Towns and Cities, Growing Greener

Located in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, Cornellà de Llobregat has a population of 86,610 and covers an area of 7 km2. It is a compact, multi-faceted city, with residential neighbourhoods, facilities, green areas, services and industry. Sitting on the banks of the Llobregat River, the city is home to five large city parks and a small agricultural area that is part of the Baix Llobregat Agricultural Park. Cornellà’s history has been defined by its proximity to the city of Barcelona, being well connected to the Catalan capital, and by its location on the Llobregat River.

Cornellà de Llobregat at a Glance

Cornellà NaturaCornellà Natura is the city’s Strategic Plan

for 2016–2026, which aims to make the city

more livable – with a focus on sustainable land

use in the city, environmental improvement,

and ensuring that Cornellà is genuinely people-

friendly. The three pillars upon which it is

based include making Cornellà a greener place,

promoting sustainable urban mobility

and improving the city’s environment.

People at the ForefrontCornellà prides itself on the charitable nature

of its citizens and their involvement in a range

of projects in the city. For example, Cornellà

has a ‘Social Agreement’, signed by its citizens

and city stakeholders, committing to working

together to improve Cornellà on the basis of

consensus. Cornellà’s ‘Alliance Against Poverty’

is another such initiative, which provides a city

plan with actions to fight energy poverty and

aims to raise awareness of this issue amongst

citizens by providing them with advice and

support on the topic.

A Vibrant CityOne aspect which particularly characterises

Cornellà is its network of people-led associations.

This enables its citizens to genuinely take part

in a diverse range of educational, cultural and

leisure activities, helping to shape the city for

the benefit of all.

Cornellà de Llobregat places great value on citizens and their involvement in a range of projects in the city.

Cornellà de Llobregat aims to make its city more natural and to maximise its green spaces.

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Cornellà de Llobregat, a Green City

Spotlight on Cornellà de Llobregat

Climate Change and Energy Performance Cornellà signed the new Covenant of Mayors’

Agreement on Climate and Energy, committing

itself to reducing CO2 emissions by 40% by

2030, and at the same time, to becoming a more

resilient city, with a local plan for adaptation

to climate change. Additionally, Cornellà has a

plan to improve energy efficiency in municipal

facilities, and has made a firm commitment to

the fight against energy poverty.

Sustainable Urban MobilityCornellà has two excellent features that

facilitate sustainable mobility: it is a compact

city (almost 90% of journeys within the city are

made on foot) and it has an excellent public

transport network of trams, trains, underground

and buses. There are more than 16 kms of roads

with speed limits of 20 km/h, so vehicles and

pedestrians may co-exist in harmony. 8 kms of

cycle lanes will be added by 2020.

Nature, Biodiversity and Sustainable Land UseThe city’s green infrastructure is made up

of the Llobregat River, parks, green areas and

agricultural land, which account for a total of

83.86 hectares. The Cornellà Natura project

aims to increase the amount of green surface

area to 133.60 hectares by 2026 (15.52 m2/

person). With this in mind, five green corridors

have been defined in Cornellà to fuse the city’s

natural and cultural heritage, structuring green

areas as environmental services, which favour

biodiversity, the water cycle and the urban

micro-climate.

Images on the left page ©Guillem Urbà / Cornellà City Council

• 9.74 m2 of green area per inhabitant, aiming

to reach 15.52 m2 by 2026

• More than 50% of all journeys are made on foot

or by bicycle, with public transport accounting

for another 30%

• Public electric bicycle programme recently

created with 56 bicycles

• 19 solar, thermal energy facilities in schools

and municipal buildings

• 500 environmental education activities

took place in 2018 with more than 14,000

participants

• Energy Efficiency Office created in 2016 to

address energy poverty

• More than 50% of schools form part of the

Schools Network for Sustainability

• Less waste generated per person than

European average, 1.08 kg/person/day vs.

1.31 kg

• Water usage per person is less than

European average, 94.6 litres per day vs.

128 litres

• Won the National Sustainable City Award

for initiatives “Run against energy poverty”

and the “Solidarity Shop” for combating

food waste

• Awarded Child Friendly City twice by

UNICEF-Spain

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Five green corridors Cornellà identified to connect citizens to green spaces.

There are 19 solar, thermal energy facilities in schools and municipal buildings in Cornellà, with installed panels covering a surface area of 544 m². This initiative has a dual objective: to promote renewable energies in the city and to boost the green economy.

Air Quality and Noise Pollution In 2017, the first institutional agreement to

improve air quality in the Metropolis of Barcelona

was approved, aiming to reduce emissions by

10% over the following five years. Cornellà has

also signed up to the Metropolitan Programme

to combat air pollution, which includes structural

measures to reduce polluting emissions. As a

start, the most polluting vehicles have been

banned in some parts of the city when levels

of pollution are high.

Waste and Circular EconomyCornellà has several initiatives to prevent

waste and promote the transition towards a

circular economy. These include the prevention

of food waste through the ‘Solidarity Shop’

concept, where leftover food from Cornellà’s

Centre Market and supermarkets is collected in

collaboration with the Red Cross and distributed

to families in need; as well as the promotion

of composting through the city’s nearly 500

composting stations. In addition, the city has

created a space for ‘social reuse’ at the waste

collection centre where objects that are in

good condition are recovered and distributed

to socially vulnerable people.

WaterCornellà has taken several measures to

conserve its water. For instance, Cornellà built

two ‘lamination tanks’ to prevent flooding and

to regulate the water that reaches treatment

plants. Groundwater is also used to water

public parks and gardens, as well as fill the Can

Mercader Park’s artificial lakes during droughts.

Additionally, sports facilities in Cornellà have

wells and rainwater collectors that reuse the

collected water to water their respective fields,

resulting in a water savings of 90,000 m³/year.

From left to right ©Guillem Urbà / Cornellà City Council ©ProCornellà

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Cornellà de Llobregat, European Green Leaf 2019Cornellà Natura is an urban renewal project geared towards a new concept of mobility and the use of public spaces, thus improving the health and quality of peoples’ lives while also making the city more sustainable and livable. Cornellà’s events and activities during their European Green Leaf 2019 year will strongly reflect the key visions of this strategic project.

More Green SpacesMaking the city a greener place which is

more people-friendly is one of Cornellà’s main

priorities, with many actions planned over the

coming years to increase the number of green

spaces and their links to citizens by way of green

corridors. Cornellà also aims to preserve and

improve its city’s natural heritage, while also

making its city more resilient to climate change.

Improved Public SpacesCornellà is committed to creating a pleasant,

quiet and safe environment for its citizens. It

has plans to create more pedestrianised areas

and to increase the widespread use of public

transport and the bicycle path network, while

also improving road safety, accessibility and

inter-modality.

Cornellà also plans on introducing facilities to

enable greater use of electric vehicles in the city.

Environmental QualityThe city plans on introducing a number of

measures, such as integrated air management

plans, optimised use of water resources and

better waste management, all to improve

Cornellà’s environment and ecological impact.

For instance, Cornellà has been implementing

the Catalan Government’s Action Plan, which

includes a series of actions such as promoting

sustainable mobility and regulating the domestic

boilers in municipal facilities to improve its air

quality. Furthermore, Cornellà’s municipal waste

prevention and management plan will form the

basis for many of their waste-reduction related

activities in the next few years.

Images left and right © Guillem Urbà / Cornellà City Council

8 kms of cycle lanes will be added by 2020. Cornellà aims to increase biodiversity and preserve its city’s natural heritage.

• Galway

• Torres VedrasMollet del Vallès

European Green Leaf Award Winners Ganadores del premio European Green Leaf Award

• Cornellà de Llobregat 2019

• Horst aan de Maas 2019

• Leuven 2018

• Växjö 2018

• Galway 2017

• Torres Vedras 2015/2016

• Mollet del Vallès 2015/2016

• Leuven

• Horst aan de Maas

• Växjö

Cornellà de Llobregat

ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreenleaf

European Green Leaf AwardThe European Green Leaf Award is a

competition aimed at towns and cities

across Europe, with between 20,000 and up

to 100,000 inhabitants, which recognises a

city’s commitment to better environmental

outcomes. It is the partner competition

of the European Green Capital Award for

cities over 100,000 inhabitants. Cornellà de

Llobregat in Spain and Horst aan de Maas

in the Netherlands are the joint European

Green Leaf Award winners for 2019. In 2018,

Leuven in Belgium and Växjö in Sweden were

the joint European Green Leaf Award winners.

The Spanish city of Mollet del Vallès and the

Portuguese city of Torres Vedras were the

winners of the inaugural European Green Leaf

Award 2015/2016, followed by the Irish city of

Galway, who won the title in 2017.

The European Green Leaf and European Green

Capital Awards are initiatives of the European

Commission. To find more information about

the winners, how to apply for the Awards, how

the winners are selected, and for any other

questions, please visit our website below.

European Green Leaf AwardEl premio European Green Leaf Award está

dirigido a ciudades europeas de entre 20.000 y

100.000 habitantes y reconoce su compromiso

para mejorar sus logros en sostenibilidad urbana.

Va de la mano del European Green Capital

Award, que se concede a ciudades de más

de 100.000 habitantes. Cornellà de Llobregat

(España) y Horst aan de Maas (Países Bajos) son

las ganadoras conjuntas del premio European

Green Leaf Award 2019. En 2018, las vencedoras

conjuntas de este galardón fueron Lovaina

(Bélgica) y Växjö (Suecia). Mollet del Vallès

(España) y Torres Vedras (Portugal) ganaron

la edición inaugural, 2015/2016, seguidas de

Galway (Irlanda), que se hizo con el título en 2017.

Los premios European Green Leaf y European

Green Capital son iniciativas de la Comisión

Europea. Para más información sobre las

ganadoras, cómo presentar una candidatura,

cómo se elige a las vencedoras o cualquier

otra consulta, visite nuestro sitio web a

continuación.

Towns and Cities, Growing Greener

Print K

H-04-18-873-2S-C

ISB

N 978-92-79-96526-5

doi:10.2779/176762PD

F K

H-04-18-873-2S-N

ISB

N 978-92-79-96527-2

doi:10.2779/486060

cover image “C

an Mercader Park ” ©

Guillem

Urbà / C

ornellà City C

ouncil

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2019

© European Union, 2019 Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39).For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EU copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders.