IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section A
Abstract
At a time when cities need new urban models to approach the future with optimism, Barcelona has shown that it is possible to move towards a healthier, kinder and fairer city for its citizens thanks to the Superilla Project. Barcelona is a compact and dense city with a polycentric urban model, but it has a significant deficit of green areas and a problem with its car-centred mobility model. Car use takes up more than 50% of public space and is the main source of atmospheric and noise pollution. Superilla aims to improve the city’s streets while proposing a new more efficient mobility model by promoting public transport, cycling and walking so that car use takes up less space, the streets are healthier, and there is overall less pollution. The project allows 1 out of every 3 streets to be freed from through-traffic so they can be transformed into new “green axes”. The aim is that these streets “naturalise” the city and promote local activities and social relationships so as to become a true environmental and social infrastructure – a true systemic change. As a Chief architect of the city of Barcelona, Xavi Matilla promoted and led the Superilla project, defining a vision for the future of the city. Thus far it has led to 4 new green axes (4.65 Km / 10Ha) and 4 new squares (1Ha) that allow us to demonstrate the possibility of moving towards a better city – towards the city we want.
Xavier Matilla is an Architect, Urban Planner and Professor based in Barcelona. His academic and professional career is characterised by his interest and work in interscale urban models. He is interested in how to reconcile global and metropolitan scales with the human scale. He seeks to make the city a place of collective life based on proximity and naturalization that thrives but is also fairer, healthier and kinder. He is a Professor at the Department of Urbanism, Territory and Landscape at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and at the Metropoli Institute of Barcelona (IMB). He is also a guest lecturer at several other universities. As an urbanist his work has been recognised through various national and regional planning awards in Spain. He is Co-founder of Territoris XLM, an office based in Barcelona dedicated to urban planning and public space design. In addition, he was Chief Architect of the city of Barcelona (2019 – 2023) during which period he led and oversaw the Barcelona Superblock program – internationally recognised as an urban strategy to transform city streets into greener and healthier spaces with stronger social and economic relations. He also implemented Barcelona’s School Streets program, which has improved the environmental quality and safety of more than 200 school environments in the city, as well as transforming public spaces across the city, including Meridiana Avenue, Parc de Glòries and Via Laietana amongst others
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Monday 15th July, 2024