THE capital of Spain’s Catalonia region, Barcelona, one of Europe’s best showcases of urban planning, has signed a letter of intent to be the first city to join the World Sustainable Capitals (WSC) initiative, launched by Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) and Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development (ADCED).

The World Sustainable Capitals (WSC) initiative, developed in partnership with World Economic Forum (WEF) was introduced jointly by the UPC and ADCED at Dalian, China last September.
The WSC initiative aspires to group together a global alliance of sustainable cities and a network of leading experts, economists and industry representatives in the field of urban planning and sustainability. The network will identify strategies and policy recommendations that can guide cities to better resolve the challenges of urban planning and diversified economic growth.
A strong delegation of Barcelona City Council officials led by deputy mayor Jordi William Carnes signed an agreement in the presence of Fahad Saeed Al Raqbani, deputy director general, ADCED, during a visit to the UAE.
Walid Al Muqarrab Al Muhairi, general manager, ADCED, said: “Sustainable development is a primary challenge of the 21st century. Both Barcelona city and Abu Dhabi are seeking to make ongoing and future efforts more sustainable to ensure the long-term well-being and the overall social welfare of their citizens.”
Raqbani said: “To deal with the new challenges of the urban development of global cities, we need a multi-disciplinary team, involving specialist from different fields to build a truly transdisciplinary framework for sustainable development. With Barcelona being the first city to join us in this initiative, we are confident that we will develop together solutions to those challenges.”
The collaboration with the WEF for the World Sustainable Capitals initiative will tie into Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 Urban Structure Framework Plan of the UPC and Economic Vision 2030 of the ADCED.