A blank canvas for the new 21st century. This is how the New Centrality of the East (NCE) is presented, the project that for almost 30 years has been looking for its destiny. At first it aspired to be the Olympic Village of the frustrated Madrid 2020 Olympic Games, but history had other plans.
At the moment, they are unknown, but the owner of a large part of the land is still studying what to do with that huge bag of soil. The New Centrality of the East occupies nearly 6 million m2 in the San Blas district, next to the M-40 and the Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
It aspires to be the future technological and innovation neighborhood of Madrid, but also one of the most in the capital, aligned with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations (UN). To do this, it will bet on sustainable homes and buildings, smart infrastructures, large green spaces and 4.0 economic activity. This is reflected in the second proposal recently presented by the management commission of the New Centrality of the East -and prepared by PwC Real Estate- to the Madrid City Council. “We want to do something emblematic for the city,” explains Alfredo Zulueta, president of the commission, to the Economist manager.
The matter of housing, contemplates the construction of up to 20,000 units in the next 20 years, 30% destined to official protection. Recycled or sustainable materials would be used for its construction. The proposal of the managing commission also contemplates designing the buildings to reduce energy expenditure with and zero consumption, and applying renewable energy sources that allow a greater degree of energy self-sufficiency.
As an example, they cite passivhaus standards, which reduce the heating and cooling needs of homes by 75%. But there is more. New smart technologies would also be applied to facilitate recycling and reduce the generation of waste, and the international breeam certificate would be requested, which allows measuring the degree of environmental sustainability of buildings and urban developments.
“Energy efficiency must be the backbone of the planning of the New Centrality of the East, taking into account its long-term planning, and the advancement of technologies and research. Energy efficiency has a global approach, from the approach to the mobility –, the production of energy -through renewables-, the consumption of buildings -through their execution with a sustainable approach”, says the report. In total, 70% of the buildable space of the Nueva Centralidad del Este will be used for residential use and the remaining 30% for tertiary use.
smart mobility
The New Centrality of the East is also committed to smart mobility, which would reduce trips from home to work and, consequently, . To do this, it plans to promote the use of electric cars and build 50 kilometers of independent lanes for bicycles or electric scooters, as well as green paths for runners.
The New Centrality of the East will connect its three main areas (north, center and south) in a practical way with the aim of achieving the concept of a “15-minute city”, which consists of citizens being able to satisfy their basic needs in an environment of 15 minutes walk from their homes.
“The concept of smart mobility will be applied, promoting the use of electric cars, incorporating a network of bicycles and bike lanes with a connection to the center of Madrid and expanding pedestrian spaces that allow alternative use to traditional cars,” explains the report. The same text specifies that road traffic will be promoted only on main streets and electric mobility in the rest.
metropolitan forest
The future neighborhood that will form the backbone of Madrid in the northeast of the capital has 2.2 million square meters -a third of the total area- set aside for green areas and the Metropolitan Forest. In fact, the management commission has included the forest in its development proposal. It is a large green axis that crosses the district from north to south and communicates with neighboring neighborhoods and transversal axes.
“We have incorporated this large green infrastructure into our design. We had always envisioned a large forest park in the New Centrality East development where people can run or ride their bikes,” explains Zulueta. The future neighborhood of Madrid will also have a park in the southern zone that will include lagoons and where most of the residential offer will be concentrated. Nueva Centralidad del Este aspires to be the new green lung inside the M-40. It is not for less, since the future neighborhood has an area that will double that of Madrid’s Parque del Retiro.
“The New Centrality of the East will be an example of green innovation and a reference”
The project also has an open stormwater system to collect and clean rainwater. This is a system that is already implemented in Sweden and that has made it possible to reduce flooding and increase biodiversity in the environment. The project is also based on other success stories that have been launched in different parts of the Old Continent.
“The New Centrality of the East will be an example of green innovation and a neighborhood reference that minimizes the impact of cities on climate change, as the Augustenborg neighborhood in Sweden, the Ginko eco-neighborhood in Bordeaux (France) or the Liesing Mitte in Austria”, the experts emphasize.
According to the authors of the report, Nueva Centralidad del Este is presented with a project that “will improve the quality of life and by promoting talent, innovation and economy cohesively towards sustainable development and planned urbanism in the 21st century that respond to social and housing needs,” the text says.
green economic activity
From a business point of view, Nueva Centralidad del Este contemplates the creation of an innovation district that attracts talent and promotes economic activity 4.0, providing land for green economic activity and new office models. As the report explains, the spaces will be oriented to meet the new work needs of startups and innovation companies. In his opinion, economic activity should focus on clean activity so that it can be integrated with sustainable and non-polluting development.
“Conceived as a smart neighborhood, the New Centrality of the East will advocate the use of renewable energies (solar panels, wind energy, biogas…) and Smart Grids, the automation and management of different services and the technological integration in urban planning from the very conception of the design (saving the high costs associated with making neighborhoods and cities that have already been built smart), with the implementation of a network of sensors that make it possible to measure quality or mobility indicators”, explain the experts from PwC Real Estate.
The text also highlights that the New Centrality of the East is in a privileged position within its location, since it is surrounded by consolidated infrastructures and can integrate different types of productive business activity such as those related to health, technology or biomedicine. The future neighborhood also aspires to promote other economic activities and even house prestigious universities.
incipient phase
The New Centrality of the East does not have an approved sectorization plan, which makes the future neighborhood of Madrid a space of great opportunities. “Some flexibility is needed in the regulations to include concepts that did not exist before. We are now presenting our proposals to the Madrid City Council. We are in a very early phase,” says Alfredo Zulueta, who assures that the municipal corporation has received its The proposal is welcome, although the City Council is also working with other external reports to evaluate the urban possibilities of the New Centrality of the East. “At the moment, the Madrid City Council is uploading our data into an application to compare them,” adds the president of the management commission.
Regarding future urban planning regulations, the Madrid City Council has recently announced that it will eliminate terraces from the computation of buildable area in new buildings. This was precisely one of the major requests included in the report prepared by PwC Real Este on the future development of the New Centrality of the East. Be that as it may, the process to find a final destination for the huge bag of land in the southeast of Madrid seems to be a long one. Very long.
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