City model

City design

Designing public spaces, streets, squares, parks, determining the placement of future schools, healthcare centres, sports centres… and defining what each and every one of the elements of the city will be like is much more than a theoretical or technical question. To a large extent, this design process will determine what the day-to-day life of the city’s inhabitants will be like and, therefore, has a direct impact on people’s quality of life. Madrid Nuevo Norte has taken into account all the aspects that converge in a project as complex and, at the same time, as exciting as the creation of a new neighbourhood, to make it into a one-of-a-kind project. And it has done it thanks to the work of top professionals in urban planning and a ground-breaking citizen participation process.

Responding to the challenges of the future

Cities will face major social, environmental, and economic challenges in the decades to come. Their ability to successfully face and overcome these challenges will depend to a large extent on how we address them today, through the design of the spaces we will inhabit. Madrid Nuevo Norte represents a golden opportunity for our city to respond to these challenges.

The project’s design addresses key aspects for the future, such as how we will get around every day, access to quality jobs or the right to a healthier environment, designed by and for the people who live in the city. A future based on the best practices in international urban planning and technological innovation, without giving up the essence and way of life of Madrid and its citizens.

Mobility is the foundation

Move more efficiently and pollute less, get where we need to be sooner and spend more time with the people we want to see.

To make these goals a reality, we’ve designed a compact, mixed-use city model that allows people to live, work, and access all services without the need to travel long distances. All of this in an environment designed to save millions of trips and reduce the carbon footprint.

With streets designed for walking, wide public spaces and a complete network of cycle paths. Madrid Nuevo Norte brings together all of the day-to-day needs in a radius that can be covered in just a few minutes on foot or by bicycle.

The backbone of Madrid Nuevo Norte is formed by an extensive public transport network that integrates Metro, Cercanías commuter rail, urban and intercity buses and a ground-breaking Bus Rapid Transit system, which will make it easier for those who need to travel longer distances to choose these options over private vehicles.

Everything close by

In Madrid Nuevo Norte, the Madrid we are creating, everything is close by: work, cinema, school, everything is just a few minutes away. A dense, compact city model translates into an urban environment where virtually everything you need is less than a 10-minute walk away, making it a more people-friendly place. Schools, parks, healthcare centres, shops, museums… will coexist and intermingle with homes and offices to create an environment that is full of life at all hours of the day, seven days a week.

Reclaiming neighbourhoods, bringing people together

Madrid Nuevo Norte is continuing a growing trend among the world’s most important cities: taking advantage of the opportunity presented by the brownfield land in their downtown areas, usually occupied by transport infrastructure or disused industries.

There are lots of advantages to reclaiming urban voids as opposed to expanding the city with new development: not only does it connect isolated areas and improve mobility, but it also optimises natural resources and increases the use of facilities and infrastructure by more citizens, making cities more sustainable.

The design of Madrid Nuevo Norte is not being implemented as something separate from its surroundings; rather it is being fully integrated into the existing city, extending the streets, preserving the character and identity of the neighbourhoods that surround the project and highlighting their historical and cultural heritage.

Smart city

A true smart city is not a city that has the most technological gadgets, but rather is a city that is able to coherently incorporate innovation and technology to improve the lives of citizens.

The aim of the creation of a smart district in Madrid Nuevo Norte is to exploit the true potential of a digital city: to place people at the centre of decision-making, to improve their quality of life and to create a more environmentally friendly and socially focused area

Social innovation

Madrid Nuevo Norte transcends the scope of the project itself. It proposes new solutions to latent problems and challenges in the surrounding neighbourhoods and in the city as a whole, focused on improving people’s quality of life through innovative forms of collaboration between businesses, civil society, public administrations and citizens.

Social innovation in Madrid Nuevo Norte translates into new processes, practices, and methods to carry out initiatives that include the participation of citizens and groups. Citizens play a role in their own urban development, strengthening their sense of belonging and turning them into agents of change in their own neighbourhoods.

The main goal of these initiatives is to involve civil society as a whole to seek more effective responses to the demands of citizens, focusing on important aspects such as urban-rural balance or the introduction of the gender perspective into urban design. All while maintaining ongoing contact with the Madrid’s most important universities to carry out research projects to improve the quality of life of residents and include the latest trends in urban development.