{"id":21193,"date":"2011-12-06T14:18:14","date_gmt":"2011-12-06T13:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/reamenagement-urbain-25000-arbres-pour-un-nouveau-quartier-20111206.html"},"modified":"2016-02-10T09:58:13","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T08:58:13","slug":"urban-redevelopment-25000-trees-for-a-new-neighbourhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/urban-redevelopment-25000-trees-for-a-new-neighbourhood","title":{"rendered":"Urban redevelopment: 25,000 trees for a new neighbourhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the history of the world's metropolises, it is rare for large-scale urban projects to stretch for miles and miles. In Madrid, however, this has already happened twice. First in 1910, with the construction of the famous Gran Via, the city's emblematic thoroughfare, which was finally completed in 1929. Then today, with the Madrid Rio and its seven kilometres of redeveloped riverbanks. <\/b>along the River Manzanares. After decades of a city cut in two by the M-30 motorway, one of the most congested in Spain with almost 100,000 vehicles a day, the gardens of the Royal Palace can now be reached on foot from the Casa de Campo, the former hunting grounds of the Spanish kings. The secret of this revolution: the motorway is now buried several metres underground. \"Madrid R\u00edo is not just a public space project for the city, but for the entire region\".<\/i>enthuses Jos\u00e9 Luis Infanzon, Madrid's deputy director-general for urban development projects.<\/p>\n

It all began eight years ago, when the mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallard\u00f3n, took the decision to cover part of Madrid's ring road. The first phase, which mainly involved building tunnels, took more than four years. \"The proximity of the water made the task particularly difficult and, above all, very expensive\".<\/i>explains Jos\u00e9 Luis Infanzon. In fact, these major works have cost the modest sum of... two billion euros. In comparison, the development of the riverbanks and gardens, at three hundred million euros, is a mere trifle. Yet the city has called on some great architects for this second stage. Notably Dominique Perrault, who designed the Arganzuela footbridge. \"He was absolutely determined to contribute to Madrid Rio by creating this superb work\".<\/i>explains the town planner.<\/p>\n

For some months now, the town has been blossoming with a continuity of green spaces and has been linked to the surrounding countryside. It is now possible to walk along the river to the mountains, some 80 km away. But this major project - a huge undertaking, given that it is the biggest urban redevelopment project in Europe in the last ten years - will not only bring well-being and comfort to the people of Madrid. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Eventually, Madrid Rio will also be a major property development. Caf\u00e9s and restaurants are already springing up around the 100 hectares of gardens and 25,000 trees stretching along the water's edge - the equivalent of Retiro Park. New homes are due to be built, while others will be renovated and brought up to current ecological standards. \"There is also talk of building a theatre and refurbishing the former Ministry of the Environment to house a water museum\".<\/i>concludes Jos\u00e9 Luis Infanzon, adding that a project for an electric bus running along the seven-kilometre route could become a reality in the not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n

A project that is both green and arty<\/em>
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For business travellers, the first four-star business hotel opened in January 2011, highlighting the potential of this up-and-coming district. The Ribera del Manzanares, part of the Spanish NH chain, is strategically located right on the water's edge. Here, functionality comes first, with a garden where events can be organised, ultra-equipped rooms and 440 m2 of meeting space. \"As a business hotel, the advantage of being located near the river is that you can organise all sorts of corporate and incentive activities, particularly sporting ones\".<\/i>explains Nieves Torres Mercado, spokesperson for the NH Ribera del Manzanares. The proximity of the Casa de Campo, one of Madrid's biggest conference venues, is another factor in the new hotel's success. But that's not all. Just a stone's throw away, a vast cultural centre, Matadero Madrid, has begun to open its doors in a former abattoir dating from the early 20th century. An exceptional site covering more than 150,000 m2 that cost more than 100 million euros to renovate.<\/div>\n
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\"Matadero Madrid was designed in parallel with the R\u00edo project. However, their destinies are closely linked\".<\/i>explains Pablo Ber\u00e1stegui, general coordinator of Matadero Madrid. \"Matadero Madrid marks the boundary between the city and the park. But it's a porous boundary, linking the new green axis to the Prado-Recoletos cultural axis, which is extended southwards with the addition of new spaces such as Casa Encendida, another cultural centre housed in a former tobacco factory\".<\/i>continues the coordinator.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Matadero Madrid has been refurbished with unprecedented care, in gigantic, beautiful hangars decorated with stone, tiles and old earthenware. Under its many high-ceilinged aisles, works by photographers, video artists and painters are now on display, as well as works devoted to literature, design, architecture, music and film. But above all, this top-of-the-range contemporary art centre is ultra-equipped. In this contemporary venue, you can ask young artists to create the setting and decor for a completely original corporate meeting, complete with gardens or temporary installations. Something magical, something absolutely unique. But for more traditional meetings - in appearance - you can also opt for one of the two projection rooms at the Cineteca du Matadero, a high-tech venue where the decor is based on garden hoses.<\/div>\n
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\n\"Since its creation, the complex has been divided into a number of buildings, each dedicated to a specific artistic discipline or activity: Entrep\u00f4t 16 for the visual arts, the Music Nave, the Espa\u00f1ol buildings for the performing arts, the casa del Lector, Intermediae for mediation with the public and the neighbourhood...\".<\/i>adds Pablo Ber\u00e1stegui. And like the locals, the curious business traveller will be able to come and work, computer under arm, in one of the rooms - with free WiFi - provided for this purpose. They can even spend the day in this 'city within a city' without even having to leave the building. After all, you'll find everything here, including two restaurants. It's an opportunity to see that this new district on the banks of the Manzanares has really come back to life. And that Madrid has, at the same time, rediscovered all its meaning. That of the Arabic name of its origins, Magrit : \"the place where water abounds\".<\/i>.<\/div>\n