The Community of Madrid, MWCC and Fundación Metropoli will launch an Innovation Laboratory in the field of Urban Solutions (INNOLAB) in Madrid Nuevo Norte. The Minister for the Environment, Housing and Agriculture, Paloma Martín, today signed a collaboration protocol with the President of the Madrid World Capital Association (MWCC), David Garcia Nuñez, and the Metrópoli Foundation to attract talent and creative projects to this urban development in the capital.

The Minister explained that this virtual space, which will be linked to the Madrid Nuevo Norte Regional Office, will serve to share knowledge, experiences and new methods of sustainable design since “only by attracting investment and providing legal certainty and reducing administrative procedures, as the regional government is doing, we can ensure the success of what is called to be the first business district in southern Europe”.

This urban regeneration plan will be built on more than two million square meters and, due to its socioeconomic impact, it will have a movement of capital of more than 25,000 million euros and the creation of 350,000 jobs. In addition, it has planned more than 10,500 homes, of which 20% will have some type of protection, and the creation of more than 400,000 square meters of green areas is planned.

The Innovation Laboratory will have a maximum duration of three years and will have a monitoring committee made up of at least two representatives of each of the parties that make it up, where progress and activities that have been agreed upon will be reported.

The purpose of this alliance is to establish public-private cooperation channels to promote actions that improve competitiveness. “Only by uniting the synergies of all the actors involved in this great initiative will we make the Community of Madrid a benchmark in urban solutions both nationally and internationally”, added the Minister.

To achieve these objectives, three agreements have been established between all parties. The first of them is based on the transfer of knowledge in urban planning and sustainability through collaborative and participatory environments such as seminars, conferences or high-level events. The second will focus on the creation of international and business networks to promote it as a benchmark in our region. The last point will be focused on promoting Madrid Metrópoli 2040, in which the Community actively participates, based on the dialogue and cooperation of the different public administrations with private sector entities, as a tool to promote the creation of this research center that will be able to draw on the knowledge contributed by its members.