Fomento de San Sebastián launches second edition of urban challenges idea contest with Bretxa as experimentation space
The initiative aims to connect technological solutions with public services, incorporating the Bretxa Market for testing and validation.
By Gorka Uriarte Mendizábal
••3 min read
AI
Generic image: A bustling urban square in Euskadi, with stalls and traditional architecture.
Fomento de San Sebastián has launched the second edition of the Idea Contest for Solving Urban Challenges, incorporating the Mercado Bretxa as a new space for testing and experimentation.
Fomento de San Sebastián has launched the second edition of the Idea Contest for Solving Urban Challenges, reinforcing the city's commitment to public innovation, public-private collaboration, and the development of solutions for urban issues. This year, the Mercado Bretxa joins as a new space for testing and experimentation.
Fomento de San Sebastián, responsible for the concession nearing its renewal, proposes Bretxa as a venue for local startups to test and validate their proposals. The Market thus becomes an opportunity space to connect technology, innovation, and urban economy, advancing towards solutions with economic and social impact.
This initiative is part of Fomento de San Sebastián's work strategy, which positions public innovation as a key axis for modernizing services, improving urban management, and creating new opportunities for the local business fabric.
“
"Public innovation is a fundamental tool to respond to the city's challenges and improve people's lives. From San Sebastián, we want to foster an open administration, capable of collaborating with our innovation ecosystem and incorporating innovative solutions into its services. Bretxa represents an opportunity to connect this commitment with a strategic city project, combining its identity and tradition with new forms of activity, management, and citizen engagement."
The first edition of the contest has enabled the launch of projects that transfer local technological capabilities to specific municipal administration needs. Among them, the startup Bideroad stands out, using artificial vision and artificial intelligence to digitize and automate the inspection of the urban road network, and ENTZUN, a tool from Trebe Language Technologies that automatically transcribes voice in Basque and Spanish and is being tested by the Municipal Police.
“
"The Idea Contest is a demonstration of Fomento's commitment to public innovation as a process that can generate value in two directions: improving city services and management, and offering our companies, startups, and technology centers opportunities to validate their solutions, gain experience, and move towards new markets. By incorporating Bretxa as an experimental space, we expand this model and take another step towards making San Sebastián an open urban laboratory for innovation."
Bretxa, as a strategic asset, opens new innovation possibilities, particularly in the urban economy sector (commerce, gastronomy, market trades...) and key themes such as logistics, sustainability, and circularity. Its centrality and diverse user base make it an ideal space for testing solutions in direct contact with citizens.
The contest is aimed at local SMEs, startups, and entities from the Basque Network of Science, Technology, and Innovation (RVCTI), who can submit innovative solutions, in the form of products or services, to address San Sebastián's urban challenges. Proposed activities must be developed within the municipal term.
Applications must be submitted electronically through the Fomento de San Sebastián website: www.fomentosansebastian.eus.
