The first panel of the day – Mike Lake, Yoon Lee, Joe Albanese, Robert Buckley, Tom Palmer and Lowell Richards – spoke on insights and lessons from the WCCP Policy Exchange Mission to Barcelona and Madrid in November 2011. Panelists noted that Boston can use much of Barcelona’s example when it comes place-making, noting that Barcelona is increasingly emphasizing its waterfront, its combination of reclaimed old buildings and striking new architecture, and its interweaving of public spaces. As the South Boston waterfront Innovation District continues its revitalization, there will need to be a similar mix of work/live/play as is found in Barcelona, with a significant focus on keeping new affordable housing affordable as the area becomes increasingly attractive.
The panel noted that Barcelona has made coordinated efforts at attracting businesses a priority as well, with an established innovation district (22@ Barcelona), a one-stop centralization of business related government functions (Barcelonactiva) and a marketing program called “Do It in Barcelona.” Many regional, state and city boards of various organizations have overlapping members that help to better coordinate joint efforts toward common objectives for fostering regional economic development. Businesses in Barcelona are greeted with welcome sessions and welcome packages that help to orient them to the various public, private and nonprofit organizations that are available to assist them as they take root and grow. Panelists noted that similar coordinated efforts in Greater Boston could go a long way with attracting and growing businesses here.
Moreover, while Greater Boston can pride itself on its higher education prominence, Barcelona has begun stressing entrepreneurial and innovative culture at a young age, ensuring there will be a steady stream of homegrown startups to keep the economy going in years to come. School children are taught about entrepreneurship and innovation as a process that celebrates achievements while stressing the importance of failure, learning from it, and overcoming it as a natural part of the process. In separate pieces appearing in this blog (1, 2) Mike Lake and I have offered that Greater Boston can do much more to retain young talent. In closing out this first panel discussion of the day, Mike Lake noted that Barcelona has several programs under the 22@ brand that are designed to get young talent into the workforce with easier internship access and in some cases vocational training…
[Part 2 of this blog post will cover other parts of the 2012 Chatham Forum. You can also see and join the Chatham Forum conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #WorldClassCities]
Chad O’Connor is a communication consultant, Adjunct Professor of Communication Studies at Northeastern University, and Boston World Partnerships Connector. He serves as a contributing co-editor of this blog.
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