Urban+Renewal


 * **After watching the videos and reading the articles, how have the Olympics' infrastructure (the Olympic Village) affected the city of Barcelona? **

The urban transformation of the city and the success of the 1992 Olympic Games put Barcelona firmly on the map, as well as proved the modus operandi employed since the 80s, the so called “Barcelona Model”. This model is based on several elements such as public municipal leadership, consensus between public bodies; the involvement of private sector financing; the prevalence of architectural design over conventional zoning in town planning; strategic planning; municipal demands for high quality; and finally the idea that having the best ideas is more important than having the biggest wallet. media type="file" key="1.wav" align="center"


 * **What was the purpose of the Olympic Village? **

In order to house the athletes an Olympic village was constructed on an abandoned factory site. The Olympic Village apartment blocks were designed along the lines originally envisaged by Cerdà, but today much of the planned ground floor commercial space remains empty. media type="file" key="2.wav" align="center"


 * **What benefits did the different Olympic structures bring to the city/citizens? **

a) Infrastructure: the idea in this area was to create the basis for effectively opening to the seafront. This implied:

▪ Remotion of the coastal railway tracks (4 Km), that created a physical barrier between the city and the beaches.

▪ Placing underground other railway tracks that were a barrier between the rest of the city and Poblenou area.

▪ Rehabilitation of beaches.

▪ New highway underground, in order to avoid the creation of a new barrier.

b) Morphology: continuity of urban pattern, streets, squares, blocks, following the 19th century grid.

c) Uses: not only housing but as wide commercial areas, shops, offices, recreation and so on.

d) Beaches and Olympic Harbor. One kilometer of beaches in front of the Olympic Village with a series of piers protecting the sand from the dominant stream that flows in East-West direction. The Olympic harbor with a capacity for 700 boats in the water and 300 ashore, with 75% of public space (bars, restaurants, commercial space, etc).

e) Seaport promenade. 30 meters wide pedestrian seafront promenade with cafes, restaurant and other facilities.

f) Coastal activities. Two towers 100 meters high for hotels and offices and other minor buildings.

g) Highway. Part of the city system of ring roads, with high traffic intensity (120,000 vehicles a day).

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">h) Urban nucleus. The basic idea was to link the new residential area with the traditional morphology of the city. Some 2,000 housing units were build to host 15,000 athletes and 17,000 inhabitants.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">i) There was finally a integrated system of parks both for the use of the communities living around and in the nearby neighborhood.

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 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">How has Barcelona evolved since 1984? **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Barcelona urban development is in fact the result of a twenty years process comprising three main recognizable periods, since the restoration of Democracy. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the last twenty years, two major events, the 1992 Olympic Games and the Universal Forum of Cultures 2004 have enabled the city to undergo a transformation more radical than perhaps any other city in Western Europe. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The 1992 Olympic Games provided a catalyst for a change of scale of interventions within the city. Therefore the facilities and infrastructures needed by the Games were carefully designed and located in the city to guarantee both, the specific demands and requirements of the event, while providing new investments for the city according to their current and future demands. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">If probably the previous stages updated the city (1986-2002), it is time now to recognize the relevance of the metropolitan area and region of Barcelona, which has been enlarged very much in its functionality in recent years. The new proposals over pass many times local competences and municipal boundaries, increasing the complexity not only from a technical point of view, but also challenging the abilities of the Barcelona Model itself. media type="file" key="4.wav" align="center"


 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Name at least 3 new projects (space transformation) and mention what old structures they replaced, if mentioned, and what specific benefit(s) brought to the city and/or citizens. **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The 22 @ Barcelona project <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The 22 @ Barcelona project transforms old industrial areas of Poble Nou in an environment of high quality work, live and learn. As urban renewal project responds to the need to restore the economic and social dynamism of Poble Nou and creates a diverse environment and balanced, where the productive spaces coexist with public housing, facilities and green areas that improve the quality of life and work. As a project of economic renewal, is a unique opportunity to transform an important platform Poble Nou scientific, technological and cultural Barcelona become one of the most dynamic and innovative cities in the international arena. As a project of social renewal, promotes interaction between different professionals working in the area and the participation of neighbors and the neighboring district of the opportunities offered by new technologies. media type="file" key="22@.wav" align="center"

<span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">The Infrastructure Plan (IEP) <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Infrastructure Plan (IEP) is to determine the provision of infrastructure necessary for the implementation and development of new residential areas and economic activities under this area of the Zone. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The main strategic points developed by the Infrastructure Plan, among others are: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">- Integral Vision: We have determined the needs of each service and there is a global solution, in order to obtain benefits of scale, synergies and less impact citizen. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">- A new structure of public services: buses and metro <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">- A new model for road traffic management and circulation. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">- A model of development to ensure proper coexistence between pedestrians, bicycles and motor vehicles, enhancing the character of the neighborhood homogeneous unit. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">- A flexible model of subsoil, orderly, and provision of services. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">- Internalization of some services, such as collection points for waste air. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">- Within the islands, reserved spaces that allow the installation of powerful telecommunications networks. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">- A development and management policy to diversify energy inputs and incorporate renewable energy systems, solar energy basically. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">- Construction of a centralized system of hot and cold air conditioning, using the residual energy of the regasification terminal in the Port of Barcelona. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> media type="file" key="ip.wav" align="center"

<span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Plans to improve urban

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 1. The urban improvement plans aim to:

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> a) urban land is not consolidated; complete the urban fabric or operations to accomplish rehabilitation, internal reform, restructuring of urban transformation of uses, redevelopment, or sort of underground sewerage of towns and similar.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> b) The consolidated urban land, complete or finish the development, and regulate the volume and composition of facades.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 2. The urban improvement plans that aim to redesign the urban transformation of uses or redevelopment can determine planning operations involving the restructuring of the urban model of the area in question, as to the structure, building existing uses or establish full or partial replacement of infrastructure development and implementation of new infrastructure, for reasons of obsolescence or inadequacy of existing states or by the demands of economic and social development.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 3. Plans that aim to improve urban planning specific to certain areas of the subsoil shall regulate:

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> a) The possibility of private use and, specifically, to keep or not, in whole or in part, the existing private use.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> b) The use of the subsoil.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 4. The urban improvement plans that aim to improve the performance of urban operations not contained in the municipal urban management plan require modification of the previously or simultaneously, except for cases where not altered or the primary uses or the uses and urban development charges or the fundamental structure of general planning.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 5. The urban improvement plans that aim to revitalize the performance of operations of the urban fabric, to ensure the maintenance or restoration of quality of life, shall regulate the conditions of compatibility of various land uses.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 6. The urban improvement plans contain the determinations of their own nature and their purpose, properly justified and developed in the studies, plans and relevant standards.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 7. The urban improvement plans must specify the necessary reservations for local urban systems, but so has the overall planning.

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**<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Glossary ** <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pronunciation: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Coastal: **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (costero in Spanish) <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">the land near a shore <span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">.



**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Constraints: ** <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (limita in Spanish) to force by imposed stricture, restriction, or limitation. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pronunciation: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]

**<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hapharzardly: ** <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (sin orden ni concierto in spanish) marked by lack of plan, order, or direction. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pronunciation: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pronunciation: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gentrification: **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (gentrificación in Spanish) <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">.



<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pronunciation: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Narrow: **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (estrecho in Spanish) <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">of slender width <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">.