social ties. Funding in this area also aims to reduce inequality Furthermore, the project would involve encouraging connections in the city. with schools and universities so that they can deliver dynamic training and research, enabling labor insertion channels to be 4.4 Business-led job creation created in companies. In terms of general results, some studies report the generation of eighty-five million euros in additional The BCN Green Deal is a new economic agenda developed by GDP between 2014 and 2018 and the creation of about 21,600 the City Council. It aims to create 103,000 quality jobs in the jobs, of which 1,870 can be attributed to the implementation of city (Aju aent Barceona, 2020). The org apaset out en the smart city program (Ferrer, 2015, 2017; https://ajuntament. priorities and thirty-eight measures to strengthen the city in barcelona.cat/ciutatvella/pla-desenvolupament-economic/en/ three key aspects: competitiveness, sustainability, and equity measures/092 ). (Ajuntament Barcelona, 2020). Three examples illustrate the policy priorities when it comes In terms of competitiveness, Easy Barcelona and the Zero Tax to boosting the job market. Between 2014 and 2019, the city’s plan set up by the municipality aim to attract investment and tourism sector generated 20 percent of jobs in Catalonia foster economic activity. The two plans are part of a general (approximately 410,000). In the year leading up to June 2021, policy started by Barcelona called the BCN Green Deal, which the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector has three objectives: increased employment by 19.1 percent, translating into 20,600 •Attracting talent, including emigrant talent; new jobs. The new 2021 edition of the Crea Feina, Barcelona! •Developing a sustainable energy policy through energy program is using 1.5 million euros to help create three hundred efficiency of housing and facilities; jobs (https://www.barcelona.cat/infobarcelona/ca/tema/ •Promoting a digital ecosystem by training over three ocupacio-i-treball/crea-feina-barcelona-ajuts-per-fomentar- thousand digital professionals in the next five years. locupacio_994537.html). Overall, the BCN Green Deal is a new economic agenda targeting The City Council invested around fifty-four million euros in the creation of about 103,000 jobs (Ajuntament Barcelona, 2020; smart and sustainable city policy in 2014, and in return for https://www.barcelona.cat/internationalwelcome/en/news/ each invested euro, third parties invested 0.53 euros (Ferrer, bcn-green-deal-a-new-economic-agenda-to-create-103000- 2015). In addition, these projects have eliminated 9,700 tons of quality-jobs_909203). CO and saved six hundred thousand liters of water annually2 (Ferrer, 2015). As far as sustainability is concerned, the Barcelona Get Sustainable program aims to improve the energy efficiency of 4.5 Welcoming of minorities housing and facilities, and in so doing to generate jobs and stimulate economic activities. The BCN Green Deal, meanwhile, Barcelona’s Social Inclusion Plan (BSIP) for 2012-2015 aimed to aims to boost the social and solidarity economy based on guarantee municipal services for citizens’ inclusion. The main associations’ initiatives and on an agreement on lasting quality objectives were (BSIP, 2011) to: employment that has been signed between the City Council and • Incorporate inclusive action in the Municipal Action Plan in Barcelona Activa’s IT Academy. Barcelona by creating a specific focus group that aims to foster inclusive administration; The BCN Green Deal is used as a master plan for other plans • Ensure inclusive interactions with citizens via the most described above. Its primary goal is to activate the city’s creative inclusive communication channels and tools. industry, which is one of the sectors that provides the most jobs in Barcelona. The BCN Green Deal aims to concentrate public Barcelona set up a strategy for inclusion and for cutting policies or plans under a single umbrella. In Europe, Barcelona inequalities. The 2018-2027 policy was a way of making the city appears to be a hub for creative industries, where jobs related socially fairer, more diverse, and more multicultural, as well as of to these sectors and subsectors represent 49 percent of the guaranteeing people’s social and civil rights. Twelve challenges creative jobs in Catalonia, creating a dynamic ecosystem. have been defined for the year 2027 (https://ajuntament. Municipal policy also seeks to create the Cluster Barcelona barcelona.cat/digital/en/noticia/ten-year-public-and-political- Creativa to boost sectoral participation in promoting innovative agreement-to-reduce-inequalities_639079). This important and disruptive business models to build tomorrow’s cities. policy is based on a political agreement between politicians and seven hundred entities. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has 99 Quélin and Smadja | HEC PARIS | SMART CITIES | The sustainable program of six leading cities | 2021