Proximitat - Intro

Promoting Barcelona's local economy from the perspective of the diversity of its territories

Barcelona Activa is committed to an economic strategy that promotes local development and territorial rebalancing.

As a municipal company with the mission of promoting economic policy and local development, we are leading a paradigm shift in this area and we propose a model of economic development based on proximity. This model takes into account that economic promotion policies in Barcelona require a non-homogeneous approach from a territorial point of view.

We work to guarantee a local economy rooted in the city's districts and neighbourhoods, which has a positive economic, social and environmental impact with a social return for the neighbourhood.

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Outstanding Projects

  • La Clota Cotreball It is a set of premises of a total of 362 m², located in the neighbourhood of La Clota, which offers free office, kitchen and workshop space for conventional entrepreneurship and for social and solidarity economy projects. In return, specific social return actions are designed jointly with the organisations in Horta-Guinardó.
  • Banc de Recursos Mancomunats de Ciutat Vella (Ciutat Vella Joint Resources Bank) A space where the social and cultural entities of Ciutat Vella can lend and share diverse material, thus promoting networking and strengthening synergies between the associative fabric of the district.
  • Nau Vila Besòs Located in the Bon Pastor industrial estate, this warehouse offers storage to entities in the Sant Andreu district. It seeks to promote the collaborative economy and create synergies, as well as share and optimise resources. It also offers a space for holding workshops and training on the circular economy and environmental sustainability. It is an initiative of the District of Sant Andreu and Barcelona Activa.

Other projects in the city

Nou Barris Activa Municipal equipment for economic promotion and employment aimed at the citizens of Nou Barris. Its aim is to bring Barcelona Activa's resources closer to the district's residents and to extend the coverage of actions for all its socio-economic agents: employment services and programmes, digital education, advice on labour rights and services to strengthen the commercial and business fabric and entrepreneurship.
Sant Andreu Activa A space for economic promotion and employment aimed at the residents of Sant Andreu, where different Barcelona Activa programmes and services are centralised, mainly in the field of employment.
Les Corts Activa Municipal space for economic promotion and employment aimed at the population of the district of Les Corts. The building houses an information point for orientation and job search and another one for the defense of labor rights.

Proximitat - Banner A LA CIUTAT

Estratègia de Desenvolupament de Proximitat

Economic development is distributed unevenly across Barcelona: Six of the ten districts, representing 61.8% of the population, receive only 45% of the aggregated family income. These six districts account for 72,1% of the city’s unemployed, almost 70% of the people with low-level qualifications and more than 70% of the people receiving assistance from social services.

The city’s heterogeneity goes beyond socio-economic inequalities, as Barcelona is also diverse in terms of the distribution of assets for economic development. Sometimes these assets can be the cause of inequality between Barcelona districts, but at other times they create opportunities to generate economic activity rooted in a particular district.

The city’s socio-economic inequalities call for a new model of locally-focused development, which is based on the plural economy and incorporates the social and solidarity economy as a new paradigm. 

Thus, the economic development policies promoted by Barcelona Activa emphasise the territorial perspective by supporting economic activities that have a positive impact on Barcelona’s neighbourhoods and districts and contribute to meeting the needs of individual areas.

The locally-focused development policy has the residents of Barcelona’s neighbourhoods and districts at its heart. The aim is to guarantee public services and an economic environment that can positively influence their professional development, generate wealth, reduce inequalities and guarantee equal opportunities.

Consult Barcelona Activa's Local Development Strategy (catalan). 

Proximitat - PDE Intro

New District Development Plans (PDE) 

District Development Plans act as roadmaps for locally-focused development that takes into account the specificities and initiatives of all the Barcelona neighbourhoods. 

These plans describe and detail the five-year socio-economic development strategy for a given district. 

Along with the economic development plans for the districts of Sant Martí, Ciutat Vella, Nou Barrios, Sant Andreu, Sants-Montjuïc and Horta-Guinardó, for the period 2021-2023, roadmaps will also be developed for the districts of Les Corts, Eixample, Gràcia and Sarrià-Sant Gervasi.

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District Development Plans (PDE)

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