Coruna

A Coruña is a seaside city located in the Golfo Ártabro, north-west of Spain, with a population of 244,000 inhabitants, stunning landscapes and built on over two thousand years of architectural heritage. A Coruña has a diverse economy, mainly based on the service sector, ranging from tourism to port activities, and together with its metropolitan area it houses the headquarters of several major multi-nationals.

A Coruña is an extremely compact city: surrounded by the ocean and densely populated, the municipality occupies a territory of less than 40 km2. Scarcity of available surface has led to develop construction vertically, with many buildings of over 6-10 stories by the seafront and up to 20 or more stories as the city developed further away. There is a lack of biodiversity and green areas in the city centre, which in turn leads to heat stress due to the intensity of construction development and lack of vegetation. There is also a growing pressure for urban waste management.

Nowadays, the city is experiencing a decreasing demography, with many citizens moving to the less densely populated metropolitan area. This contributes to traffic problems and excessive dependence on private transport. The city wishes to introduce alternative means of transport towards a softer, slower mobility system that leaves more space for green surfaces, pedestrian areas and bicycles paths: a green infrastructure that will be compatible with cultural heritage and will have a positive impact on tourism.

The opportunity to exchange experiences with partner cities within projects like RU:RBAN offers A Coruña new tools to move forward on the path to a new integrated lifestyle based on ecosystems, urban planning and health. A community that will be able, through collected memory, to claim ownership of the greening process of their city and will encourage the development of a local economy in harmony with nature-based solutions.