelona.
KNIGHT, RICHARD V. (1995). ‘Knowledge-Based Development: Policy
and Planning Implications for cities’, Urban Studies, 32.
Modificació del Pla general metropolità per a la renovació de les àrees
industrials del Poblenou, districte d’activitats 22@BCN. Definitively
approved by Agreement of the Subcomissió d’Urbanisme del Municipi
de Barcelona on 27 July 2000 (DOGC no. 3239 de 5/10/2000).

NADAL, JORDI I TAFUNELL, XAVIER, (1992) Sant Martí de Provençals:
pulmó industrial de Barcelona, 1847-1992, Barcelona: Ed. Columna.
OECD (1998) Science, Technology, Industry. University Research in
Transition, Paris.
OLIVA, ANTONI, (2003) El districte d’activitats 22@bcn, Barcelona: Aula
Barcelona.
ROCA I ROSELL, FRANCESC, (1979) Política econòmica i territori a
Catalunya, 1901-1939, Barcelona: Ed. Ketres.
TRULLÉN, JOAN, (1998) ‘Factors territorials de competitivitat a la
Regió Metropolitana de Barcelona’, Revista Econòmica de Catalunya, no.
34, January 1998, p. 34-51.
TRULLÉN, JOAN (1998): Noves estratègies econòmiques i territorials per a
Barcelona, Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Gabinet Tècnic de
Programació.
TRULLÉN, JOAN; BOIX, RAFAEL AND SANTANA, JUAN ANTONIO, (1998)
Tendències de l’ocupació a Barcelona a partir de INSS i IAE (1993-1997),
Research Agreement between Barcelona Activa and UAB,
Departament d’Economia Aplicada, duplicated.
TRULLÉN, JOAN, AND BOIX, RAFAEL, (1999) Tendències recents de l’activi-
tat econòmica al Poblenou de Barcelona a partir de les dades de l’Impost
d’Activitats Econòmiques, Partnership Agreement between Ajuntament
de Barcelona and UAB, Departament d’Economia Aplicada.
TRULLÉN, JOAN, (2001) La metròpoli de Barcelona cap a l’economia del
coneixement: diagnosi econòmica i territorial de Barcelona 2001. Barcelona:
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conocimiento, ciudad y competitividad’, Investigaciones Regionales,
no. 1, p. 139-161.

Introduction: 22@ as a necessary condition to
increase worldwide competitiveness through the size
of the supply and consolidated clusters
At the end of 2000, a major redevelopment operation
started with the definitive approval of the Modification of
the Metropolitan General Plan to redevelop industrial areas
of Poblenou, the 22@ Barcelona district of activities, which
covers an area equivalent to 113 blocks of Cerdà’s Eixample
and has a potential of close to 4 million m2
of gross floor
space (GFS).This operation was to be carried out in a tradi-
tional industrial area that was occupied by around 1.4 mil-
lion m2
of built floor space in varying states of physical and
functional obsolescence and with a manufacturing zoning
designation (22a). In general, the existing constructions
underutilized a very central area that is just 15 minutes from
the centre of Barcelona.
Over 4,600 dwellings were also located in the 198-ha
area.These dwellings, which were not fully legal, were kept
in the new plan.The 22@ development increases the hous-
ing stock by around 4,000 dwellings for affordable housing
and on ceded land, with a GFS equivalent to 10% of the
total development (0.3 FAR - floor space area ratio), which
will be transferred to the City Council from the develop-
ment by law and as its share in the planning gains.
Thus, a potential 3.2 million m2
GFS for economic activ-
ities was put on the market for building high-density offices
(3 FAR in the blocks1
), as corresponds to a central business
district. This is a necessary condition for competing in the
global real estate market and attracting new economic activ-
ity to the central city,which,without the critical mass of 22@
and the opportunity to create clusters, would have had to
mainly locate activities in the outskirts of the metropolitan
area in a more dispersed way. This highlights the role of
Barcelona as the central server in a system of metropolitan
towns and cities, and the focus of directional activities.
The block is the basic unit for planning and for manag-
ing private initiatives, if there is agreement among over 50%
of the land owners. This unit facilitates the distribution of
profits and charges resulting from the development plan,
which is in proportion with the land ownership by existing
companies. It also provides sufficient flexibility to adapt the
supply to the needs of the real estate market.The plan that
the City Council began to implement in four predetermined
areas and the move of activities to the district are additional
incentives for the development of private initiative.
From an economic perspective, the plot ratio incentive
(up to 2.7 FAR for @ activities in the new economy and
2.2 FAR for other service sector uses, such as hotels,
excluding manufacturing activity and storage) generates
planning gains to cover compensation for relocations
(around €600 per m2
of existing floor space), demolitions,
compensation for existing buildings (around €200 per m2
of existing floor space), the costs of city and internal infra-
The impact of 22@ on urban development
and real estate: Barcelona’s future central
business district
Sara Mur and Joaquim Clusa
Consulting economists, www.murclusa.cat
(*) The authors are grateful for the interest of the BSAV.The map was includ-
ed thanks to Albert Viladomiu Mangrané, Director of Urban Planning of
the BSAV, and it was drawn up by: vubeda@barcelonasagrera.com
1. The FAR (floor space area ratio) of 3 m2
of gross floor space/m2
of land is
equivalent to a building area of around 36,000 m2
of floor space above
grade in a block of the Eixample (12,000 m2
of land).This is almost equiv-
alent, for example, to building a Mapfre Tower (approximately 42,000 m2
of gross floor space above grade) or an average-sized Corte Inglés of 7
floors above grade of around 45,000 m2
of gross floor space) and explains
the type of building in the blocks with new constructions.

structure and the proportional contribution to financing
the redevelopment of the entire area, according to the
specifications of the Special Infrastructure Plan (PEI) and
which accounts for less than €80 per m2
of floor space
above grade that the corresponding tax ordinance deter-
mines per unit of land area.
The concept of PEI is also an innovation in the man-
agement and private financing of the redevelopment of
the entire area. It determines a high standard of quality
for the electricity supply, telecommunications and waste
collection. Thus, the planning gains also finance most of
the infrastructure of the city, with only a minimum con-
tribution of general investment from the City Council’s
current revenue. This funding mechanism was subse-
quently applied to the infrastructure of La Marina del Prat
Vermell and is planned for LaVerneda. It could be applied
in the implementation of urban development plans in the
entire municipality, to finance the city infrastructure that
cannot be assigned to specific sectors.
Naturally, the blocks that have already been trans-
formed or those that are more likely to be transformed in
the future are those that are less dense and close to the
average plot ratio for the previous use (around 1 FAR), as
less compensation needs to be paid.Therefore, the time it
takes to infill the area will depend on the market condi-
tions at each moment to pay the compensation, so the
densest blocks are likely to take longer to develop.
The development of the blocks could be delayed if dis-
agreements arise between landowners that are not part of
the initial majority initiative. Such disagreements are gen-
erally due to compensation, as the financing of the new
development could be covered by property developers
who buy the land from the current landowners.Although
the compensation committees have legal instruments for
paying compensation to the minority owner, this does
not mean that arguments will not arise that could delay
the development of the whole block or sector.
Development in blocks also helps to surpass the min-
imum standards of general urban planning regulations, as
20% of the block or area is set aside for open spaces and
10% for all kinds of facilities, including newly created
ones that are of a 22@ nature.
Free land transfers are neutral in relation to the sale
price of the real estate product, as the residual unit value
of the plots is the derived demand based on the the sale
price of the final product. The business costs, the profit
from the promotion, and the absolute price of plots only
depends on the plot ratio attributed in the plans and the
unit price.
The dimension of the 22@ district can be compared to
La Défense in Paris2
, which is advertised as the biggest
international business district in Europe and is centrally
situated3
. In an area of 564 ha4
, a total of 3.4 million m2
of
offices, 0.95 M m2
of commercial floor space and 0.95 M
m2
of dwellings have been constructed in this area since
the 1960s. There is a total of 4.4 M m2
GFS for economic
activity, 185,000 jobs and 20,000 residents. Today, the
headquarters of 12 of the 50 biggest multinational com-
panies in the world are located in the Île-de-France area,
with 50 million m2
of offices.
The 3.2 M m2
GFS of 22@ represents 72% of the floor
space for economic activity in La Défense and could
house 133,000 jobs in the future using an equivalent stan-
dard (24 m2
GFS per job). Although the total area will
only be 35% of that of La Défense and the average plot
ratio will be around double, the comparison is appropri-
ate as it highlights the scope and development opportu-
nities of 22@. The dimensions of office space in towns in
the Barcelona metropolitan area, with 12.2 M m2(5)
(of
which 7.3 M m2
GFS corresponds to the municipality of
Barcelona), are smaller than the 50 million m2
in Île-de-
France stated in information on La Défense, given the
differences in the level of rent, the degree of tertiarization
of the economy, and the effect of its capital status.
All the main urban agglomerations in the world aim
to expand their central business districts in locations as
close to the centre as possible. This is also the case of
Madrid, which in 2009 initially approved a zoning plan
2. http://www.ladefense-seine-arche.fr/les-lieux-du-projet/la-defense.html.
Document ‘Enjoy La Défense Seine Arche’. May 2011.
3. They advertise that the district is 10 minutes from the centre of Paris and
30 minutes from the airports in public transport.
4. With 31 ha of open area and 11 ha of green spaces.
5. Information from the Land Registry Office, Technical Programming Unit,
July 2009.

for the extension of La Castellana under the slogan ‘The
economic heart of Madrid’6
.The 312-ha area has a poten-
tial 3.05 million m2
GFS, 45% of which would be for hous-
ing and 55% for economic activity (2.4 M m2
GFS). The
Madrid model differs from that of Paris and Barcelona
basically in the proportions of housing and economic
activity, which are almost equivalent. However, this is an
issue that could be considered in future plans for
Barcelona or in the modification of current plans.
Consequently, 22@ is a plan with a vision for the
future. It was drawn up to make more floor space avail-
able for the offices the market required, and to encour-
age the location of the advanced technology activities
that the new economy needed and continues to need. It
has dimensions, location, quality of city infrastructure
and innovative systems of financing and management
that are comparable to the best initiatives carried out
worldwide.
The recession that began in the second half of 2007
has substantially changed the rate of applications for 22@
building permits. The rate of annual approval of permits
for the 2008-2010 period (133,105 m2
GFS per year) was
23-27% lower than that in 2002-2007 (122,933 m2
GFS
per year if 7 years are considered and 143,422 m2
GFS
from 2002 to 2003). The duration of the low demand will
naturally affect the absorption rate, both in 22@ and in
the other operations in Barcelona that are currently sup-
plied or in the planning and development stages.
Given that construction in 22@ has taken place in four
and a half years of expansion and three and a half years of
contraction, we could consider that the medium-term
demand is in the order of 100,000 m2
GFS per year in
approved building permits and around 4,200 new jobs per
year, using the average standard of La Défense in Paris.
In this article, we deal successively with the following
topics: the forecasts in the initial economic and financial
study in relation to the current results (Section 1); the
supply in 22@ in the context of competing operations in
Barcelona ‘river to river’(Section 2); the situation of com-
petitive prices and the parameters and opinions in reports
by real estate agents, with reference to some internation-
al prices (Section 3); reference to the economic feasibility
of the development, according to the influence of the dif-
ferent components of the prices and particularly to the
compensation and costs of the city infrastructure (Section
4); the potential building area in 22@ up to 2020 (Section
5); the impact of 22@ on the rest of the construction
dynamics in Barcelona, as reflected by the approved
building permits above and below grade (Section 6).
The concluding chapter (Section 7) refers to the
dimension that will be attained by 22@ and the opera-
tions around the La Sagrera station when completed, in
the context of floor space for tertiary activities in the var-
ious districts of Barcelona and according to the land reg-
istry records.This section supports the hypothesis that the
floor space for economic activity, and certainly the occu-
pation, will surpass that of the districts of CiutatVella and
the Eixample, which form the old business centre of
Barcelona.
Forecasts and economic hypotheses in the
Modified Metropolitan General Plan (MPGM):
20 years, absorption of 135,000 m2
GFS per year
and economic feasibility of compensation
‘The main aim of this Economic and Financial Study is
to ensure that the forecasts in the development plan are
met, and to demonstrate that the distribution of charges
and profits is feasible, meets the provisions established in
planning regulations, and is in line with the situation in
the real estate market. In particular, the aim is to highlight
that the development of the “zones”, at the current and
foreseeable value of the real estate market, and public
investment and that from other sources can adequately
finance the “systems”(infrastructure, compensations, city
infrastructure and facilities for the community) required
for the urban development.
This document refers particularly to the following
points:
1. Dimension of the new supply of floor space for eco-
nomic activities resulting from the development plan.
6. http://www.madrid.es/portales/munimadrid/es

2. Demand for floor space for economic activities in
Barcelona and Poblenou.
3. Feasibility of the new urban development
charges, to be financed with the increase in plot ratio.
4. Assessment of the feasibility in real estate terms
of the transformation operations (special plans).’(From
the amended text for definitive approval of the
Modification of the Metropolitan General Plan,
September 2000, pages 1 and 3).
With respect to the first aspect, the study’s summa-
ry table gives the following figures for potential: ‘If we
add the 509,976 m2
GFS of existing housing and local
and @ facilities, the total potential is just over 3,500,000
m2
GFS.The fulfilment of the potential is foreseen in 20
years in 2019, at an average rate of 133,000 m2
of floor
space for economic activities per year and the construc-
tion of around 4,000 affordable dwellings.’
The following statement was made on the job
potential: ‘The new urban planning also provides the
opportunity to increase the number of jobs located in
Poblenou, which is currently at around 31,000 people,
according to the register for 1996. With an optimistic
forecast of a density of 25 m2
of floor space per job,
the new production district will house over 91,000
jobs.’7
The following should be highlighted: ‘...given that
the annual growth in GDP in these years has been
2.5% on average; a rate that we can reasonably expect
to maintain in the next ten years and at least enables
us to forecast various economic growth scenarios.’
On the assessment of the supply for economic activ-
ity in Barcelona in 1999, the study stated:‘For these rea-
sons, Poblenou’s share in the dynamics of the munici-
pality is between a minimum of 40% and a maximum of
60%. If we apply these percentages to the trend of
387,854 m2
GFS per year for all types of tertiary activities,
the potential demand in Poblenou is between 155,034 m2
and 232,550 m2
of new floor space per year, with an aver-
age forecast of 194,000 m2
of new floor space per year.
[...] Barcelona currently has a stock of 4 million m2
of
offices, which is 56% of the stock of Madrid and 16%
that of London. [...] The City Council must ensure the
transformation of Poblenou regardless of the economic
and real estate cycle. [...] The vision must be for 15-20
years. [...] Currently, 35-45% of the stock of offices is
considered obsolete and does not meet the users’
requirements. [...] The estimation of the total absorption
of offices of an “international level”in Barcelona and the
metropolitan area is estimated [...]to be 197,000 m2
per
year. The share of Poblenou in the most optimistic fore-
cast would be situated, according to this study, at 69% of
the total absorption in the metropolitan area, that is,
135,930 m2
per year. [...] The operation in Poblenou is
presented as a unique opportunity to re-centralize a
Metropolitan process that is excessively decentralised.’
On the economic feasibility of private operations,
the document stated that: ‘An operation shall be prof-
itable when the difference between the value of the
resulting plots that have to be developed and the total
costs of developing them is positive and this difference
7. More recently, the figure of 150,000 potential jobs has been estimated by
22@ (2009), ‘22@Barcelona project. A social, urban and economic urban
renewal’, Mimeo, p. 24.
Plan of stages
Development of a new potential floor space for production activities
Potential GFS 2000-2004 2005-2009 2010-2014 2015-2019
Predetermined operations 1,150,833 345,251 460,331 345,251
Optional operations 1,509,021
Encumbrances= <38,000 pts/ potential m2
of grossfloor space 901,626 180,324 360,651 180,325 180,326
Encumbrances= > 38,000 pts/potential m2
of grossfloor space 607,395 91,109 121,479 212,588 182,219
TOTAL 2,659,654 616,884 942,464 738,164 362,545
100% 23% 35% 28% 14%

reaches a percentage of the total investment that is
equal to or higher than the ordinary returns in the real
estate sector.’
The justification of the economic feasibility of private
operations was supported by detailed accounts that were
submitted for three types of blocks of different densities
and with the final conclusion that ‘...we obtained resid-
ual values of land at the start of the operation [...] that in
all cases were above the €601/m2
of land (€100,000/m2
of
land) that correspond to a plot ratio of 1 FAR before the
expectations of reclassification’.
The considerable innovation in the redevelopment
of the sector and its financing was described as follows:
‘Barcelona City Council shall draw up a special infra-
structure plan to define and specify the standard of the
aforementioned urban development services and the
characteristics of other required infrastructures and
services, both those planned for the public domain and
those planned for private land’. In accordance with the
suppositions of city infrastructure drawn from the
progress in the PEI, the economic feasibility study
(EEF) of the MPGM estimated that the unit cost of the
investment required in the area of the MPGM is
€180/m2
of road (30,000 pta/m2
) and the total invest-
ment is €119 M (19.780 billion pta). The planned
financing is 70% from the owners of the land under
transformation (1,269,409 m2
of land counted) and 30%
from the public services providers. The resulting cost to
landowners is €24/m2
GFS in areas with a plot ratio of
2.2 FAR and €30/m2
GFS in those of 2.7 FAR’.
After 10 years of urban development and economic
management that is in line with the forecasts both in
terms of the rate of transformation, demand, city infra-
structure and public-private financing in a cycle of
expansion, the development of the innovative 22@ dis-
trict since 2000 should be adapted to the recession,
which increases the length of time needed to attain the
proposed objectives.
Concurrent and competitive operations:
12.4 M m2
GFS, a surplus of 207,500 jobs and a short-
fall of 198,600 dwellings
Barcelona started this century with a limited supply of
offices. However, this changed with the approval of the
22@ project in 2000, with a total floor space of
approximately 4 million m2
, of which around 3.2 M m2
GFS are for economic activity. The project represented a
major quantitative and qualitative change in supply that
put Barcelona in a competitive position in the global
market.
This supply for economic activity competes today with
the operations in the Plaça d’Europa in Hospitalet
(0.2 M m2
GFS), the Forum (0.6 M m2
GFS) and Fira de
Barcelona (0.2 M m2
GFS), with a potential of around
26,000 jobs8
.
In the future, the supply in 22@ will have to compete
with that of La Marina del PratVermell (0.3 M m2
GFS), La
Verneda (0.3 M m2
GFS), Biopol (0.3 M m2
GFS), BZ
Barcelona Innovation Zone (1 M m2
GFS)9
, with a potential
for approximately 52,700 jobs, and particularly the supply
around the future central station of La Sagrera-Prim
(0.5 M m2
GFS), with an estimated potential for 18,400 jobs,
according to the information in the attached tables10
.
The potential floor space above grade in 22@ has
been updated with documents and information provid-
ed by 22@ Barcelona S.A.U. The below grade figures
have been kept as in the MPGM.
Given its significance, we should also refer to the poten-
tial supply of the operation in the Centre Direccional de
Cerdanyola - Parc de l’Alba, whose plans were approved in
2005.This supply could be considered in a complementary
market to the operations in the city centre.It will meet a dif-
ferent demand for economic activity in terms of the charac-
teristics, location and price. It covers an area of 340 ha and
has a potential floor space of 1.9 million m2
, of which
1.5 M m2
GFS are for economic activity.
8. The number of potential jobs is calculated by considering the same plans with
approximate standards of 20 m2
of gross floor space per job in offices,40 m2
of gross floor space/job in retail, 60 m2
of gross floor space/job in facilities,
60-100 m2
of gross floor space/job in logistic activities and industries and
2,500 m2
of gross floor space/job in car parks.
9. The incorporation of the major suppply from the plans for El Prat de Llobregat
(La Seda,Enkalene,etc.),Gavà,Viladecans (DeltaBCN Aerospace and Mobility
Park, etc.), Sant Boi de Llobregat, Badalona and Santa Coloma de Gramanet
that should be taken into account are beyond the scope of this article.
10. The city infrastructure operations in La Marina and La Verneda are
planned in three phases. In the BZ Barcelona Innovation Zone, a first
phase of city infrastructure of 30 ha is already planned.

Major operations in Barcelona
Total
area
ha
Area for
housing
(m2
GFS)
Area for
economic
activity
(m2
GFS)
Facilities
(m2
GFS)
Total area
above grade
(m2
GFS)
Floor space below
grade/ car parks
(m2
GFS)
Total potential floor
space (without facili-
ties) (m2
GFS)
Definitive
approval
(m2
GFS)
Operation
22@ (2000) 198.3 367,382 3,136,095 3,503,478 389,275 3,892,753 940,000 2000
Forum 256.6 260,693 645,374 906,067 228,555 1,134,622 128,452 1999
Prim 21.2 264,726 29,414 294.140 34,431 328,571 90,080 2010
La Sagrera station and surroundings 81.4 752,831 435,972 1,188,803 220,594 1,409,397 395,533 Compiled
BZ BarcelonaInnovationZone(ZonaFranca) 50.0 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 2011
La Verneda 58.2 676,094 289,755 965,849 68,750 1,034,599 286.422 P.P.A.
La Marina 75.0 869,238 315,420 1,184,658 38,336 1,222,994 383,088 2005
Vallbona 24.4 169,600 18,844 188,444 18,700 207,144 57,711 P.D.A.
Plaça d’Europa L’Hospitalet 42.0 168,533 195,962 364,495 3,677 368,172 98,056 2001
Biopol L’Hospitalet 30.0 — 300,000 300,000 —- 300,000 75,000 Compiled
Ciutat de la Justícia L’Hospitalet 5.3 — 84,379 84,379 147,989 232,368 45,500 2003
Fira de Barcelona (2000) L’Hospitalet 24.0 — 240,000 240,000 — 240,000 125,000 2001
Gran Via L’Hospitalet — — 367,618 367,618 — 367,618 72,497 Compiled
HousingProgrammeOperations2011 65.2 748,000 62,064 810,064 76,403 886,467
Total 931.6 4,277,097 7,120,897 11,397,995 1,226,710 12,624,705 2,697,339
(22@/ Total) 21% 9% 44% 31% 32% 31% 35%
(22@+ LaSagreraandsurroundings)/ Total 32% 32% 51% 44% 53% 45% 53%
(22@+ LaSagreraandsurroundings)/ TotalBCN 36% 34% 61% 50% 60% 51% 62%
Source: drawn up by authorsusingthe information available in planningdocumentsand reports.
Note: (P.D.A.: pendingdefinitive approval; P.P.A.: pendingprovisional approval)
Major urban operations 2000-2030: 1,182 ha - 11.4 M m2
GFS (excluding facilities)
Source: base plan provided by BarcelonaSagreraAltaVelocitat. Datacompiled by authors.

Revista Econòmica de Catalunya nº 64: Knowledge Economy and Territory

Revista Econòmica de Catalunya nº 64: Knowledge Economy and Territory

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Revista Econòmica de Catalunya nº 64: Knowledge Economy and Territory