UN to establish Specialized Center in Public Private Partnerships in Smart Sustainable Cities in Barcelona

The United Nations has chosen Barcelona as the location of their Specialized Center in Public Private Partnerships in Smart Sustainable Cities (PPP for Cities), a research, innovation and advisory center for public administrations around the world to boost project development, best practices and city management and planning standards through collaboration between the public and private sectors in the smart cities arena.

The agreement to establish this new center, which belongs to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), has just been signed with support and collaboration from the Barcelona City Council, Government of Catalonia and IESE business school, which will initially house the center, with the aim of moving this benchmark center, in the middle term, to the Smart City Campus, being promoted by the Barcelona City Council as a smart city cluster.

Located in the heart of the 22@ district, the Smart City Campus aims to bring together companies, technology and innovation centers, universities and other stakeholders in urban innovation and technology to promote synergies, generate co-creation spaces (incubators, laboratories) and test-beds for urban solutions.

The establishment of this new center in Barcelona consolidates the city as a platform for research and development of new market opportunities in the field of smart cities.