Seville’s Port Urban District designed by EDDEA moves forward with the change of land use
Seville’s future Port Urban District (Distrito Urbano Portuario, DUP), designed by the technical office formed by EDDEA and CBRE Spain, has taken a step forward in its approval process with the Junta de Andalucía’s initial approval of the specific amendment to the Port Special Plan (Plan Especial del Puerto). The amendment changes the permitted uses of 23 hectares of land stretching lengthwise between the Delicias and Centenario bridges, and widthwise between the Avenida de Las Razas and the dock.
In the spirit of the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition, this initiative, promoted by the Port Authority of Seville (APS), is one of the largest urban transformation projects the city will undertake in the coming years. EDDEA’s proposal weaves the existing industrial and port heritage into a new neighbourhood with green spaces, areas for public facilities and space for advanced services, among other amenities.
The president of the APS, Rafael Carmona, and the Regional Minister for Development, Territorial Planning and Housing, Rocío Díaz, joined by the Mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz, announced the progress of the project’s approval and anticipated that the entire administrative process should be completed within nine months, allowing works to begin in the first half of 2025.
The amendment now approved aligns the uses of the land with the objectives of the DUP masterplan drawn up by EDDEA, so that the publicly owned land within the port estate currently devoted to port operations, storage, mixed uses on the quays or logistics will become open space, green areas, economic activity, a promenade, offices and university centres.
According to the timetable set out for reclaiming the disused land and the existing heritage assets, the green space will be delivered first; the refurbishment of the Regionalist warehouses will follow, and the new offices will be added after that.
The spine of the heritage ensemble
A great tree-lined, shaded boulevard will be built along the Avenida del Guadalhorce as the main spine of the district’s heritage ensemble, together with an underground car park with 800 spaces. The warehouses, which were part of the 1929 Exposition, will house offices, engineering activities or university uses, while the sheds on the Muelle de Tablada will accommodate a Port Center or the new cruise terminal.
The DUP masterplan prepared by EDDEA proposes transforming an area of 40 hectares on the side closest to the Avenida de Las Razas into an urban-port district with 308,219 square metres of built space for new economic activities and a further 184,782 of open space and green areas. It also proposes the layout of 17 hectares on the eastern side of the Avenida de Las Razas for residential and commercial use.
Rafael Carmona welcomed the fact that “in record time it can be sent for provisional approval and that we will shortly be able to begin the works to remodel, refurbish and enhance this setting”. “It is a very important project for the city, and one that requires close collaboration between the administrations, because otherwise it would be impossible to complete”, he stated.
EDDEA’s founding partners, José María de Cárdenas and Luis Ybarra, underlined the importance of a project that “will open the port up to the people of Seville”. “Our proposal sets out to achieve four goals: that the new district should carry a strong sense of maritime memory and identity, that it should be liveable, that it should make room for every kind of business model, and that it should reconnect the area with the city”, they concluded.
