VALENCIA, Apr. 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The plenary session of the Valencia City Council has unanimously approved the new municipal ordinance regulating urban ‘sandbox’, which will promote innovative initiatives and give companies the possibility of testing their products in real environments to ensure their success.
This ordinance aims to “transform” the city into an innovation laboratory, in the real scenario to test projects that can provide solutions and positively impact the services of the City Council and the economic, social and environmental development of Valencia.
The City Council highlights the importance of this culture of testing and experimentation to face challenges in areas ranging from sustainability to the modernization of the public sector, with projects such as beach cleaning robots or streetlights that charge electric vehicles.
The new ordinance, approved provisionally, is part of the València Innovation Capital strategy that allows companies and researchers to test innovations in a real urban environment (squares, markets, roads, sports facilities), public infrastructure (lighting, public transport, sewage ) or even sporting or festive events that occur in the city (marathons, a ‘mascletà’, the Crida or the Nit del foc) and that generate “irreproducible” conditions for companies to test their products.
“The urban ‘sandbox’, a pioneer in the European Union, will consolidate Valencia as a leading city in innovation and will facilitate experimentation to face environmental challenges, urban mobility, energy efficiency, tourist, commercial and economic activity, health, care of people, urban regeneration, waste recycling, digitalization, modernization of the public sector and security,” said the Councilor for Innovation, Technology, Digital Agenda and Investment Attraction, Paula Llobet.
During the debate, councilors Pere Fuset (Compromís) and Javier Mateo (PSPV) highlighted that this initiative was promoted during the previous Rialto mandate, although they have shown their support for promoting Valencia’s innovation strategy.
On behalf of the government team, Llobet (PP) highlighted that, with this ordinance, “València City Council will become a trusted partner and collaborator of the city’s private and academic sectors.” “València is one of the first experiences in Spain that, driven by the local government, turns the entire city into a ‘sandbox’ for the development of innovation,” he stated.
On the other hand, the plenary has approved that the City Council withdraw from the Valencian Solidarity Fund, with the votes in favor of the local executive groups (PP-Vox) and the rejection of the opposition.
Lucía Beamud (Compromís) has framed the decision in “the trickle of the dismantling of social shield policies”, while Maite Ibáñez (PSPV) has accused the bipartisan of “leaving international cooperation at a minimum” after “taking down the Cooperation Department”.
In her reply, PP councilor Marta Torrado has stressed that the Fons carries out “extraordinary work” that, in her opinion, is necessary for small municipalities and not in the case of Valencia, which has “its own calls” for cooperation.
At another point in the plenary session, the 2023 annual report of the office of suggestions, complaints and claims and relations with the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman was reported.
The opposition has reported that citizen complaints have increased by 53%, to which the Transparency councilor, Juan Carlos Caballero (PP), has responded by accusing Compromís and PSPV of “adulterating the data on complaints from the past.” legislature and having hidden them from the citizens”.
