Ca n'Alemany development
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
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Project Description
Ca n’Alemany development goes beyond the traditional boundaries of conventional logistics, retail or business parks. It is a public-private development that capitalises on Incasol’s 40 years’ experience in placemaking, smart growth and economic development and has already been awarded Spain’s top prize for its water cycle sustainability. And the big vision change that elicited this kind of urban transformation, can effect positive and real change in people’s life.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
Ca n’Alemany, located in Viladecans, it is situated about 6 km from Barcelona, just off the C-32 motorway, about 15 minutes from the metropolitan capital, 10 minutes from the Port and 5 from Barcelona Airport.
Ca n’Alemany, is a strategic place that has undergone several transformations over the last 50 years. The construction of the C-32 freeway led to a radical transformation of the sector. Currently, the sector is delimited by a series of infrastructures that configure its limits and also condition its accessibility. The sector is limited by the railway line in the north and by the C-32 freeway in the south. Transversally the sector is crossed by two other infrastructures, the access to the C-32 in the street of the Agriculture and the secondary highway B-209 that turns into the road of the Vila.
Less than 4km to Barcelona’s airport and 15 minutes from its main train station, Ca n’Alemany in Viladecans is a 55ha public-private partnership mixed-use development that layers compatible land uses, public facilities and key public infrastructure, to build a sustainable, diverse and resilient city. It boasts an impressive 59% of public space and a 40m € investment in land development, hosts industry leaders in logistics and retail and builds on sound multi-level governance experience. Ca n’Alemany capitalises on Incasol’s 40 years’ experience in placemaking, smart growth and economic development and has already been awarded Spain’s top prize for its water cycle sustainability.
Key objectives for sustainability
Sustainability and the environment have been present right from the start of the design. Just to highlight one region-wide specific solution, being close to mountains and in a coastal Mediterranean climate means that fast floods are a recurring natural phenomenon. Therefore, the seasonal stream that runs through Viladecans and the whole development and brings extreme and sudden outbursts of rain into the sea, has been treated with a rainwater overflow system that temporarily diverts excess capacity into a huge central basin, from where it is gradually pumped back to the stream, used for irrigation and partly slowly recharges the local aquifer. This basin and its system help grow the biodiversity right in the middle of a modern business area, and the whole design has been awarded Smagua’s top prize for water infrastructure in Spain.
Additionally, LEED and BREEAM certificates have been awarded to Desigual (logistics) and Neinver (retail).
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The management of water outburst helps improve the general aspect of the area as traditional open air waste areas to drain rainwater have to be conserved and the area could not be as fluid in terms of land use and design.
Also, it helps users to easily move and use the area and maximise water use, both rain a natural rain sources for all the watering the area.
Key objectives for inclusion
Public governance ensures that social responsibility and public interest are present at all stages. Thus, up to 60% of all land is for public facilities, roads, green areas, and operators have set up official Catalan Tourist Board approved information offices, launched local employment skill enhancement campaigns, generated >1.000 jobs, and collaborate with the municipality to promote the area’s economic and social development.
Results in relation to category
Ca n’Alemany development goes beyond the traditional boundaries of conventional logistics, retail or business parks. Leveraging Incasol’s 40 years’ experience in urban development and by, in the midst of the Great Recession, counter-cyclically securing public and private funding, this development is a prime example of what public-private partnerships and shared goals can achieve for the good of society.
International industry leaders in logistics and retail such as Desigual and Neinver have already started their operations and an entire new avenue of possibilities opens for a more robust and resilient Viladecans and the larger Barcelona metro area, helping diversify its economy, providing much needed jobs in a variety of industrial, logistics, retail and service fields and encouraging shopping and business tourism.
And the big vision change that elicited this kind of transformation started with cooperation, trust, and the belief that urban development can effect positive and real change in people’s life.
How Citizens benefit
Ca n’Alemany grows naturally between the existing urban fabric of Viladecans and a protected 3.300ha agricultural land park, 4 km from Barcelona’s airport and 12 km to its intermodal logistics platform ZAL Port, which leads the Mediterranean container traffic. Access and transportation are unparalleled and comprise a highway and a rail station literally a few metres away from the development. Shuttle service, intercity bus lines and a even a dedicated bike line (15 minutes to the beach), guarantee a wide range of sustainable and public transportation.
Public governance ensures that social responsibility and public interest are present at all stages. Thus, up to 60% of all land is for public facilities, roads, green areas, and operators have set up official Catalan Tourist Board approved information offices, launched local employment skill enhancement campaigns, generated >1.000 jobs, and collaborate with the municipality to promote the area’s economic and social development.
Innovative character
Innovation has been introduced at management, business and technology levels.
A special-purpose vehicle was set up to bring innovation through multi-level governance to the core of the decision-making body in charge of the whole development of Ca n’Alemany, thus ensuring richer views and a wider representation of society.
Innovation has come too from private operators in terms of client services, through the discovery of previously unattended needs, to provide customers with a complete shopping experience, such is the case with Neinver’s TheStyleOutlets. Currently, their visitors enjoy a complete offer of value-added services to guarantee a complete shopping experience: secure kids geolocalization that lets parents find their children through a bracelet, personal shopper, meeting rooms, electric car charge points, breastfeeding room wheelchair/pushchair lending service, and pet facilities.
New technology also integrates fully into traditional channels to make the bridge from brick to omnichannel and thus increase marketing efficiency through geolocation systems.
