Spain's Enabling City Transformation Activity: Enabling Massive Change for Climate-neutral Cities

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Vitoria-Gasteiz, Zaragoza, Madrid, Valladolid, Seville, Valencia

Spanish

Context and Challenges

Spanish Mission Cities must rapidly scale up deep energy renovation to meet 2030 climate targets. However, progress is hindered by fragmented efforts, regulatory complexity, limited financing, and governance misalignment. Building on the URBANEW Pilot Cities Activity, this project unites six cities to co-develop integrated, city-wide missions that align local, regional, and national actors. By embedding social inclusion into urban regeneration, the project aims to mainstream large-scale building decarbonisation, foster citizen co-creation, and generate replicable models for systemic transformation across Europe.

Objectives

  • Accelerate deep energy renovation across residential and public buildings
  • Align governance, policy, and financing frameworks to enable systemic change
  • Establish a Mission Cities Alliance for shared learning and replication
  • Strengthen citizen participation in urban transformation
  • Develop shared tools for impact measurement and adaptive decision-making

Key Terms

Building Renovation | Governance Alignment | Urban Regeneration | Equity

Activites and Innovations

  • Launch city missions that integrate energy retrofitting with inclusive urban regeneration

  • Develop enabling frameworks for governance, regulation, and finance

  • Pilot neighbourhood-scale interventions through co-creation with citizens and stakeholders

  • Establish shared Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) systems

  • Produce guides, training materials, and policy briefs to support replication

Emission Domains

  • Electricity use in buildings

  • Thermal energy use in buildings

  • Indirect emissions from construction materials and processes

Levers of Change

  • Governance and Policy

  • Financing and Funding

  • Democracy and Participation

  • Learning and Capabilities

  • Social Innovation

Expected Impact and Outcomes

  • Scalable models for integrated building renovation and urban regeneration
  • Strengthened multi-level governance and cross-sector collaboration
  • Measurable GHG reductions through widespread retrofitting
  • Increased citizen engagement and improved housing quality
  • Replicable solutions for cities across Europe, aligned with the EU Cities Mission