Knowledge City in Setúbal may be designed by Norman Foster

Setúbal will have a Knowledge City with research and innovation hubs in the future. The complex of The Pitroda Group LCC, owned by the investor and philanthropist Sam Pitroda, in the order of 800 million euros, will be installed in the Vale da Rosa area, close to BlueBiz Global Parques and the campus of the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal.

Altogether, there will be 180 hectares, with areas dedicated to the exchange of knowledge between different economic, social, cultural and teaching / research agents, with emphasis on information and communication technologies (networks, portals, broadband and optical fiber). The architecture project for the City of Knowledge may be prepared by Norman Foster, author of projects such as the Wembley Stadium, Hong Kong International Airport or the new Real Madrid stadium.

Cidade do Conhecimento will occupy the area originally planned to host the Nova Setúbal mega project, which included the construction of housing buildings and the new Vitória Futebol Clube Stadium. The signing of the protocol between the Setúbal City Council and Sam Pitroda for the preparation of the Strategic Plan for the City of Knowledge took place this Thursday, February 20, in the City Hall.

According to Maria das Dores Meira, Mayor of Setúbal, the main objectives of the project are “to create a place where people and companies can live, work, cooperate and innovate together, as well as a platform that will concentrate geographically the stakeholders of a given sector, allowing the exchange of knowledge between all effectively ”.

At the ceremony, Sam Pitroda justified the choice of Setúbal, in the first place, for its “excellent location and for being part of a large metropolitan area, which will have a new airport”. The investor also stressed that the main reason that led him to bet on the city was to have “political will on the part of the Mayor of Setúbal”, since, in his opinion, “without political support, no businessman can achieve this type of projects ”.

Cidade do Conhecimento is part of the strategy defined in the Strategic Development Plan of Setúbal 2026 and in the Review of the Setúbal Municipal Master Plan. The protocol aims to prepare the PECC – Strategic Plan for the City of Knowledge, which will have a first stage of diagnosis, followed by the proposal phase.

The PECC will be prepared by a technical team hired by The Pitroda Group LLC, with the agreement of the Setúbal City Council and the work will be monitored and guided by the two entities. After the approval of the PECC, the municipality and the group will sign a new protocol for the construction of a Detailed Plan.

In the last four decades, the Indian Sam Pitroda has developed his activity in the telecommunications sector on several continents, having already worked in the United States, Europe and India. As a consultant to Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi, he contributed to the revolution in his country’s telecommunications infrastructure and information and communication technologies.