«Barcelona is a city that knows how to reinvent itself»
This interview is part of the series ‘10 Years, 10 Urban Ideas’, a special feature created for Anteverti’s 10th anniversary.
Anna Gener is Barcelona's CEO of Savills Aguirre Newman —one of the world’s leading real estate agents and consultants. We at Anteverti and Ana are united by a passion for cities, but also for something that beautifies and enriches them: art.
Anna shows a great commitment to the social and cultural life of Barcelona, being a member of the Board of Patrons of the Fundació Catalunya Cultura and patron of the Fundació Museu Picasso, among other institutions. Therefore, it is a pleasure to have her in our series ’10 Years, 10 Urban Ideas’.
And here are her answers to our 10-item questionnaire.
Barcelona is my city. I highlight its capacity for transformation; Barcelona is a city that knows how to reinvent itself.
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Image by Lawrence Krowdeed on Unsplash
The transformation of cities today relies on the application of technology to city management, the incorporation of environmental sustainability criteria in mobility and buildings, and the pursuit of social cohesion as an inexcusable goal.
In Europe, London continues to lead innovation, for its extraordinary ability to attract talent from around the world.
I would highlight Lisbon, as it is adopting very successful policies to attract talent.
Jane Jacobs — to understand that urban planning must take people first and foremost. She highlighted the associative life that exists in urban spaces and defended that urban transformations should be put at the service of the communities affected by them.
And Ildefons Cerdà, the father of modern urbanism, for his extraordinary intuition of anticipating the trends that today define urbanism: fractal urban structures, polycentric cities, the importance of the mixture of urban uses for our quality of life and to avoid unnecessary long-distance travel within the city, etc.
…more beautiful, more sustainable and more inclusive, following the precepts of the New European Bauhaus. ●