One month after the city council approved the land-use plan for these plots, following more than seven years of urban planning and environmental procedures, the technology park launched a tender on Friday for the drafting of the site development plan, with a budget of 1,089,000 euros.

The PTA is, therefore, giving the green light to a project expected to run until 2033, when companies should be able to start operating there.

Experts interested in drawing up the development plans and overseeing the construction work, have until 30 September to submit their bids.

The project aims to develop a new business district on land that forms an arc over what was the first extension of the technology park, covering a total of some 57 hectares.

The second extension of the PTA uses the design of architects Salvador Moreno Peralta, Adolfo Ramírez Baeza and José Jiménez Paz. They have focused on predicting the PTA's future needs and avoiding the mistakes of its current urban layout.

For example, this urban development plan aims to address the high demand for parking by establishing a total of seven on-street parking areas next to the plots for office buildings, which will provide a total of 1,726 parking spaces for passenger cars.

The documentation highlights that, at present, private vehicles account for 80.5 per cent of journeys made during the main peak hours of the day. By contrast, public transport accounts for only 19.5 per cent. Consequently, the plan acknowledges that the current provision of parking spaces in the technology park is "insufficient".

While the PTA is embarking on its second expansion, it has yet to occupy the buildings in its first expansion zone. The technology park has put a hold on the construction of new buildings until three that are currently vacant have been occupied.

Nevertheless, director of the PTA Felipe Romera is confident that the forthcoming arrival of the IMEC nanoelectronics hub (a leading centre for microchip research and manufacturing) will give a boost to the expansion.

The forthcoming second phase of expansion provides for a total of 24 plots for the construction of company buildings, nine of which can, in turn, be divided into two separate properties to facilitate their sale.

Furthermore, they will offer the possibility of constructing a minimum floor area of 5,000 square metres to meet the predominant demand from technology, research and advanced services companies.

The project is unique in that it includes two plots of land that could be used for training centres and a plot of 30,818 square metres for a hotel, shops and even housing. The general urban development plan (PGOU) allows for up to 15 per cent of the developable area to be allocated to residential uses linked to the activities of the businesses established there.

The plan stipulates that future transport infrastructure access points to the PTA should be located on its eastern side, so as not to further congest the Guadalhorce motorway.

The plan envisages a large roundabout that could serve the same function as the current roundabout connecting to the Campanillas district's main road, as well as two plots that could accommodate stations or terminals for future "road or rail" transport links that will expand the park's current connections.

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