Diagonal Mar and Universal Forum of Cultures 2004

Diagonal Mar

• Project of Hines, an American real estate group based in Houston Texas.

• 1,400 new apartments within a self-contained 'hyper-community', the first to be completed at the end of this year.

• Common private areas with leisure amenities.

• Largest retail centre in Catalunya and Spain (87,000m^²), opened in November 2001.

• New concept shopping centre designed by Jean-Louis Solal, a leader in the modern shopping industry.

• Eco-friendly, with pneumatic rubbish disposal chutes, orientation of buildings for a better absorption of sunlight, location with respect to prevailing winds, garden irrigation from rain water collectors etc.

• Underground car parking for 5,000 cars - the largest underground car park in Europe (3,400m^²).

• New 14 hectare park (the third largest in Barcelona) ceded for public use.

• New zone of 3 hotels and office buildings.

• Completion by 2005.

• 1,500 employed in construction.

Forum 2004

• Summer 2004.

• New type of world event - a 'Cultural Olympics'.

• New installations to host the main activities located on 50 hectares of former industrial land adjacent to the river Besòs.

• Convention site with the capacity to hold congresses of up to 15,000 people.

• An auditorium, with a capacity for 3,200 people, will be located in the Forum Building. The Convention Centre and Forum building are connected by a 20-metre-wide underground walkway.

• Land reclamation.

• New marina.

• New beaches and off-shore breakwater.

• New zoo.

• Forum activities will extend throughout Barcelona.

• Hotel and office facilities of Diagonal Mar to be utilised.

• Co-organised by the Barcelona City Council, the Catalan autonomous Government and the Spanish Government, with UNESCO as the main partner.

• Business sponsors include Teléfonica, Endesa, IBM and MRW.