EEE 20-2 ven rapes EN tas seater TRIE -a0crom ne opm cy tne foun TERE nos wrase recs Idantifiation of main areas ‘of urban regeneration‘rea: 100 ki? Inhabitants 1.6 milion Population density: 16.000 nha ken —_— BARCELONA The continuing upgrade of the compact city Post industrial city Internationally acclaimed for its innovative urban strategic thinking, Barcelona is one of the most com- pact cities in Europe, an advantage from the sustainable environment perspective. The city provides tan ideal model for urban management, with ongoing inner city renewal, brownfield site develop- ents, and urban regeneration projects on the outskirts. The urban transformation of Barcelona be- ‘gan with the advent of democracy in the late Seventies, when faced with serious problems of urban decay in both inner city and suburban districts. 11980-1987: Urban Acupuncture During the initial phase, there was a reat deal af confidence on the positive effects of new public spaces, in the belief that squares, streets and gardens constitute the backbone of a city, especially true for the Mediterranean, Over 140 public spaces were designed over a seven-year period (1981-1988). They ‘contributed to an intense renovation of Barcelona's cityscape, as well as to the revitalization of its ur- ban identity. This model of urban transformation, in which large-scale changes and substantial objec- tives are obtained on the basis of numerous small and individual strategicallysituated interventions, ‘was labelled ‘Urban Acupuncture’ 41988-1992: Olympic Project Even though this transformation of urban spaces was highly efficient, new urban projects and infra~ structural interventions on a larger scale were needed. In addition to fulfiling sporting requirements, the Barcelona '92 Olympic Project was a catalyst for a larger-scale urban project, one capable of stim- lating a global urban transformation on the bass of three main considerations: «An infrastructural operation that involved the construction of ring roads (40 km radius) and set- up of a new telecommunications system, including two towers and a new telephone and fibre- optics network “+ An operation for improving run-down suburbs. The four Olympic areas (Montiutc, Diagonel, Vall Hebron, the Olympic Village), all connected by the ring roads, were not located in the city centre bout in incomplete outlying areas of low urban quality. « A change in orientation for centre growth and development. With the new road infrastructures, the ‘way was paved for future development toward the northeast, when traditionally it had always been westwards. In this sense, the most socially conspicuous action of the Olympic project was to locate the Oympic Vilage next to the sea, which revamped the entire seafront. Barcelona 1371993-2004: Post Olympic to Forum After the Olympic project, the city underwent a third wave of transformation with the commitment to rebalancing the city eastwards and passage from an industrial to @ neo-tertiary economy with the conversion of increasingly obsolete eastside industrial areas. From the perspective of urban develop- ment, the regeneration project or “tertiarization” of the 22@ district is of great relevance. Ths is a 200-hectare area earmarked to become a new tertiary technological district through the transforma tion of obsolete 19th century industrial buildings achieving a good balance between the maintenance of our historical identity and the architectural innovation of the new projects, In this third transformation phase, three different clusters of projects were launched and made up the points of what was called the “triangle de Llevant": the Placa de les Glories in relation to the Etxam- ple; the Forum area which completed the new seafront; and the intermodal Sagrera station, the hub of the new European high-speed rail netwark. Four main issues were tackled in this phase: the balance between conservation and innovation; the trend towards high-rise buildings; transportation problems and, finally, the threat of social exclusion, Placa de les Glories has always been a difficult spot. its central position — highlighted on the map by the intersection of Diagonal Avenue, Meridiana and Gran Via ~ contrasts with the perception of this spot as a frontier between the consolidated Eixample and the city’s peripheral industrial areas. It will guarantee the continuity between the 22@ district and the Eixample and Ciutat Vella, and will be converted into a huge, 16:hectare park overlying a sophisticated transportation node. The Forum project had two aims. The first one was to revamp an urban area that was seriously blighted yet occupied a strategic coastal position and housed key city infrastructures (a power sta- tion, an incinerator, a sewage plant, etc). The second objective was to offset the impact of indus trial relocation _ Bee ~~ Side and below, upgrading of the 20 district, redesigned as 3 technological serves district, and Pasa ‘eles Glories, whose ‘ently sll be highlighted bye huge par concealing 3 complex traffic junction, Barcelona 138‘The Forum was the threshold of a further increase in the scale of city planning. The projects, some of them curently under way ~ such as the Picasso Project for Sustainable Transport, the replace- ment of thermal power stations along the River Besés, the adoption of renewable energy sources, the laying of optical fibre networks, the port and airport extensions, high-speed rail, the develop ment of a large logistics centre and the 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures, al intended to articu- late the certtal metropolitan area and to consolidate the position of Barcelona in the European Union context The outdated sewage treatment plant, the largest in the Barcelona region, was lft in the same loca- tion but replaced with a new plant to provide primary and biological secondary treatment, and an area for recycling sludge. The incinerator plant was modernize, fited with filters to reduce emissions; an area to collect, recycle and reduce the amount of waste incineration was bul While the infrastructures were left at their location, the citys commitment was to turn blighted areas into well-structured contemporary urban spaces. The sewage plant was covered to create 2 public space and allow for the extension of Diagonal Avenue towards the seashore. That “plat- form” was a feature of the project from the outset. The idea was to build a structure that would cover everything and would extend itself into all the surrounding interstices, Also, reclaiming [and from the sea was necessary to enable continuation of the shoreline and to allow new seafront schemes, leaving intact the infrastructure sited behind them. The Sagrera project in Barcelona cavers a long stretch of railway line that has existed since the end he 19th century. It will be turned into a large, campus-like public space with 1.6 million square metres of built-up area 140 Barcelona‘The sation of AV Sagrera, arranged on four levels, will become 2 new central Urban ste, Tht intermodal ‘tafe junetion val be fovered by one of the city’s largest public pars sa eae ig [ae ST ae ry The Sagrera project creates a new urban centrality for Barcelona, triggered by the new high-speed train station on four different levels which acts as an intermodal transport node. The new station not only becomes an important component in the whole public transport system but also offers the op- portunity to act as a catalyst in initiating new urban geography. The urban space on top of the platform spanning the railroad infrastructure is a large, linear 163- hectare area varying from 70 to 150 metres in width, for a total length of 3.5 kilometres. It will be- come one of the largest public parks in the city of Barcelona, The park will serve as a backbone for the 8,500 dwelling units built on brownfield sites and will con: rect two historically separated parts of the city. ‘The buildings, housing, offices and hotels will constitute the most important tertiary cluster of the city. Ted, the cy offers new challenges. The syste is now far more complex than it wa inthe indus tal society and requires new methodology. Future results in teitoial and urban matters depend on strategies defined ater caring what needs to be dane, and not ust by looking at how itis done The city of today depends on a much broader aray of multscpinary measures and thus itis not justa matter of applying architecture and urban design measures but aso of urvveling the muta eted nature ofthe unbundled iy. | The challenge iso esabishcompaibilty between the cya an open and complexsjste, sinters | sity 358 lage, dense and permanent settlement of heterageneous people, urban quality with the | need for affordable housing and quality public space, and is ‘urban metabolism as an organism that requies careful consideration ofits functioning in order to implement relevant energy-conscious measures, With a pragmatic ctcal approach, new pos-criss wan models should include in-depth brainstorming onthe following four key issues: Complexity, Intensity, Urbanity and New Urban Me- tabolsm to achieve defnton of anew urban model forte future Barcelona 143