Definitive approval of the Modification of Terrassa’s “Vapor Cortès” Urban Improvement Plan

Last March 3, the final approval of the Modification of the Urban Improvement Plan for the “Vapor Cortès” sector of Terrassa was published in the DOGC. The new plan, drawn up by GMG, should allow the development of the sector to begin, stopped since the real estate crisis of 2007 as a result of which the fall in prices made it unfeasible to assume the high costs of transformation. The new arrangement approved allows the sector to start its execution, thanks to the fact that it improves several aspects that, as a whole, contribute to guaranteeing its technical and economic viability: it rearranges some islands so that the high pending compensations can be reduced, it facilitates the intervention in the industrial buildings that need to be preserved, proposes a new volumetric arrangement in some areas to facilitate subsequent urban planning management, etc. Urban planning, in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, must increasingly focus on the transformation of the consolidated city, and in this type of area the pre-existing conditions and the environment greatly condition the chances of success of the performance. In these cases, it is essential that the area planning proposal is linked to the economic assessment and urban management and that these aspects are worked on simultaneously to achieve a good result. We hope that the necessary urban management will soon be completed and the urbanization works will begin in this central area of the city and that it must finish tying up the urban fabric that for many years has been conditioned by the presence of numerous industrial buildings without activity and several streets without continuity. The creation of new equipment and free spaces, the conversion and rehabilitation of old industrial buildings, the promotion of new homes, and the development of new streets must lead to a significant improvement not only of the sector but of the entire environment.