The Community of Madrid, MWCC and the Metropoli Foundation have presented the Innovation Lab, an Innovation Laboratory in the field of Urban Solutions in Madrid Nuevo Norte, at the Real Casa de Correos, Presidency of the Madrid Community.

The event was initiated by the Regional Minister for the Environment, Housing and Agriculture, Paloma Martín, who explained the importance of this laboratory in attracting talent and creative projects to this urban development in the capital.

The Community of Madrid has already received a dozen innovative and sustainable projects to develop in Madrid Nuevo Norte (MNN). The Minister of Environment, Housing and Agriculture, Paloma Martín, has offered these data in the presentation ceremony of the Innovation Lab to the companies of the region, which has been held in the Royal Post Office, headquarters of the regional Executive.

Martín has highlighted that “through this test bed we want to contribute all the tools and experience of the regional Administration to help MNN in its search for excellence and efficiency”. “The success of this urban regeneration action will largely determine the position of the Spanish capital when it comes to competing among the world’s great cities”, she stressed.

The regional government, the Metrópoli Foundation and the Madrid World Capital of Construction, Engineering and Architecture (MWCC) association signed an agreement last July for the creation of the Innovation Lab. Since then numerous interested public and private entities have contacted it in converting MNN into a smart city in all areas, such as mobility, infrastructure, building or energy consumption.

One of the initiatives that this laboratory is working on is a variety of grass, grass, so that green areas require up to 40% less water for maintenance. Another provides for the installation of efficient streetlights that include drone chargers, as well as the use of geothermal energy as a source of energy in several buildings or the incorporation of sustainable urban drainage techniques that allow rainwater to be retained, stored and pre-treated at source, so that it arrives later in less quantity and contamination.

All these proposals, and those that are added, will be analyzed in order to study their viability before they can be implemented in MNN and thus guarantee their suitability years before their start-up. In fact, it will become a showcase to export them to other countries.

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 purpose of this laboratory, co-directed by the Community of Madrid, Fundación Metropoli and MWCC, 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.

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.

David Garcia Nuñez, President of MWCC has been able to comment to the more than 140 attendees, belonging to the Madrid, national and international business ecosystem, together with different representatives of the Public Administrations and Embassies; the next steps to be taken to execute the Innovation Lab. For the President of MWCC, “Madrid is a source of business and social opportunities, and the Innovation Lab is a positive and attractive example of public-private collaboration”, “now it is the time to put the innovative knowledge of the companies in the different urban development projects that are going to structure the Madrid region in the near future”.

The Innovation Lab is based on:

• Knowledge transfer in urban planning and sustainability through collaborative and participatory environments such as seminars, conferences or high-level events.
• The creation of international and business networks to promote it as a benchmark in our region.
• 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.

The Innovation Lab is an exceptional opportunity for national and international companies that want to develop their activity and projects in the Community of Madrid. It is a clear example, unique in Europe, of symbiosis between administration and business.

12,000 MILLION TO THE REGIONAL GDP

Madrid Nuevo Norte will contribute 12,000 million euros to the regional GDP during the years that this action lasts, according to data from a study prepared by the Institute of Economic Prediction L. R. Klein. In addition, it will have the capacity to create 350,000 jobs, build 10,500 homes – 20% with some type of protection – and integrate 400,000 square meters of green areas into the environment.

This urban regeneration development – ​​the largest in Europe – has aroused the interest of many national and foreign investors. This has been confirmed by regional representatives in international shows such as the Marché International des Professionnels de l’Immobilier or the Expo Real Munich Fair. Funds and wealth managers from the United States, France, Italy and Germany visited the stand of the Community of Madrid to see it first-hand and analyze the business opportunities.