The Technical School of Architecture at the University of Seville will bring together the seven Spanish Mission Cities to address the energy regeneration of vulnerable neighbourhoods. Seville will present the results of its protocol to link residential rehabilitation with decarbonisation and social cohesion.
The meeting "Beyond 2030: cities leading energy regeneration within their Climate Agreements" will take place on September 15 and 16 at the Technical School of Architecture at the University of Seville. The event will mark the final closure of the European project URBANEW EMC³ and will gather representatives from the seven Mission Cities in Spain: Vitoria-Gasteiz, Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid, and Zaragoza.
The City Council of Seville and the University of Seville will play a prominent role during the sessions. The municipal institution will present the results of its work to link the rehabilitation of the residential stock with the goals of decarbonisation, climate adaptation, housing, and social cohesion.
Seville's participation in URBANEW EMC³ has allowed for the development of concrete tools to translate European climate neutrality goals to the neighbourhood scale, especially in urban environments where building and socioeconomic conditions necessitate public intervention.
One of the main outcomes is a comprehensive and systematic protocol for addressing the energy regeneration of vulnerable neighbourhoods, developed from the experience of the Polígono de San Pablo and designed to be extrapolated to other Spanish and European neighbourhoods with similar characteristics.
During the meeting, the City Council of Seville will present the comprehensive regeneration project for Los Pajaritos-Nazaret, developed through Emvisesa with the collaboration of the Urbanism and Environment Management and the Cerro-Amate District. The project is funded by the Urban Regeneration and Renewal Area (ARRU) programme and Next Generation EU funds.
The project combines energy and structural improvements to 144 public housing units through thermal insulation, installation of photovoltaic panels, and removal of asbestos. These measures are complemented by public space transformation actions, such as the redevelopment of Plaza Terreras, the renaturalisation of the surroundings, pedestrianisation, new tree planting, and sustainable drainage systems.
The delegate for Urbanism, Environmental Protection, Heritage, and Housing of the City Council of Seville, Juan de la Rosa, has emphasised the importance of this initiative.
“This project is of vital importance as it lays the groundwork for the implementation of public policies for comprehensive urban rehabilitation, not only improving the thermal performance of buildings but also recovering public spaces and renaturalising the environment. It is about understanding rehabilitation from the perspective of the right to healthy, accessible housing and environments adapted to the real needs of people.”
“The municipal commitment, therefore, is to turn energy rehabilitation into a tool of urban policy, capable of simultaneously addressing the quality of buildings, energy consumption, family vulnerability, accessibility, and the adaptation of neighbourhoods to the effects of climate change,” added De la Rosa.
The sessions will also introduce the project “Barriada El Carmen re-HABITAR”, along with other experiences analysed within the framework of URBANEW EMC³.
The programme includes lectures, discussion panels, city experiences, and an open innovation lab. The first day, titled “Learning from the ‘heroes’”, will host the collaborative dynamic “Fishbowl. Driving an alliance of urban titans (And now that we know so much… what needs to be done?)”, designed to share experiences, results, and challenges among the seven cities.
The inaugural event will feature speeches from Juan de la Rosa; the director of the Technical School of Architecture at the University of Seville, Ramón Pico Valimaña; and the deputy mayor and councillor for City Model, Urbanism, Housing, Cleaning, and Environment of the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Borja Rodríguez Ramajo. The closure will be led by Fernando Mañes Izquierdo, councillor and delegate for European Financing, Urban Agenda, and International Relations of the City Council of Seville.
Also participating will be Fernando Vázquez Marín, urbanism manager of the City Council of Seville; Maite Verdú, general director of the Urban Agenda of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda; Juan Carlos Abascal Candás, deputy councillor for Territorial Planning and Urban Agenda of the Basque Government; and Marta Méndez Díaz, national coordinator of the Secretariat of the Local2030 Coalition of the United Nations, who will deliver the session “Local climate action solutions to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs”.
The Seville model relies on the collaboration between the City Council and the University of Seville to connect municipal public policies with research, scientific knowledge, and innovation. This cooperation allows the results of European projects to directly benefit the city's neighbourhoods.
With this meeting, Seville concludes its participation in URBANEW EMC³ and shares with other Spanish cities the tools developed to advance towards energy regeneration that integrates efficiency, decarbonisation, architectural quality, accessibility, health, climate adaptation, and social cohesion.
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