METREX Member The Basque Country has taken bold steps to create a document that looks at how their actions for the next 30 years can be influenced positively by the Urban Agenda. The Bultzatu 2050 Urban Agenda for the Basque Country is an effort to systematise
and provide strategic direction and consistency in public policies aimed at improving
the potential of the Basque region, to offer opportunities for economic growth, sustainability and social cohesion.
From the executive summary
For the first time in history, humans are more urban than rural. Since the start of this century, over half of the world’s population has lived in cities, representing a significant shift in how we view our relationship with our planet. This landmark, which marks the start of what is known as the urban age, was reached in the European Union in the 20th century, with this being the most heavily urbanised continent.
Against this backdrop, the Bultzatu 2050 Urban Agenda for the Basque Country is an effort to systematise and provide strategic direction and consistency in public policies aimed at improving the potential of the Basque Country’s area, to offer opportunities for economic growth, sustainability and social cohesion.
It has been prepared on the basis of an inspirational and strategic exercise of analysis, forward planning and consultation that has guided the long-term thinking of the Basque Government regarding the region’s urban situation, maintaining continuous dialogue with the relevant actors and stakeholders.
Bultzatu 2050 is not just yet another plan. It designs and maps out the preliminary planning exercises and centres them on the challenges and potential of the urban area in the Basque Country, offering a reference framework for the urban and local policies of the region as a whole, at Basque Government, Provincial Council and Municipality levels.
Aligned with the objectives set by UN-Habitat and the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 11, Bultzatu 2050 has committed to a specific city model that is sustainable, socially cohesive, based on high-quality urban planning. It also establishes a framework for policy consistency between the various departments of the Basque Government, in terms of the urban impact that those measures have on the region.
Photo by Pierre Archi on Unsplash
