Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

Barcelona is now an "inspiring city": the capital of Catalonia has joined the project by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to raise awareness about the importance of air quality in cities

Barcelona has joined AstraZeneca’s “Inspiring Cities” project to raise awareness about the importance to people’s health of breathing high-quality air in cities. The Catalan capital thus joins Santander and Seville, the other two Spanish cities forming part of this project to help develop municipal initiatives for the improvement of air quality.

Aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals

The “Inspiring Cities” initiative goes hand in hand with the sustainability strategy implemented in Barcelona and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11 (inclusive cities), 13 (climate action) and 17 (partnerships to achieve the goals). The initiative aims to raise awareness about the importance of the quality of the air which Barcelona’s residents breathe.

The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, working in partnership with scientific societies and associations of respiratory patients, thus seeks to encourage cities to develop air quality improvement policies and initiatives. Barcelona City Council is celebrating this partnership with the pharmaceutical company to “build a healthy future for everyone”.

2022 was a good year for cutting pollution

According to air quality monitoring station data published last December, the measures put in place to increase sustainable mobility and reduce the number of vehicles in Barcelona have led to an improvement in the city’s air quality and a 31% reduction in its air pollution since 2015. The expansion of the cycle lane network, the rollout of the city’s superblocks, the move to electric municipal vehicles and the implementation of the Low Emission Zone are proof of the effectiveness of a model where people’s health and environmental sustainability come first. The “Inspiring Cities” project is also sure to help achieve this goal from here on.