As part of the POCACITO Project, a workshop was conducted to identify the major critical issues for Barcelona as it creates its vision for a post-carbon future. They include:

Each year, 8 million tourists in a city of 1.5 million inhabitants leads to native depopulation and economic exclusion in the city center. This notably affects the quality of life in the most central neighborhoods, developing new economic and social dynamics that tend to exclude the local population. The preservation of traditional local markets (street markets) needs to be a priority and particular attention should be paid to the effects of tourism on these markets. Tourism is an extremely important resource for the city but in order to conciliate it more with the local population, part of the resources derived from touristic activities should be visibly deployed in favor of the residents. A balance between tourism and the quality of life of the local population needs to be pursued.

 

Very much linked to the first point is the issue regarding resident valorization of public spaces (including touri

stic areas). Barcelona’s citizen need to feel ownership over the public spaces of the city. In order to do that, the characteristic, traditional and local features of the city need to preserved and taken into consideration in the development of new initiatives.

 

This requires clarifying which energy models need to be put in place and which are the barriers (regulatory, financial, technological etc.) impeding

their implementation. What is the economic impact of developing smart grids projects and of pursuing energy self-sufficiency?

The effectiveness of decisions taken based upon findings of research reports or cost-benefits analysis of questionable accuracy was often mentioned. There is a need to develop new tools able to evaluate both private and public interests in a rigorous way.

In this view, the reform of legal barriers that are impeding appropriate self-financing need to be reformed.

Additional issues include: