IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section B
Abstract
In recent years, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area has engaged in discussions about its future planning from a multifaceted perspective, aiming to strengthen its identity as a multi-center metropolis rooted in the historical villages that form the region. Within this framework, the potential of the so-called metropolitan parks is noteworthy: nearly 50 diverse parks of varying sizes, spread across almost 30 municipalities, are expected to serve a metropolitan function. These parks are not only crucial from an ecological standpoint as green infrastructure nodes, but should also act as attractors of leisure and various activities for the 3.3 million inhabitants of the metropolis. Building on previous multidisciplinary reports, the research examines the metropolitan potential of these parks through a selection of 8 case studies in the territories of the Llobregat Basin. These case studies are diverse in dimension, internal composition, level of urbanization, and environmental attributes. The study seeks to understand both their shared characteristics and their unique features within their specific contexts, identifying the attributes that confer metropolitan rank. Based on a teaching research-by-design experience, the paper explores strategies to enhance the metropolitan role of these constellation of “central parks” that connect the past of some peripheral areas with its potential future centrality. A series of proposals address each park’s aptitude for improving health and social interaction, its role in urban and peri-urban planning, its contribution to environmental and ecological balance, and its potential for leisure, recreation and sport, highlighting their most common functions.
Joan Florit-Femenias, PhD Architect, he is a Lecturer affiliated with the Department of Urbanism, Territory, and Landscape (UPC Barcelona-Tech). He has been teaching in urban planning courses for architects since 2015. His doctoral research addressed the critical definition of the Central Park as a distinctive element in the singular constitution of the contemporary Metropolis worldwide. Among other topics of interest, he has recently explored how to enhance isolated housing developments on the outskirts of Barcelona, with a focus on tailored improvement projects for each case.
Carles Crosas-Armengol: PhD Architect and Lecturer (UPC-Barcelona Tech). He has been teaching Urbanism at the Barcelona School of Architecture since 2001 and has been invited to universities in Europe, America and Asia. Former collaborator and assistant teacher to Professor Manuel de Solà-Morales, he is a researcher at the Barcelona Laboratory of Urbanism where he is coordinator and participant in various international projects dealing with ecology and metabolism, collective urban spaces and centralities, urban grid transformation and integrative teaching of architecture and urbanism. Concurrently, he’s been developing professional works of urbanism and architecture since 2004 – www.ccarqbarcelona.com.
Aleix Saura-Vallverdú is an Architect, with a Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in Architecture, PhD candidate and researcher at the Laboratori d’Urbanisme de Barcelona, collaborating in international projects such as the European Competitive Project “IMPAQT” (2018-19) with the Laboratori d’Urbanisme, and the “RiConnect-Rethinking Infrastructure” Project (Winner of the Catalunya Territori award, 2023), part of the European Network “URBACT”, with the Planning Department of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB). Following publications co-authored with experts from the MENA region, his doctoral research analyses in depth the unique relationship between eco-system logics and urban development in the city of Cairo, Egypt.
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Wednesday 17th July, 2024