City Guide
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Discover our urbanist's guide to Barcelona.
Eixample District
The Eixample district is a district made up of about 900 symmetrical, low-rise blocks dissected with wide streets and chamfered intersections. The housing density is about 150 dwellings per hectare. The iconic street layout ...
The Jardines de la Torre de Les Aigües
The Jardines de la Torre de Les Aigües is reclaimed courtyard in the Eixemple district that's been converted to a public park and urban beach. It's an example of ...
Poblenou Superblock / Superilles
Barcelona is in the midst of rolling out Superblocks (also known as Superilles) across the city. Superblocks represent a shift away from car-oriented streets, to people-oriented streets. They are focused on...
Sant Antoni Superblock
The Sant Antoni Superblock is a test bed for the implementation of people-oriented streets and public spaces that aims to...
Jardins de la Rambla de Sants
Jardins De La Rambla De Sants is a linear and multi-functional public park, elevated above a six-track rail corridor in the Sants neighbourhood of Barcelona. The park opened in 2016, and is part of the city's broader efforts to...
The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) & Plaça dels Àngels
MACBA and Plaça dels Àngels lie at the heart of the Raval district - a once low-income community defined by the high proportion of immigrants and characterized by "narrow streets, poor hygienic conditions and [a] dense population."
The opening of MACBA at Plaça dels Àngels in 1995 marked a significant turning point for the district. The outcome of a regeneration project, it is widely recognized as one of the world's great examples of ...
Carrer de Wellington
Carrer de Wellington is a car-free, curb-less, tree-lined street with green tram tracks and wide rights-of-way for cyclist and pedestrians. It runs past a university campus - Universitat Pompeu Fabra Campus de la Ciutadella - and sits adjacent to an expansive public park - Ciutadella Park.
Olympic Village - Housing
Barcelona's Olympic Village was constructed for the 1992 Olympic Games. It was one of four sites located on the periphery of the Eixample (see above for more on the Eixample), which were strategically slated for development for...
Trinitat Vella
Barcelona's Olympic Village was constructed for the 1992 Olympic Games. It was one of four sites located on the periphery of the Eixample (see above for more on the Eixample), which were strategically slated for development for...
Photo: Google
Vila de Gràcia
Vila de Gràcia is a lively low-rise, mixed-use district. Originally conceived as a 'garden city,' ...
Plaça del Moviment Obrer
Plaça del Moviment Obrer is a public space and skatepark, designed to meet the needs of the Porta Firal community, and specifically the La Marina Patina skate collective. It consists of about 2,000 square meters of skating space, general use space and a new mass of trees, was designed with input from the local community.
Perspectives:
Photo: Google
Modular Affordable Housing
At the corner of Carrer Nou de Sant Francesc and Carrer de Josep Pijoan lies there are 12 shipping container housing flats. These homes aim to tackle Barcelona's social housing crisis. Currently 1.5% of the total housing stock is made up of social/public housing.
Perspectives:
-
Sardine tins for the poor?: Barcelona’s shipping container homes - Stephen Burgen, The Guardian
Photo: Google
Poblenou Media & ICT Cluster
The Poblenou Media and ICT (information and communication technology) cluster is a knowledge-intensive innovation district.
Built in a formerly industrial area, the redevelopment of the site began around the year 2000. At the time, all of the land was privately owned and much of it was under-utilized, and in some cases completely abandoned...