SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

More than half of Catalonia's total production takes place in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. The area has a rich and diverse business fabric, with a high level of tertiary specialisation, appropriate to its role as the capital of a much larger economic region, and it supplies not only all of Catalonia, but also much of the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean Euroregion.

Despite this tertiary specialisation, the metropolitan area has succeeded in maintaining a high level of industrial activity, which is closely related to the productive fabric of the rest of the region and Catalonia, and even some agricultural activity which, although insignificant in terms of its contribution to GDP, is a major asset in terms of sustainability and as a benchmark for a new model of a circular economy based on proximity.<

The various economic activities in the region have occupied different spaces depending on their needs and production characteristics, and the availability of land and indoor space. This situation has often led to problems for the population or for the environment. Examples include the displacement of industrial activities by services aimed at the population in many specialised areas, the establishment of the advanced tertiary sector in residential blocks in many town centres, the absorption of industrial areas by residential fabrics, low levels of accessibility on public transport to some centres of activity that create high levels of mobility among their workers, and low levels of accessibility to the high-capacity road network and to the railway freight network.

First, processes of digitisation and exchange of information are creating new productive activities and new areas generating knowledge and activities. In this context, in order to make sure these areas function correctly, proper planning is required to ensure the most appropriate location for the various uses and activities, while avoiding negative competition between the various metropolitan stakeholders and users.

At the same time, a process of increasing openness to outside the metropolitan area is taking place, and involves the movement of people, the movement of goods and monetary flows. However, this internationalisation, while positive, also creates a number of challenges. On the one hand, there are the challenges arising from environmental impacts, because of the land consumed by the infrastructures that make this exchange of flows possible (the port, airport, road and rail network), and the pollution and emissions caused by transport. On the other, there are new demands, which are created when an economic activity expands its area of responsibility in the international arena.

Finally, the growing collective awareness of the environmental and social impacts of the contemporary way of life in most Western countries has led to the need to implement a new sustainable and circular economic model, based on proximity, with spatial conditions favourable to it. This is not merely a question of providing specific spaces and facilities, but also involves creating environments that facilitate lifestyles and an optimum use of resources to contribute to achieving this model.