Interview at El Nacional:

Xavier Monzó is the president of the 22@Network Bcn, the association of companies and institutions of the 22@ district for the promotion of an innovative ecosystem, which seeks to add value in its industrial and social transformation model and which, in 15 years has life, the association has managed to position Barcelona to the point of passing "from the Catalan Manchester to the Catalan Silicon Valley". Monzó defends that the 22@ "must be a city and country engine" but he criticizes the shortcomings in transport and the administrative slowness in social housing and green areas, which is still a wall to cross.

What is 22@?
The 22@ is a planning approved by the City Council of Barcelona in 2000 and that consisted of analyzing this area, where there were many factories and lots and there was no life, and looking for what use could be given. It was decided to make homes and the industries that were here, which were textile and logistics, what we call the Catalan Manchester, had to leave. The visionary part was to build a city but with industry that was the new industry, that of knowledge. The idea was to take the lots and to make use of offices @ I had to transfer a part of the lot to public housing, another part for equipment and another for neighbors and green areas. This was the approach: make the lots a city with economic activity of new economy allowing more heights and make a skyline.

Is 22@ a reference?
Yes. In fact, if you are looking for innovation district the search engine says Barcelona and Boston, the two innovative districts of reference in the world, each with its model. This was the vision and now it has been 19 years. The first companies landed in 2005, when the 22@ association was established and we have been traveling for 15 years. But 22@ is a model, a look; is to understand that companies can live in a city where they live, study and work.

What is the secret of your success?
The 22@ is hyper-known everywhere. There are other areas of technological agglomeration such as Dublin, but in 2018 it was evident that many companies go to the Irish capital for tax reasons. In a manifesto of Trinity College they took Barcelona as an example of a model to deal with this agglomeration in the face of the 80 great innovative districts of the world.
From this manifesto the phrase is extracted: "Silicon Valley is in many ways the forerunner of the concept of the innovation district, but the 22@ of Barcelona is seen as the inspiration for more than 80 other parts of the world."

Therefore, what attracts people?
First, this public-private model, which is not common to have it, and people want to come because there are 4 ingredients: the 22@ brand and the Barcelona brand, an ecosystem of interaction between the companies of the district, there is talent and now also the qualification energy of buildings. These are buildings that have a much lower energy use and therefore are more sustainable, which is also attracting many people. There are many people who know the city or who make their annual meeting of managers here, which helps us, and all this linked to Mobile as many companies are installing their European headquarters here

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