Benidorm finalizes the first lines of action of EDUSI for authorization by the Ministry

The City Council of Benidorm is finalizing the first lines of action of the Sustainable Urban Development and Integration Strategy (EDUSI) for its authorization by the General Directorate of Autonomous and Local Cooperation of the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Public Function. This has been transferred by the mayor, Toni Pérez, during a thematic seminar on DUSI strategies organized by iambiente portal and that has been developed in the facilities of Dinapsis Operation & Lab. A day in which the mayors of four of the municipalities of the province that have received European funds in different calls to develop their DUSI strategies: Luis Barcala, from Alicante; Carlos González, from Elche; Emilio Bascuñana, from Orihuela; and Vicente Arques, from l'Alfàs del Pi.

During his speech, Pérez recalled that in the third edition EDUSI, definitively resolved last September, Benidorm has achieved 10 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the Operational Program Plurirregional of Spain 2014-2020, to invest in 5 years in projects that will total a total investment of 23 million euros.

The mayor explained that the approved EDUSI is "a city project that can not be renounced" to make "Benidorm more sustainable, more efficient and more inclusive, thus improving the quality of life", fundamentally for residents, but also for tourists. In this sense, has pointed out that it is "a cross-cutting strategy" in whose wording "we have taken into account aspects of the city and tourist destination", and one of its objectives is "to recover and revitalize a key area for the city" and with an important volume of residents that includes the Ensanche del Casco Antiguo, the area of ​​Maravall and Alfredo Corral, Colonia Madrid-Foietes, Moralet, l'Aigüera, Beniardá and Els Tolls.

Pérez added that the document also proposes "improving the social and economic aspects" of the residents of those neighborhoods; "Provide Benidorm with technology", "improve citizen participation, transparency and governance"; and also "to develop a peri-urban green strip" that connects "fundamentally in a pedestrian way the ravines of that area with the urban fabric".

The mayor stressed that "we imposed an EDUSI that we are already fulfilling," since Benidorm "has already done actions that are part of the strategy" -both in terms of action and criteria- and that "we started or raised when we present ourselves to the second convocation ", as is the case of Els Ametlers Park, the Séquia Mare Park or the rehabilitation of Jaime I Avenue.

Apart from outlining the main lines and objectives of their DUSI strategies, the mayors have discussed the challenges posed by their implementation and that, fundamentally, pass through "political conviction" based on dialogue and consensus; the technical implication, as much of the civil service as of the concessionary companies and of services; with complex public procurement and processing management; and social involvement, with a high and excited neighborhood participation.

On the document that Benidorm must submit in the coming weeks to the Ministry, Pérez has clarified that it shows the chronology of the actions to be developed or implemented during the next five years, as well as the lines to which priority will be given.