Mashadipati: Madrid’s identity crisis

Welcome to our weekly CityLab newsletter. The team is back from Madrid with stories from the city and the Bloomberg CityLab conference. Sign up here to get the newsletter every Friday in your inbox and send us your feedback.

Soul city

From local jazz clubs to small cafes serving up traditional fare, Madrid’s rich culture has long fueled the city’s thriving tourism industry. But not everyone has benefited from it: The very businesses that built that culture are now under threat as the Spanish capital morphs into a luxury playground for international tourists and wealthy migrants — what some have dubbed the “new Miami.”

A knife shop open for almost a century on the central Atocha street next to a newly opened specialty coffee shop. Photographer: Emilio Parra Doiztua/Bloomberg — A knife shop open for almost a century on the central Atocha street next to a newly opened specialty coffee shop.

Small retailers and residents are being driven out by rising real estate prices, while storied venues are fighting closure as the city seeks to hold large events like mega-concerts and the upcoming F1 race.

Some residents fear that the city is losing its soul. And Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida acknowledges the concern. The day after we published our story, he told an audience at the Bloomberg CityLab conference: “There’s a word that defines the future of the city, and that allows us to guarantee our growth, which is balance — balance in the ability to attract and retain talent ... and at the same time to know that if we lose our identity, then we will lose our soul.”

More on CityLab

Madrid v. Barcelona
As cities worldwide grapple with housing shortages, Spain’s two largest urban centers are taking sharply different approaches. So far, Barcelona is the only major Spanish city where rents are falling. But that doesn’t make it affordable. And it remains to be seen what will become of Madrid’s promise to “build the equivalent of an entire new city,” as one expert put it.

America’s soccer capital?
Kansas City, Missouri, is set to be the smallest US city hosting FIFA World Cup matches this summer. The midwestern city has spent a decade and a half building soccer infrastructure to meet the moment. Mayor Quinton Lucas sat down with CityLab’s Kriston Capps to talk about the city’s ambitions for the big games and its potential to be a US soccer destination for years to come.

Take it from the urban icons
At a forum for dozens of mayors during the Bloomberg CityLab conference, former Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and British architect Norman Foster spoke about how they achieved their greatest accomplishments in urban planning. Both pointed to the same essential ingredient in projects as diverse as the Seine River embankments in Paris and Trafalgar Square in London: Great public spaces are pedestrianized ones.

Place before party

“The politics we’ve pioneered as mayors — place first, not party first — that needs to go national.”

Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester

Burnham is championed by some within the UK’s Labour party as a successor to the unpopular Keir Starmer, with his city held up as a model of UK economic revival. But his bid to run for Parliament this year was blocked. In an interview, he predicted regional and local elections next week will be challenging for the party.

Dallas-bound

$12 billion

The cost for the overhaul of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the fourth busiest in the world. The Texas travel hub sees 86 million passengers a year, a figure that’s expected to rise to 100 million when the expansion is complete. It comes at a time when US airports are looking to be more competitive with their international counterparts.

What we’re taking in

Like Diana Lind, we were struck on our visit to Madrid by the vibrancy of its streets. She explores some of the ingredients that keep the city growing and aging well. (New Urban Order)
The Outer Banks in North Carolina have always had a precarious landscape. But locals have been shocked by recent erosion, which has wiped out neighborhoods, towns and beaches. Now homes are being relocated on wheels. (The Guardian)
Walking near a school puts pedestrians at higher risk for getting hit by a car in Washington, DC. (Washington Post)
The Mexican state of Jalisco runs an online platform for obtaining commercial permits with average turnaround time of just three days. Cara Eckholm talks with a local leader about how Guadalajara killed the paper permit. (Vital City)
“Neighborism” is having a moment. It’s not effortless, but it’s worth it. (Vox)

One more thing

Weekend Edition

In These Thrillers, the Real Estate Market Is the Monster

As high rates and tight supply warp the housing market, bidding wars and desperate schemes are spilling into fiction.

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Madrid’s identity crisis