A delegation from the City of Melbourne absolved a study visit in Spain from 23 – 27 October 2023. The delegation consisted of Jordi McInerney (Innovation Precincts), Lauren Beattie (Transportation Planning) and Kelly Hertzog (Parks and City Greening Division).
They were supported by Prof. Bruce Wilson (RMIT), IURC Coordinator for Australia. The mission started in Barcelona, where delegates met with the Barcelona experts from the Department of Mobility Strategy to exchange views and to visit the Sant Antoni superblock. Melbourne delegates also met with David Martinez (Urban Planning Manager) and Maria Buhigas (Chief Architect) to learn from Barcelona’s city planning policy and development. The experts’ talks also included Isabella Longo (Barcelona Institute for Technology – BitHabitat) to exchange views on urban innovation. Melbourne delegates also had the chance to visit the 22@ innovation district with Xavier Mayo (Economic Promotion). The visit was a follow-up to Barcelona’s study visit to Melbourne in 2022.
Australian delegates also visited Madrid, to follow up exchanges held in early 2023 in Melbourne. In Madrid, Australian delegates visited the Global Mobility Call fair, where they held talks on EU-mobility policies and met with Madrid public transport & mobility agencies (Regional Transport Consortium “CRTM” and EMT). Discussions included the administrative competencies of the City Council, the Region, and the Central State. Delegates also visited the Nuevos Ministerios interchange station and the New Castellana Bike Line from Nuevos Ministerios to Santiago Bernabeu. At Madrid Town Hall (Palacio de Cibeles), they held several technical presentations of mobility and environment projects.
Site visits in Madrid included the Canalejas 360 Mobility Hub (by EMT Madrid), the Madrid Nuevo Norte innovation area (including the Plaza de Castilla interchange station), and the New Pedro Bosch/Pacifico urbanization and regeneration project. A Deep-Dive took place at the EMT Madrid headquarters, where discussions on electrification, decarbonization, hydrogen, and circular economy (biogas) projects were held. Experts also discussed both cities’ bike-sharing and parking management systems.Â
