Luces y sombras del Bilbao del titanio

Résumé

Since the start of the 1990s, following a stage marked by the exhaustion of industry and urban development, Bilbao has witnessed a proliferation of projects, plans, schemes and directives aimed at its revitalisation. The aim of this paper is to try and identify the factors that explain the process of regeneration that is underway, which has its highlights and shadows, amongst which the following can be found: Tardy recognition of the problem of urban decline and degradation, and slowness in setting regeneration strategies underway. Difficulties in administrative co-ordination and a lack of leadership. Territorial and urban competitiveness in the Basque Autonomous Community and a lack of recognition of the potential of Metropolitan Bilbao for relaunching the Basque Country as a whole. Late recognition of the need to find a different economic foundation. Insufficient integration of the economic, social and physical dimensions. A limited participation by the private sector. A lack of social consensus on a policy of urban regeneration based on large projects, which generated little expectation amongst the population of the Metropolis. An image of building “castles in the air”. Operations of urban regeneration where the philosophy is “patrimony for patrimony”. Is the final aim behind many initiatives the generation of activity in the property sector?