Valencia also wants to be known as the City of Squares

This Spanish city is on a roll lately - it keeps reinventing and rejuvenating itself, and we can only nod in approval

You know of Valencia, that marvellous Spanish Mediterranean city that just happened to win the 2024 European Green Capital title recently, and is also currently the World Design Capital. However, all this winning was deemed to be insufficient for the ambitious local administration, which announced yesterday, on the International Day of Urban Planning no less, that it intends to be known as the City of Squares in order to give more visibility to its grand-scale transformative project.

The project itself was launched in 2015 and aims to complete in 2025, and yes, you guessed its focus is urban regeneration through the renovation of public squares. In fact, when it’s done a total of 40 squares in 27 neighbourhoods will have received a facelift.

More open, more sustainable, more humane

The Levante capital is still hungover from its Green Capital win, it is already thinking about how to boost visibility and citizens’ commitment and acceptance of the local transformation. Apparently, even a new logo has been designed in order to gently remind us of that brand image.

“(The project) has been one of the pillars in the declaration of our city as European Green Capital 2024, which is why it represents the strategy of recovery and renaturation of the public spaces,” declared Sandra Gómez, vice-mayor and councillor for Sustainable Urban Development.

In concrete numbers, all this means a total investment of 60 million euros and the redevelopment of more than 271,000 m² of public space (the equivalent of 36 football pitches). 

But it’s not just numbers or marketing. Public squares are essential features in any urban landscape, and even more so in a social, balmy-weathered Valencia.

"We intend that, progressively, all neighbourhoods have at least one public space that is representative and forms part of the identity of each neighbourhood," added Sandra Gómez. And think about it, we recently reported on the planned transformation of the City Hall Square, the main stage of Valencia. As such, it will capture the essence of the entire city: sea, palms and Falles Festival.

The objectives of the initiative seek to improve environmental quality, reduce the incidence of traffic and, therefore, atmospheric and acoustic pollution, and incorporate vegetation and design solutions based on nature.

Additionally, they will boost the economic and social activity of the neighbourhoods, facilitating the mix of uses and activity in the public space, as well as the traffic of people that favours commercial activity.

More public squares mean the promotion of active and healthy mobility, facilitating daily journeys on foot or in sustainable means of transport; and the generation of inclusive spaces, friendly to children, or older people, and that are also designed from a gender perspective.