Barcelona Is converting one in 3 of its streets into small parks. 21 new plazas like the one pictured will be made at road junctions. Safe outdoor space within 200 metres of all homes that cater to pedestrians, offer shaded spaces in summer & facilitate spontaneous children’s play.
Photo, street in Poblenou superilla. Photo by Paola de Grenet, courtesy of Barcelona City Council.
Key points,
will be implemented over the next 10 years
cost an estimated $44 million,
designs that limits traffic inside a nine-block grid,
cars to drive freely only around the perimeter.
“Sixty percent of public space is actually used by cars,
so the whole idea behind the superblock is to take space away from the cars and give it back to people,” says Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, a research professor in environmental epidemiology at the Barcelona Institute of Global Health who has modeled the health impacts of superblocks.
The original idea, from urban planner Salvador Rueda, aimed to reduce pollution and noise, make people more physically active, and increase green space.
