Mastodawn

Dennis Jul 21, 2023

Went to see a superblock in Barcelona. Given how much they feature as urbanism of the future, they are amazingly simple. Take an intersection, block traffic in all four directions and you have a square. Plant trees, add some tables and benches. That's basically it. Replace cars with trees and don't privatize the resulting space. All you need, and all that is usually missing, is political will.

clacke: exhausted pixie dream boy 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛Jul 21, 2023

Image description:

In the background some multiple-storey residential blocks. Between them: Trees. In front of them: Trees. In the foreground a big open space with plants and a wide pedestrian walkway. To the side a pedestrian street in front of a multi-storey building with a street-level café and some people sitting at outdoor tables.

Malte Jul 21, 2023

@festal How did you find the superblocks with blocked off streets? I tried it a year ago and failed even though they have a dedicated website for it.

https://www.barcelona.cat/pla-superilla-barcelona/mapa/en/

Barcelona Superblock | Barcelona City Council

Barcelona Superblock is a transformational plan that makes daily life the central concern, bringing cohesion to neighbourhoods, and driving the ecological transition. Navigate this map to find out how Barcelona is changing.

Tim Cowlishaw Jul 21, 2023

@malte @festal FYI for the next time you're here, in the centre, Carrer de Parlament, Carrer de Borrell and Carrer de Consell de Cent are all now "superillas", you can have a fantastic walk between the three! start and end at Passeig de Gracia or Poble Sec metro, it'll take an hour or so.

Tim Cowlishaw Jul 21, 2023

@malte @festal @festal (that map is a little confusing as it's a bunch of urbanism projects overlaid - the red areas seem to be the parts that correspond to the 'eix verds' pictured here, but you need to click the red dot to see all of them as the other map layers obscure some)

Malte Jul 21, 2023

@mistertim Yes, there is a lot of information on the map. :)

After clicking around I found this page which mentions the places you mentioned.

https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/superilles/en/content/the-new-green-hubs-and-squares

The new squares and green axes in Eixample will look like this

Large spaces for local people, with meeting areas, children's games and street furniture, where greenery takes centre stage. This is what the new green axes and squares in Eixample will be like. Consell de Cent, Rocafort, Comte Borrell and Girona streets will have a totally different look, with vehicles disappearing to make way for spaces full of life. In addition, at the points where Carrer Consell de Cent meets the streets of Rocafort, Comte Borrell, Enric Granados and Girona, four large new squares will be created (each with 2,000 square metres of space).

Superilles

Malte Jul 21, 2023

@mistertim Thank you! I will check it out on my next visit.

Dricc Jul 21, 2023

@festal just block all 4 directions. Easy 🙃

Raul Portales Jul 21, 2023

@festal we unfortunately live in a world where cities are designed for cars instead of people.
One day people centric design will take off, but we probably need a fuel fossil crash for that to happen.

Peter Jakobs ⛵Jul 21, 2023

@festal the interesting thing is: this is what amlost all sqares have looked like just 100 years ago.
I'm 55 and I have, over my lifetime, seen sqares being converted into intersections. It's time to admit that this was wrong.

@festal Precisely...

You can even see the same in big urban centers across #Europe...

James Conroy-Finn Jul 21, 2023

@festal and the boat loads of angry drivers protesting on the streets.

We’re seeing exactly this in London with the Mayor trying to extend ultra-low emission zones. Same thing when our borough closed off access to some residential streets.

Boris Johnson’s seat was won by a Tory because voters want to drive their cars around without paying for the privilege.

Ben Fulton Jul 21, 2023

@festal So are there four dead-end streets ending at the intersection?

dasgrueneblatt Jul 21, 2023

@benfulton No, no dead ends. It's called a superblock because it's like a bigger block consisting of smaller blocks. If you have a grid layout, image drawing a rectangle around a couple of blocks and grouping them together. The roads inside the superblock are usually closed to through traffic (exceptions for emergencies etc).

RodneyPetersonTalentAgency Jul 21, 2023

@festal What about parking? Underground? Years ago, on my first visit to Vail, Colorado, I was surprised to see that’s exactly how that town is laid out in at least the downtown district. Especially since this is high up in the Rocky Mountains not too far from the Eisenhower Tunnel.

Martin Hoffmann Jul 21, 2023

@festal Barcelona is weird, though. Apart from these superblocks, the amount of cars is quite horrifying.

Barry Goldman Jul 21, 2023

@festal were do you park so that you can do business in the superblock? that would be the complaint here in the u.s.

@barrygoldman1 @festal Barcelona has a very good public transport system, I have been living here for 7 years now without owning a car. For those who need to drive around, there are always paid parking lots available.

Le Monolecte 😷🤬🐧

Mais tellement !

Richard 🔶UK #RejoinEU Jul 23, 2023

@festal that the political will needs to be backed up by a whole load of public consent. To make changes like this you need to run a large, coordinated public relations campaign. Otherwise, they will fail. And talking to the public means going door-to-door, street surgeries, newsletters, radio and local news. Committing a good 6 months of your life, or if you’re secure, combining it with election pledges to double up campaigning.

Abid Jul 23, 2023

@festal a healthy society. This concept just need community gathering at least every month. Some events, celebration, societies, and control over local decisions.

Daniel Quinn Jul 23, 2023

@festal how do they handle/route delivery trucks or emergency vehicles?

felix stalder Jul 28, 2023

@danielquinn You can still drive there. It is designed to be slow and inefficient, but enough for delivery and emergency.

Daniel Quinn Jul 28, 2023

Preslav Rachev Jul 23, 2023

@festal @danielquinn however, it takes a little more than that to make it a place you want to use to socialize with others. I’ve been living in Munich for the last 8 years, and public places are based on pretty much the same principle. And yet, for those 8 years, I’ve very rarely felt welcome to use the public space to just be myself. Bulgaria (where I was born and grew up), Greece, Spain - totally different beasts.

Guillaume Laurent Aug 13, 2023

@festal I'm in Barcelona at the moment, near one of these blocks. I confirm all you say, those places are so beautiful and welcoming, and buzzing with social life.