Governance and Urbanism in the Revitalization of the City Centre of Albacete

The current context is one marked by globalized ultraliberalism (Méndez in Tiempos críticos para el capitalismo global. Una perspectiva geoeconómica, 2023), planetary urbanization—the cosmopolis—(Beumer in Sustainability 9:845, 2017) and economies of agglomeration and density as justifications for the opposition between densified urban spaces and the depopulation of many rural areas (Rodríguez-Pose in Camb J Reg Econ Soc 11:189–209, 2018). This partly explains the changes in urbanization dynamics and dominant planning paradigms that have been replicated in different sociocultural settings. Over the past two decades, there has been a progressive shift in interest from more or less distant peripheries, which have been the focus of investments during periods of expansive urbanism, to renewed attention on city centers. The latter feature a unique functional mixture that combines residential, commercial, leisure and specialized service uses, lending them a high social and symbolic value. Furthermore is the heritage aspect, which in some cases fosters tourism use. The intensity of the transformation process is noteworthy in cities whose traditional centers are lacking in significant historical and cultural value. This paradigm shift in planning has occurred against a background of the need to adapt to changes in the economic cycle, following the collapse of urban development and housing production activity after the 2008 crisis. It is also driven by a growing awareness of the need to address environmental and social issues more efficiently. The process has been underpinned by the deployment of governance strategies, with urban policies incorporating more participatory mechanisms into the decision-making process. It also involves debate and consensus between civil society and technical services for city mobility design. The goal is, among others, to promote the social use of public spaces, encourage more sustainable modes of transportation, and support economic activities linked to services, commerce, and leisure, without undermining the traditional residential vocation of the city center. This text focuses on strategies designed to foster a more urban planning approach and to return the city to its citizens. It is based on the analysis of strategies deployed in an intermediate city located in the southeastern quadrant of inland Spain, Albacete, which has opted to incorporate functional reactivation strategies for its traditional center, accompanied by a change in the urban mobility model. The chapter is organized in three parts. The first is a contextual introduction presenting ideas on the role of governance in our cities. The second aims to capture the general characteristics of the city, while the third focuses on the process of pedestrianizing the city center.