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What are the Economic Development Plans (EDP)?

The Economic Development Plans are a strategic roadmap which, over the next four years, will guide municipal actions to promote economic development in the city’s six districts identified for priority attention. These are city districts with below average socio-economic indicators and which therefore have specific needs with regard to socio-economic promotion.

“The EDPs are a well established policy which we are now reinforcing with a budget increase of 18%. They are a commitment to economic development at a local level, the roadmap to ensure that everything we do over the coming years benefits each and every one of the city’s neighbourhoods and districts, generating economic activity and opportunities”, remarked councillor Raquel Gil, who underscored that these plans should help to ensure that the “big issues facing the city start to be addressed from a local level”.  “This strategy helps us to create a more cohesive city, a city that is stronger, economically more diverse and which therefore generates opportunities for citizens”, she added.

Barcelona Activa and the districts themselves promote the EDPs, integrating the views and contributions of the Directorate for Commerce, Restaurant Trade and Food Services, the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Markets (IMMB), the Directorate of Social and Solidarity Economy and Foment de Ciutat.

The strategic axes

The EDPs 2024-2027 for each of the six districts share three strategic axes:

• Promoting quality employment and the labour market.
• Promoting commerce, services, local restaurant trade and municipal markets.
• Support to kick start the local economy.

Also, to ensure that the EDPs are tailored to the needs and potential of each district, in addition to the shared axes, they include a series of specific issues and areas that are considered to be priorities in each of the districts.

In this regard, both Ciutat Vella and Sants-Montjuïc have decided to address the social return generated by tourism and events in the district. Sant Martí is focusing on the development of neighbourhoods in the Besòs strip; Sant Andreu on promoting sectors such as the textile sector and the circular economy; and Nou Barris will be developing a special plan to promote its assets in the tech sector and cultural events in the district. The Horta-Guinardó district will be looking at ways to form partnerships with the health, sport and cultural sectors, which are well represented in the district.

How did the previous editions go?

Over the past three years, each of the priority districts has implemented the action plan defined in the previous EDPs, with remarkable success:

• In Ciutat Vella, 6,900 people and 1,155 companies have benefitted from the various initiatives. Among the most notable actions is the Hotels with Social Return Project, which promotes local recruitment and supply contracts; or the Resource Bank, a circular economy of materials project.
• In the Sants-Montjuïc district, 3,600 people and 1,190 companies have been assisted. The most important initiatives include the Tourism Board for promoting local recruitment and supply contracts, the Obrim Carrers (Opening Streets) project, which closes roads to traffic at weekends so they can be enjoyed by pedestrians at the Creu Coberta- carrer de Sants junction, and the opening of Sants-Montjuïc Activa.
• In Sant Martí more than 42,000 people have been supported, a significant number, as Barcelona Activa’s central services are carried out in this district, along with 1,600 companies. Highlights include the Compromís Besòs-Maresme (Besòs-Maresme Commitment), an agreement reached among all the political groups to transform the neighbourhood; and Impuls BiciHub, a programme to promote sustainable mobility.
• In the district of Horta-Guinardó support has been provided to 3,700 people and 622 companies, with initiatives such as the consolidation of La Clota, a municipal space for entrepreneurial projects that provide a social return in the district, and the Neighbourhood Plans for the El Carmel and Can Baró neighbourhoods, with employment and commerce initiatives.
• In Sant Andreu some 3,600 people and 780 companies have been supported through more than 300 initiatives linked to businesses in the industrial estates of the Eix Besòs and with the creation of the Nau Vila Besòs, a green and circular economy project for associations based in the district.
• In Nou Barris some 4,000 people and 270 companies were supported in 2023. One of the key focuses of these initiatives is employment, and some 572 local residents managed to secure employment contracts through the training and jobs programme. Another key initiative was the Economic Promotion Day held in Nou Barris which addressed economic promotion from both a citywide and district-level perspective.