A lo largo de la investigación y de los artículos generados como consecuencia de la misma, publicados o en vías de publicación en diferentes revistas científicas indexadas, hemos tratado el fenómeno de la decadencia y regeneración producido en Bilbao y su Área Metropolitana. Un fenómeno que ha requerido toda una amplia transformación urbanística y el desarrollo de una gestión que han sido reconocidos, en muchos ámbitos y aspectos, como un proceso de revitalización ejemplar con un importante nivel de éxito.

La tesis aborda una reflexión crítica respecto de los diferentes criterios adoptados en la revitalización del Bilbao Metropolitano.

Esta reflexión se enfrenta a aspectos tales como el valor real del Plan Estratégico, el sentido de la gestión de Bilbao Ría 2000 y las diferentes circunstancias que emanan del desembarco en la ciudad del Museo Guggenheim. A partir de ello se llega, además, a diferentes conclusiones que afectan al dilema entre la globalización y la identidad y, sobre todo, a la problemática territorial en un doble sentido: el concepto de la ciudad en el territorio y los conceptos de dimensión, recuperación y paisaje territorial. 

En un contexto en el que el éxito político y, hasta un cierto punto, urbanístico, se convierten en la aureola de todo el proceso, la tesis desentraña motivaciones, puntos débiles e incluso perversiones de algunos conceptos y actitudes generales que magnifican el carácter paradigmático de las diferentes gestiones vinculadas a la administración y, en general, al sector público.

Los diferentes objetivos que se planteaban inicialmente desembocan en unas conclusiones de las que pueden deducirse claramente lo que constituyen los objetivos de una política neoliberal. Objetivos en los que se pone de manifiesto que cuestiones tales como la información pública, el respeto a consideraciones de orden geográfico y paisajístico, el reconocimiento real del hecho urbano metropolitano, el equilibrio entre las partes que constituyen la ciudad, etcétera, deben o pueden ser obviados. Omisión que se produce en la medida que se convierten en un obstáculo para la consecución de distintos fines de alcance político y económico para la administración y los sectores vinculados a la regeneración y a la construcción de la ciudad.

Throughout the investigation and in the articles produced as a result thereof, either published or in the process of being published in different indexed scientific journals, we have dealt with the phenomenon of the decline and regeneration of Bilbao and its metropolitan area, a phenomenon that has required extensive urban transformation and the development of a management model that have been recognized in many areas and aspects as an exemplary process of revitalization with a significant level of success.

The thesis makes a critical reflection on the different criteria adopted in the revitalization of metropolitan Bilbao.

This reflection tackles issues such as the real value of the Strategic Plan, the purpose of the management of Bilbao RIA 2000 and different circumstances deriving from the arrival in the city of the Guggenheim Museum. From here, different conclusions arise which affect the dilemma between globalization and identity and, above all, a twofold territorial problem: the concept of the city in the territory and the concepts of dimension, recovery and territorial landscape.

In a context in which political and, to a certain extent, urban success become the aureole of the entire process, the thesis unravels motivations, weaknesses and even perversions of certain concepts and general attitudes that magnify the paradigmatic nature of the different factors related to the local administration and, in general, the public sector.

The different objectives raised initially lead to conclusions from which the objectives of a neo-liberal policy can be clearly drawn, objectives which show that issues such as public information, respect for considerations of geographical and scenic nature, acknowledgement of the metropolitan urban reality, the balance between the different parts that make up the city, and so on, should or may be overlooked, an omission which occurs to the extent that they become an obstacle for the achievement of political and economic goals by the local administration and the sectors linked to the regeneration and the construction of the city.

Throughout the investigation and in the articles produced as a result thereof, either published or in the process of being published in different indexed scientific journals, we have dealt with the phenomenon of the decline and regeneration of Bilbao and its metropolitan area, a phenomenon that has required extensive urban transformation and the development of a management model that have been recognized in many areas and aspects as an exemplary process of revitalization with a significant level of success.

The thesis makes a critical reflection on the different criteria adopted in the revitalization of metropolitan Bilbao.

This reflection tackles issues such as the real value of the Strategic Plan, the purpose of the management of Bilbao RIA 2000 and different circumstances deriving from the arrival in the city of the Guggenheim Museum. From here, different conclusions arise which affect the dilemma between globalization and identity and, above all, a twofold territorial problem: the concept of the city in the territory and the concepts of dimension, recovery and territorial landscape.

In a context in which political and, to a certain extent, urban success become the aureole of the entire process, the thesis unravels motivations, weaknesses and even perversions of certain concepts and general attitudes that magnify the paradigmatic nature of the different factors related to the local administration and, in general, the public sector.

The different objectives raised initially lead to conclusions from which the objectives of a neo-liberal policy can be clearly drawn, objectives which show that issues such as public information, respect for considerations of geographical and scenic nature, acknowledgement of the metropolitan urban reality, the balance between the different parts that make up the city, and so on, should or may be overlooked, an omission which occurs to the extent that they become an obstacle for the achievement of political and economic goals by the local administration and the sectors linked to the regeneration and the construction of the city.