Barcelona, The New Districts: 1992 Olympics, 2004 Forum of Cultures, & 22@ BCN
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Date
2013
Authors
Pairolero, Jenna
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Barcelona is one of the major metropolitan centres in Europe. It is located in the Northern region of Spain known as the autonomous community of Catalonia. The city of Barcelona
is situated adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea between the Llobregat and Besos rivers. Its
location exemplifies its economic dominance and global acknowledgement. Barcelona’s
population is one of the highest in Spain at 1.6 million, just behind Madrid with a population
at 3.2 million. It is one of the densest cities in Europe with an average density of 15,926
inhabitants per square kilometer. Barcelona’s high density and growing population demands
economic and political dominance in Spain.
Because of its density and global recognition, Barcelona has presented many opportunities
for metropolitan urban design projects. In Barcelona’s recent history, post Franco, the city has
established numerous urban design efforts to generate city identity and acknowledgement.
Beginning with the Olympic games in 1992, Barcelona was able to establish itself at the
global scale and the 2004 Forum of Cultures enhanced that recognition. Today, Barcelona
continues to look towards the future to create dynamic urban centres, such as the 22@ BCN
district and the Diagonal Mar development. Throughout this paper, I will discuss Barcelona’s
urban transformations in the past forty years and how they positively and negatively altered
the city’s urban dynamic.
Description
34 pages
Keywords
Urban design, City planning--Spain--Barcelona