Barcelona and London agree to boost innovation districts of 22@ and White City

Barcelona and London’s district of Hammersmith & Fulham have sealed an agreement on Friday to boost both cities’ innovation hubs of 22@ and the White City Innovation District. 

The deal will encourage workers to travel between both cities and exchange technology and investigate new agreement opportunities internationally. 

The Barcelona 22@ district is the city’s hub for innovation, creativity, design, and technology, still in the process of growth in the Catalan capital’s Poblenou neighborhood. 

Some of the partners involved in the deal include educational institutions in the UK capital such as the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Imperial College London, and some universities in the Catalan capital. 

Listen to our Filling the Sink podcast on 22@ to learn more about Catalonia’s modern architecture and the different international architects’ projects you can encounter while walking around the district.

The agreement is "a key element for economic diversification" as well as a tool to search for "a transformed economic model," Barcelona deputy mayor Jaume Collboni said during the presentation on Friday. 

"We want to create 60,000 workplaces in 2023 only in Barcelona’s innovation district of 22@," he added. 

During the first year of the agreement, the 22@ and the White City Innovation District will organize several events and workshops.