El període d'informació pública de l'Avanç del PDU metropolità es va iniciar quan el Consell Metropolità va aprovar el document de l'Avanç del Pla el 26 de març del 2019 i es va estendre fins el 31 de gener del 2020. Aquest període va anar acompanyat d'un ampli procés de participació, que es va desenvolupar entre el setembre del 2019 i el gener del 2020.
Resum del procés de participació
La participació ciutadana ha aconseguit difondre i compartir el contingut del Pla i ha reforçat els canals de comunicació amb el teixit social metropolità. Alhora, i amb l'objectiu de compartir un model territorial i corresponsabilitzar la ciutadania de les polítiques públiques que afecten el funcionament de la metròpolis, el procés de participació també ha resultat ser un canal de vinculació efectiu entre l'AMB com a institució metropolitana i els ciutadans.
A llarg del procés, que s'ha desenvolupat durant 6 mesos, s'han dut terme accions diferenciades i complementàries entre si, intentant oferir un marc propici de participació per a cadascun dels agents amb diferents graus d'implicació, des de la comunicació transparent fins a la participació activa i la col·laboració interinstitucional.
De la metodologia que hem fet servir durant el període d'informació pública per recollir les aportacions i dels resultats que n'hem extret, en parlem a continuació.
METODOLOGIA PARTICIPATIVA
Durant el període d'informació pública s'han rebut 95 documents de suggeriments i s'han dut a terme 21 sessions participatives, a més de les vuit itineràncies de l'exposició "Metròpolis de ciutats" que acompanyava els debats ciutadans i que ha tingut més de 5.800 visitants. En aquestes sessions hi han assistit, amb diferents graus d'implicació, una vuitantena d'entitats i més d'un miler persones de perfils diversos. En total, s'han rebut 2.677 aportacions.
RESULTATS OBTINGUTS
De la primera anàlisi de les aportacions recollides, tant per registre com als espais de participació presencial, se'n desprèn que els neguits i expectatives estan alineats amb els objectius del PDU metropolità per un model territorial sostenible que garanteixi l'accessibilitat als espais verds, que s'articuli a partir d'una estructura policèntrica i que afavoreixi la cohesió social a través de l'habitatge, l'espai públic, els equipaments i el transport públic.
Five objectives for the public information period of the PDU Proposal were established: to explain and disseminate the content of the Plan in an understandable way, to complete the shared diagnosis performed in the PDU Proposal to add civil society's perspective, to highlight issues of metropolitan interest, to maintain the active involvement of institutional stakeholders, and to collect suggestions.
The participation mechanisms chosen to achieve those objectives can be grouped into two broad categories.
First, suggestions were collected using the administrative procedures traditionally used in the public information procedures for any planning instrument, i.e. in writing and subject to prior registration of the communication.
Second, there was a wide-ranging participatory process open to the public, which involved numerous presentations, workshops and citizen debates, designed on an ad hoc basis for different audiences. This participatory process was specifically designed to involve a wide variety of stakeholders, and created an active framework for communication that provided a voice for the public, and helped to raise awareness of the contents of the Plan.
Finally, digital tools were also provided to facilitate participation for people who were unable to attend the sessions in person.
The combined use of the various mechanisms meant that the content of the PDU Proposal reached very diverse sectors of civil society and as a result, it was possible to receive contributions that reinforce, qualify and complement each other, precisely because of their diversity.
Suggestions could be made in person or digitally via the website. Ninety-five reports were received, which varied widely in terms of their length, form and content. The almost 100 documents were broken down into more than 1,273 contributions, which are available for consultation in the results section.
The wide variety in terms of format, subject matter and focus of all these contributions reflects the multiple and heterogeneous nature of the contributors: Forty-five per cent of the contributions extracted come from metropolitan municipal councils, 38 % from other public and private institutions, 12 % from individuals or the private sector, and 5 % from professional associations.
The participatory process was structured in order to make the contents of the PDU Proposal more accessible to the various territories in the metropolitan area, while at the same time stimulating debate around the six thematic areas into which the plan is divided.
BY TERRITORIAL AREA
Five territorial areas were identified to host debates open to the public. One session in workshop format was held in each area, and two were held in Barcelona due to its high population. A municipality in each area hosted both the public debate and the "Metropolis of Cities" travelling exhibition. Two specific sessions with local institutions were also held in Barcelona. These sessions were jointly organised with the company Paisaje Transversal.
Both the public debates and the sessions with local institutions had a similar three-part structure: presentation of the content of the metropolitan PDU, a thematic work area in small groups, and presentation of the results obtained during the session. Those attending were thereby able to compare, debate and make contributions to the proposals in the Plan, and able to add their perspective to the metropolitan narrative in an active and egalitarian way.
The debates were attended by a total of 387 people and approximately 1,000 contributions were received. The results are available for consultation in the results section..
BY THEMATIC AREA
The wide-ranging thematic areas involved open debates in professional associations and workshops in a smaller format with associations, operators and interest groups, which were jointly organised with the association Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan (PEMB). The debates focused on the challenges arising in the metropolis related to the wide-ranging thematic areas and linked to the objectives of the plan.
Six sessions were held in the professional associations, with one session for each thematic area, and five took place in a workshop format. While the sessions in the associations consisted of a thematic presentation and an open debate, those at the PEMB were organised in workshop format with small groups, in which stakeholders from various working areas interacted, in what is known as the quadruple helix: research centres and universities, private agents, public agents, and associations and interest groups.
The debates were attended by a total of 582 people: 502 at the professional associations, and 80 at the workshops. A total of 412 contributions were made in the workshops, while the debates in the professional associations yielded several documents containing suggestions. The contributions are available for consultation in the results section.
At the same time, people who were unable to attend the scheduled events were provided with digital spaces containing information summarising what took place at each face-to-face event.
Remote participation was also facilitated by means of an online survey divided into in groups of independent questions based on the thematic areas. The survey also included an introductory and a closing question on the respondent's municipality of residence and environs, and the metropolitan challenges that the respondent considered linked to it, in order to take into account their assessment of the territorial areas.
A total of 247 responses were compiled, and the analysis that was obtained is available for consultation in the results section.
Based on a thorough reading, the suggestion documents and the comments made in each participation forum were broken down into a total of 2,677 contributions, in order to establish shared relationships and conclusions related to different aspects. The thoroughness of the methodology is very important as an exercise in transparency and return, both as regards the participants and their incorporation into the plan.
First, each contribution was linked to a theme (#) – such as housing, cycle paths or green spaces – enabling the subject of the contributions to be identified quickly.
Second, the contributions were linked with specific territorial elements which were identified, and the number of times they are repeated in different contributions was taken into account, to assess recurrence.
Third, relationships with items in the plan were established, such as the objectives of the PDU Proposal, the main objectives and items in the proposal, regulations, and other aspects such as governance and the structure of the Proposal.
Finally, the extent to which the PDU can take action with regard to each proposal or demand was also taken into account; in other words, the impact the demands may have.
In general terms, some of the 2,600 contributions received were associated with the features and aims of the Plan.
First, many of the contributions can be linked to the metropolitan avenues of the urban and social structure and to the railway network of high-capacity infrastructures (#improved road and railway links, management of #public transport, #intermodality and linking of #cycle paths between municipalities).
Second, some contributions can be linked to the strategies for fabrics in urban settlements (#affordable housing and how it can be preserved, and #strategies to improve habitability in urban fabrics).
Third, some are related to the strategies for the public space in urban settlements (#green spaces and #social spaces).
This interest therefore once again reinforces the need identified in the Master Plan for a territorial model which channels the relationships between municipalities, while at the same time addressing the population's needs in terms of habitability and socialisation.
There are also relationships between all the contributions and three objectives of the plan: articulating the territory by means of a polycentric structure, promoting social cohesion through housing, public space, facilities and public transport, and encouraging active and sustainable mobility by rethinking existing infrastructures.
Finally, the need for clear governance in the Plan, with the coordination between government and sectoral bodies arising from this, was called for in strong terms in both the suggestions and in the workshops with interest groups. Meanwhile, the contributions in this area made in the public debates were related to the improvement of the management of mobility and the network of services. In other words, despite not having a direct urban solution, these concerns also entail a need to call on government bodies to coordinate with each other and have coherent sectoral public policies.
After this process of in-depth analysis to assess all the contributions, the Drafting Service of the Metropolitan PDU will consider how they should be taken into account in the proposals in the Plan. The Metropolitan PDU document for initial approval will be richer and more precise and, as far as possible, will contain knowledge, sensitivities and points of view that only the citizens and the institutions with the closest links to the territory can contribute.
The downloadable documents related to participation contain a document with results and infographics.
Ninety-five reports were received, from which a total of 1,273 contributions were extracted. Almost half of these (584) came from metropolitan municipal councils, 40 % came from entities or institutions, and the rest from individuals or companies. The issues raised included the metropolitan municipal councils' concern for consistency and coordination with other territorial and urban development plans as regards the problem of access to housing and situations of urban vulnerability, and the incorporation of sustainability criteria that take climate change and future growth into account. Furthermore, 17 % of the total suggestions received refer to regulations.
As in the overall analysis, the most frequently mentioned issue is the urban and social structure, in terms of both metropolitan avenues (and especially as regards the #improvement of connections and the #management of mobility, and particularly of new models, such as electric mobility) and the need to link up #green spaces and set up a green structure. Many references were also made to #housing and strategies for maintenance and construction (fabric strategies), and to the #limits of growth and the need for municipal growth (objectives of municipal growth) in urban settlements. Issues raised to a lesser extent but which are also a significant proportion of the total, were the need to implement the use of #renewable energies and to think in overall terms about the service and high-capacity infrastructure networks which must be included in the Plan.
The downloadable materials related to the suggestions contain a document with infographics of the results.
There were high levels of attendance at the public debates at the face-to-face events, especially in the regions of the Delta, El Vallès and Nord, with an average of 80 people per session. In general, two thirds of those attending the public debates resided in the municipality where the session took place, except for the events in the Vall Baixa i Ordal and Delta regions, where the territorial representation was more diverse. A total of 387 people attended, who provided more than 70 % of the contributions. About 50 % of these participants did so individually, and 30 % took part on behalf of an institution.
The most important aspects of the contributions made at the face-to-face events were related to the Plan's aims to improve the efficiency of the urban metabolism and minimise environmental impact. Most of these contributions were related to the conservation of #agricultural areas and the creation of urban allotments or the improvement of #urban green spaces, measures to naturalise the territory by fostering the values of the biophysical matrix, and include concern about the services network, and in particular, measures to promote #renewable energies, the separation of the #water network, and a call for responses to the problems arising from #pollution and #climate change. At the same time, major concerns were also raised in regard to promoting active and sustainable mobility, with an emphasis on #improved road and railway links and various proposals for the management of #public transport, #intermodality and the need to link up #cycle paths between municipalities.
The urban and social structure and urban settlements were the topics included in the objectives of the metropolitan PDU that arose most frequently in the public debates.
The downloadable documents related to the public debates contain a report on the sessions prepared by the participation team, a document with the results of each session, and a document with infographics of the results.
The face-to-face sessions jointly organised with Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan were attended by 80 people, with an average of 15 participants per session. Their profile was more technical, and they had links to public administrations in many cases.
The most important aspects of the contributions are related to the objectives of the Plan. The first goal is to naturalise the territory by fostering the values of the biophysical matrix. Most of the contributions related to this objective address the conservation of #agricultural areas and the maintenance or increase in the diversity of green spaces and the improvement of the quality of #urban green spaces. The second most important objective is to improve the efficiency of the urban metabolism and minimise environmental impacts. This includes concern about the network of services, especially as regards measures aimed at #renewable energies and the call for a response to the problems arising from #climate change. The third objective is to foster social cohesion, and many contributions were related to the demand for a supramunicipal housing solution.
In this case, urban and social structure, action strategies and urban settlements were the most recurring themes among the objectives of the metropolitan PDU.
The downloadable documents related to the sessions co-organised with PEMB contain a report prepared by the technical office of PEMB, a document with the results of each session, and a document with infographics of the results.
Als documents descarregables relacionats amb les sessions coorganitzades amb el PEMB hi ha un informe elaborat pel gabinet tècnic del PEMB, un document amb els resultats de cadascuna de les sessions i un document amb infografies dels resultats.
A total of 257 surveys were received, and the average respondent is a male aged between 30 and 50 years old, who is employed and lives in Barcelona or in the municipalities of the Llobregat region.
The challenges most frequently highlighted by the respondents were similar to those highlighted in person: access to #housing, improved and increased #public transport and #intermodality, increased #green spaces in cities and response to #climate change and #pollution. There were also strong demands related to #governance, and in particular to solving the problems of urban planning, housing, the public space and mobility on an intermunicipal basis.
As regards the cross-referenced reading of the answers in terms of age and sex, we came to two conclusions: First, the primary concern of people aged between 18 and 30 is addressing the issue of #housing. This is directly related to this age group leaving the parental home at an increasingly older age. Second, women are simultaneously concerned with issues related to #housing and care, while men place more emphasis on questions linked to #forced mobility (for reasons of work).
