Espai Mataró Connects

The city of Mataró decided to refurbish the first floor of the City Hall building, transforming it into an interactive and personal space for the population. The action is also part of the Plan de Impulso en el Centro (PIC) and aims to contribute to the reactivation of the area, making use of the potential attraction as a public facility and the privileged location. The Espai Mataró Connecta occupies a municipal building of 914.5 m² of usable area and with a façade facing the Plaça de la Muralla, which over time has had different uses and tenants.

Vegetation has played an important role in the design. Upon entering, there is a vertical garden that opens up the space. The activity of the facility will be structured around three strategic axes: citizen assistance, participation and sociocultural dynamization, and the innovation and creativity laboratory. The space is also oriented to the promotion of public innovation of products, services, processes or forms of organization of the City Council with the aim of providing higher quality responses to the challenges and needs of citizens. The plan and the space were built with a management model based on transversal and collaborative work that aims to promote a more active role for citizens, incorporating them into the processes of design and experimentation of innovative public policies.

The different spaces of attention or assistance in the equipment have been designed according to the complexity of the procedures to be carried out. There is:

• A first approach or welcome area to welcome the visitor and manage the queue by offering general information and/or assigning an appointment for the procedure to be performed.
• 2 waiting rooms of the equipment, next to the lobby and in the mezzanine area that will also function as spaces of assistance to the citizens.
  • They will allow a more direct contact for issues such as obtaining electronic identification or basic training in the use of processing platforms such as the Citizen Folder or e-Office, which will be done on tablets or laptops.
• 1 technical work office
• 1 space with 6 terminals for internal management tasks (such as telephone assistance, chatbot, etc.).
• 1 room with capacity for 12 people for coordination meetings, work sessions with citizens, training activities with small groups or others.
• 3 self-service points with machines that will also allow the payment of fees and obtaining printed documents.
• 11 points of face-to-face service by appointment
• 12 points of specialized attentionthat can be in person or telematic
• The so-called Punt 0 for quick procedures that are not available at the self-service points (obtaining the T-Blue card, Punto Limpio card, certain census certificates, etc.).
• The Energy Transition Office is housed in the former property of the Union of Cooperators of Mataró Foundation, a space of 113 m².

Beyond the administrative procedures in the Espai Mataró Connecta can develop various activities scheduled by the City Council itself or by citizens, organizations and companies in the city, such as lectures, presentations, debates, training, small musical performances and performing arts, screenings or other cultural activities and revitalization.

Therefore, there is the Espai CO-, an open-plan, multipurpose space of 125.87 m2, located next to the Plaza de la Muralla, which can be used independently of the other spaces. The aim of this space is to promote collaboration, co-creation, co-construction and cooperation between public administration and citizens. It has a two-level grandstand on each side for small groups, which will make it possible to maintain the central space in auditorium format or to incorporate chairs, sound equipment and a screen for projections.

Activities can be programmed elsewhere in the Espai Mataró Connecta, both in the lobby and in the waiting room at the entrance. In that waiting room, there is a small tiered stage. In the second waiting room there is another small tier in the mezzanine area. The objective is for the facility to act as an urban catalyst and a focus of attraction for cultural and creative activity. It is intended to be able to take place both indoors and outdoors, in the Plaza de la Muralla.

<The façade>.
The facade carries 35 linear meters of Espai Mataró Conecta and with more than 3 meters high will become a large screen mèdia with LED technology. It will be able to project videos, monumental words, animations or colored illuminations. The aim is to be the element that completes, along with the works of improvement of public space, this new lung of activity to the center of Mataró. This particular project receives European recovery funds. It is part of the Plan de Impulso del Centro Histórico which is the plan that has inspired the Ajuntament de Mataró to present the project "Mataró: Innovación Urbana al Comercio. Digitalization and sustainability as those of transformation of the urban commercial area of the center of Mataró". It will contribute to the improvement of the urban environment, sustainability and circular economy, and the digital transformation of trade.