Remaking Cities Congress Pittsburgh, PA October 16-18, 2013

Bilbao’s Transformation The strategy, the process and the results so far

Pittsburgh, Remaking Cities Congress, October 2013

Juan Alayo – Development Planning Director – BILBAO Ría 2000

INTRODUCTION

•  Location and context •  The Industrial Past •  Keys to Bilbao’s Change •  Indicators of socio-economic change •  Some considerations

Presentation structure

Location and Context

Bizkaia

Metropolitan Bilbao

CONTEXT Location and Population

Basque Country

Bilbao

•  Metropolitan Bilbao 900.000 •  Basque Country 2.100.000 •  Spain 43.000.000

CONTEXT Effective Catchment Area

CONTEXT A dense city along the river

The Industrial Past

THE PAST From trade in the XVI Century

THE PAST To a rich industrial region in the XIX and XX

THE PAST Large scale industrial presence

THE PAST

•  Pollution, Obsolesence •  Disjointed urban structures •  Unemployment, crisis…

The crisis and the legacy

THE PAST

•  Disjointed urban structures •  A metropoly without urban bridges

The crisis and the legacy

THE PAST And in 1983, the floods…

Key’s to Bilbao’s Change: •  A crisis as a starting point •  A realistic and detailed strategic plan •  Substantial and continued investment •  An innovative regeneration model •  Some good luck

A crisis as a starting point

KEYS

•  Large, flat brownfield sites by the river •  Also a greater disposition to collaborate •  And, in this case, strong leadership

A crisis brings opportunities

KEYS

•  Large, flat brownfield sites by the river

A crisis brings opportunities

A Strategic Plan

KEYS

•  Based on a broad consensus •  Four key lines of action

–  Urban and environmental regeneration –  External accessibility - internal mobility –  Technology and human resources –  Cultural centrality

A Strategic Plan

Sustained investment

THE CHANGE

•  Cleaning the river: long term investment 900m euros

Urban and Environmental regeneration

THE CHANGE Urban and Environmental regeneration

THE CHANGE Rehabilitation of Historic Centre

THE CHANGE

•  New water fronts •  New residential areas

Urban and Environmental regeneration

THE CHANGE

•  New water fronts •  New residential areas

Urban and Environmental regeneration

THE CHANGE

•  Outer Harbour

Improving external and internal accessibility

THE CHANGE

•  Airport, Metro, Tram, Footbridges

Improving external and internal accessibility

THE CHANGE

•  Airport, Metro, Tram, Footbridges

Improving external and internal accessibility

THE CHANGE

•  New Bridges

Improving external and internal accessibility

THE CHANGE

•  Compact steelworks •  Technological Parks

Investing in technology

THE CHANGE

•  The icon: The Bilbao Guggenheim

Cultural centrality

THE CHANGE

•  But not the only thing: Conference Centre, Public Art…

Cultural centrality

KEYS

•  In the region of €10bn over the last 20/25 years •  Completed the main projects of the Strategic Plan

Sustained and substantial investment

KEYS

•  Zorrozaure (Zaha Hadid) •  Garellano (Richard Rogers)

And more to come

Innovative Instrument for Complex Urban Regeneration Projects

BILBAO Ría 2000

BR2000

•  Set up in November 1992 –  To regenerate degraded or disused

industrial sites within the Metropolitan Bilbao, coordinating and undertaking developments that integrate urban design, transport infrastructure and the environment.

–  In practice: to deal with complex sites that require coordination with a variety of administrations and public sector entities.

Objectives and scope

BR2000

•  Public – public partnership •  Self funding (capturing added value) •  Non-profit •  Manage whole regeneration process •  Investment to date 1.3 bn €

Key facts

BR2000 Flagship Project - Abandoibarra

•  350.000 m2 •  200,000 m2 green and open space •  800 new dwellings •  Office Tower •  Shopping Center •  Hotel •  Paraninfo University of Basque country •  Library of Deusto University

January 1992 June 2011

BR2000 Projects - Abandoibarra

BR2000 Projects - Ametzola •  110.000 m2

•  900 dwellings

•  36.000 m2 park •  Covering existing railways •  Underground car park for existing residents •  Pneumatic rubbish collection system

June 1994 March 2009

BR2000 Projects - Ametzola

BR2000 Projects – Barakaldo

June 1998 October 2007

•  500.000 m2

•  200.000 m2 of green and open spaces

•  2.200 dwellings (500 Public protection) •  Shopping and leisure center •  Zone of economic activities •  Football stadium •  Sport center •  Northern ring road •  New streets •  Pneumatic rubbish collection system •  Rehabilitation of old industrial buildings

BR2000 Projects – Barakaldo

And…

Some good luck

LUCK •  Based on a solid business case •  Financed 50/50 by Basque and Provincial

Governments •  Exceeded all expectations: About 1 million

visitors per year •  Paid for itself in 8 years •  A great effort and a lucky one

The Guggenheim and its effect

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

80 85 90 95 00 05

BFONSOvernight stays of Foreign Visitors in the province of Biscay (monthly data, from Jan 1980 to Dec 2008)

Source: Professor Beatriz Plaza, Faculty of Economics. University of the Basque Country. beatriz.plaza@ehu.es

The Icon

LUCK

•  Not the only cultural investment in town

•  It accounted for a very small percentage of total investment

•  It had tremendous local opposition throughout planning and construction

The Guggenheim

But…

Socio-economic Change

Economy

•  Very different to the rest of Spain –  Industrial Sector 30% vs 18% –  Tourism & Construction: 12% vs 21% –  Basque Country is net exporter

•  Human Capital –  32% of population with higher education (48% higher) –  Highest rate of graduates in science and technology

•  Productivity and R&D –  R&D investment 2.1% of GDP (50% higher) –  Top region in productivity within Spain (28% higher) –  Advanced Technology Centres

•  GDP per head –  Highest in Spain (34% above average) –  In PPS terms, within top 10% in Europe

The Basque Country’s characteristics

Year 1994 2012

Total Visitors to Bilbao 24,302 734,215 Congress Events 88 1,105

Congress Participants 18,817 179,914 Air Passengers 1,4 M 4,2 M

CHANGE Tourism as a new economic sector

•  From not existent, to > 5% of the local economy

•  High level visitors

•  10 times growth in Congress activity •  3 times growth airport traffic

CHANGE A New Stage of Development

Special considerations

Thoughts

•  Socio-economic crisis and crucial political and institutional changes: –  Late 70s crisis coinciding with the advent

of democracy in Spain –  New regional powers

•  The Provincial Government is the Tax Authority –  Providing a strong financial basis for the

region –  Local planning of key investments

Bilbao’s special circumstances

End of Presentation

Thank you

Contact Details BR2000

Juan Álvaro Alayo Azcárate Development Planning Director BILBAO Ría 2000 J.M.ª Olábarri, 4 – planta C 48001 BILBAO Tel. +34 94 661 500 Email jalayo@bilbaoria2000.com Web www.bilbaoria2000.org