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Pre-Olympic and post-Olympic Barcelona, a `model' for urban regeneration today?
A few months ago, The Observer published an article which, under the heading
``Catalan cool will rule Britannia'' stated that ``in what must be the ultimate homage
to Catalonia, the Spanish region's fashionable capital, Barcelona, is to become the
template for ten wannabe cities in Britain'' (1999). According to the article, the
architect Lord Rogers in the interim report of his Urban Task Force, a study that calls
for sweeping redesigns to regenerate the centres of large cities in Britain, considered
Barcelona one of the most interesting examples of inner-city regeneration in the
Western world today.
In June 1999 Barcelona received a very important international award, the Royal
Gold Medal, given annually by Her Majesty the Queen on the advice of the Royal Insti-
tute of British Architects (RIBA), to recognise outstanding distinction in architecture.
For the first time the award was given to a city, thus applauding its recent transfor-
mation as an urban and political model, and encouraging those responsible for that
transformation to push forward with their plans for the future (El Pa|
¨s1999; Made in
Barcelona, 1999). According to RIBA:
``Both the process and results of Barcelona's rebirth are exemplary. Though with
city-wide goals in mind, initial interventions were local and low budget, yet big in
impact
ö
not least because their design flair drew international plaudits. From
creating parks and plazas wherever opportunities arose, this strategy snow-balled,
gathering enthusiasm and finance
ö
adding schools, health care and cultural facili-
ties and attracting all sorts of public/private partnership
ö
all the way up to realis-
ing very major infrastructural projects. Hosting the Olympics was only part of this
larger, still continuing strategy of up-grading the whole city'' (RIBA press release,
1999, emphasis added).
And in this spiralling process, the City Council of Barcelona decided to convene the
first Universal Forum of Cultures in 2004 which will take place by the sea on a newly
built site resulting from the rezoning of this area: ``in 2004, all voices, languages,
religions, all the cultures of the world come together to talk about cultural diversity,
the conditions of peace and the sustainable city'' (Forum 2004, Web page).
It is true that the overall balance from the urban transformations that have taken
place in Barcelona during the 1980s and 1990s (fuelled by the celebration of the Olympic
Games in 1992) is very positive and for many constituted what they call the `Barcelona
model' for design and urban management (El Pa|
¨s1999). But it is also true that there are
shadows in this process which deserve attention. To try to make it into a `model for
export' might be self-defeating. Instead of a model, it would be better to speak of the
`Barcelona experience'. Let us turn now to examine some aspects of this process.
The urban evolution of Barcelona and the role of international events
Over the last century, the urban history of Barcelona has been shaped by important
international events which have taken place in the city. The Universal Exhibitions of
1888 and 1929 may be seen as milestones because they brought about lasting changes in
the urban design of the city, besides bringing international attention. The 1992 Olympic
Games can also be seen from this perspective, though the circumstances and historical
moment were different. In any case, the 1992 sports event was a perfect excuse for an
in-depth transformation of the city, led by Pasqual Maragall the charismatic mayor for
Commentary
Environment and Planning A 2000, volume 32, pages 1331 ^ 1334
DOI:10.1068/a3331
this period (1982 ^ 97). To begin with, the four obsolete or marginal areas where the
games took place were extensively remodeled and opened to public use
ö
in particular
the waterfront development of the Olympic Village and harbour has made a vast
extension of beaches accessible to the population. In addition, basic and needed
infrastructures were built or their construction was speeded up (a ring road system,
an extension of the subway, rehabilitation of the old city, opening of public spaces in
many areas of the town), some of which had already been planned much earlier. The
worldwide coverage of the event made it easy for Barcelona City Council to bring
together different public administrations (at the regional and national level) to coop-
erate and fund a project that was carried out free from corruption scandals, and also
without running debts. In this manner, the games closed the dark period in local
history that was the dictatorship of Franco.
The forthcoming international event in 2004, the Universal Forum of Cultures, is
part of this strategy leading Barcelona from ``a post industrial context to the knowledge
and information city'' (Joan Clos, present mayor of Barcelona) through an economic
development articulated by real estate investment, tourism, and the culture industry.
The Forum will take place in a redeveloped seaside area which will constitute an
ecopark to exemplify urban sustainability. At the same time this implies a huge real
estate operation, a much more ambitious project than the Olympic Village.
The `Barcelona experience'
We might summarize the main features of the city's urban process of transformation in
the last years of the 20th century in ten points (Berdoulay and Morales, 1999; Castiella
and Gomez, 1995; Nello, 1998):
1. the basic role of public spaces in the newly transformed areas as a means to generate
identity and to foster social and cultural integration;
2. public leadership and initiative (by Barcelona City Council) in the design and
management of urban transformation projects;
3. compliance with the preestablished Town Planning Regulations in order to maintain
coherence, credibility, and legitimacy;
4. integration of partial interventions within an overall project for the whole of the city,
even in the case of projects linked to exceptional events such as the Olympic Games;
5. concern for the connection and continuity of the newly built areas with preexisting
neighbourhoods in order to avoid excessive zoning or functional specialization;
6. urban renovation and rehabilitation of the Old Town aimed at avoiding gentrification
and maintaining social coherence in the affected neighbourhoods;
7. upgrading of peripheral areas by different strategies, for example, by means of a
public sculpture programme linked to the restoration of squares, arcades, open spaces,
and gardens, and by the introduction of cultural values and symbols in the landscape;
8. the inclusion of large sections of the citizenry in the project of urban transformation
as exemplified by the number and enthusiasm of the volunteers (organized groups of
young people doing voluntary work related to the Olympic Games);
9. the dynamic role of the network of surrounding medium-sized cities which help to
balance polarities within the metropolitan area of Barcelona;
10. the positioning of Barcelona within the world context of large cities, thanks to
promotional strategies of urban marketing.
The shadows in the process
It could be argued that these points do not tell the whole story of fin de sie
©cle
Barcelona. Some goals have not been attained and some achievements were not exactly
what they were promised to be. They are like shadows in a process which has been
presented as a model.
1332 Commentary
Perhaps the main development associated with the games was the reclaiming of the
waterfront of Poblenou neighbourhood to build the Olympic Village which it had been
announced would be put onto the housing market at low or moderate prices after the
event. In the end, however, the scheme had nothing to do with working-class housing
and was out of reach of low-income families.
Despite the fact that the process of transformation of the Old Town has not yet
been completed, both by its complexity and dimensions it is becoming apparent that
the social and human costs of the renewal will be very high and the whole thing will
not be quite as subject to public control as was expected. Although alternative pro-
posals to solve the problems of internal mobility have been considered (including, for
example, the layout of a network of bicycle tracks), it is clear that priority has been
given to private transport (ring-roads, new motorways, and car facilities) over public
transport.
The importance given to urban landscape, rehabilitation of buildings, and aesthetics
may have become a sort of obsession with design and form and might have excessively
conditioned the priorities in the project (Hughes, 1992). Finally, some characteristics
inherent in the current process of transformation of the town
ö
in particular, the project
for 2004
ö
might well lead to Barcelona being made into a chic city for affluent elites,
at the same time alienating many citizens by ignoring their social needs (Made in
Barcelona, 1999).
The alleged `Barcelona model'
There could be a temptation to make the experience of Barcelona into a `model'. A
`model' is something to imitate, to `export'. Although the acknowledgement of success-
ful experiences can be an encouragement for the development of new projects, the mere
transfer of actions and formulas to different realities may eventually be a failure. This
might be the case when attempting to transfer the Barcelona experience to, for
instance, Asian, African, and Latin American cities, as well as to European cities
where prevailing social and political conditions can be acutely different. Private busi-
ness will not everywhere accept public leadership as easily as it did in Barcelona in the
early 1980s, when it does not clearly result in the maximization of private profit; not
everywhere has a tradition of territorial planning and, in particular, there is not always
a civil society strong enough to support the process effectively. There are also prereq-
uisites to success at the level of the infrastructure, equipment, and services required to
sustain that kind of development.
In this respect, the specificity of the Barcelona experience must be stressed. First of
all the historical circumstances surrounding the starting point of the process: the
Franco dictatorship was indeed a `dark' age but it had created a vigorous civic aware-
ness that manifested itself in strong neighbourhood movements and the commitment of
large and active sections of intellectuals, artists, and professionals (Borja and Roca,
1999). This constituted a quite unique `social capital' that could be taken advantage of
by the first democratic City Council after 1979, with the socialist party in the majority.
The new municipal authority suffered from severe financial constraints; nevertheless, it
embarked on a programme of multiple, small-scale, and inexpensive interventions in
public spaces in popular, mainly working-class neighbourhoods that enlarged the
social support on which to build more ambitious projects. Moreover, the project of
urban transformation was not subject to pressure from private capital, as at that
moment there were not prospective profits to be made at a significant level. The
autonomous leadership of the City Council was, in fact, undisputed.
Clearly, these circumstances are specific to a historical moment and to a given
urban society; in Barcelona itself, a changing political and economic environment
Commentary 1333
requires new formulas, as the neighbourhood movements have lost momentum, the
social capital represented by committed intellectuals, artists, and professionals has
withered away, and, nowadays, private capital is eagerly interested in fashioning new
housing developments in a city that has become a trendy place to live and promises
substantial profits to real estate investments.
It is clear that the Barcelona experience shows that planning and urban manage-
ment, based on interventions in public spaces to introduce elements of urban quality
and social dignity and to promote values of tolerance, solidarity, and a sense of
belonging to the city and to the community, can be successful. But the excessive
enthusiasm of technicians and municipal actors, as well as a large number of citizens
can easily turn into dangerous self-indulgence and reluctance to accept criticism. The
unique circumstances that shaped the process in Barcelona in its initial stages should
be constantly borne in mind in order to be able to adapt the project to different
contexts and especially to make it meaningful to the needs of the majority of citizens.
Maria-Dolors Garcia-Ramon, Abel Albet
References
Berdoulay V, Morales M, 1999,``Espace public et culture: strate
¨gies barcelonaises'' Ge
¨ographie
et Cultures 29 79 ^ 96
Borja J, Roca J, 1999,``Cap a una homogene|
«tzacio
¨de l'espai urba
©?'', lecture given at Museu d'Art
Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona, 18 November; http://www.macba.es/aocdes99.htm
Castiella T, Go
¨mez P, 1995, ``Evolucio
¨social de la ciutat de Barcelon a, 1981 ^ 1994'' Barcelona
Societat 44^22
El Pa|
¨s1999, ``Tony Blair adopta e `modelo Barcelona''', 4 July, page 42
Forum 2004, Web page http//www.barcelona2004.org/
Hughes R, 1992 Barcelona (Harvill, London)
Made in Barcelona, 1999, Barcelona, July, mimeograph material; madeinbarcelona@yahoo.com
Nello O, 1998, ``Reflexions: el futur de Barcelona'' Medi Ambient.: Tecnologia i Cultura 22
15 ^ 27
RIBA, 1999, ``RIBA Royal Gold Medal: Honouring the City of Barcelona'', press release;
http://st110.yahoo.net/award-schemes/ribroygolmed.html
The Observer 1999, ``Catalan cool wil l rule Britannia'', 2 May
ß 2000 a Pion publication printed in Great Britain
1334 Commentary
