Urban Development of Barcelona: From Old Town to Periphery
Urban Development of Barcelona
The Old Town
Barcelona, a city with a rich history, exhibits diverse areas reflecting different stages of urban development. The old town, the 19th-century expansion (Eixample), and the periphery each possess unique characteristics.
Location and Status
The old town’s proximity to the sea influenced its founding by the Romans between the Llobregat and Besos rivers, atop an Iberian settlement. Initially serving a defensive purpose, the city flourished from the 2nd century onwards. As the capital of Catalonia, a developed region, Barcelona’s influence extends across the Mediterranean. Its functions are specialized and specific.
Urban Structure
The old town’s layout is largely unplanned, with narrow, winding streets reflecting organic growth. Little remains of the Romans’ orthogonal grid. Major historical transformations include:
- The expansion of Paseo de las Ramblas in the late 18th century, creating the city’s widest street and leading to the partial demolition of the city wall.
- The construction of Via Laietana in 1907, connecting the port with the Eixample. This major thoroughfare, built by demolishing existing structures, exemplifies industrial-era urban interventions.
The old town’s plot is dense and compact, particularly in the Gothic Quarter, due to centuries of inward growth. Public space is limited. Buildings, initially low-rise, gradually increased in height. The area houses significant historical landmarks like the Cathedral and Gothic Quarter.
Land Use and Challenges
Traditional land uses were mixed—residential, commercial, and artisanal—without zoning. These have evolved towards outsourcing, with residential use declining due to accessibility issues and high land prices. Tourism plays a significant role, leading to related businesses like restaurants and hotels.
The old town faces challenges like physical deterioration of buildings and streets, leading to social decline, an aging population, and the concentration of marginalized groups, particularly immigrants. This, coupled with the daytime exodus of businesses, has prompted policies for physical and social rehabilitation since the late 1980s. These include building renovations, green space creation, and promoting residential use.
The Eixample (Expansion)
Barcelona’s 19th-century population boom within its walled enclosure led to unsanitary conditions and incompatible land uses. Mortality rates soared, especially among the lower classes. The need for a planned, hygienic city outside the walls prompted the demolition of the walls in 1854.
Ildefonso Cerdà’s Plan
The Eixample, designed by Ildefonso Cerdà, represents Spain’s largest and most comprehensive urban planning project, serving as a model for other cities like Madrid. Implemented in the late 19th century, it features an orthogonal grid, wide chamfered blocks, spacious streets for traffic flow, and a scale exceeding the old town. Two diagonal avenues facilitate movement. The Eixample primarily extends westward and northward.
Cerdà’s design incorporated green spaces within blocks for hygiene. Buildings were initially low-rise, resulting in lower population density than the old town. However, speculation and high land prices led to densification and vertical development.
Present-Day Eixample
Today, the Eixample typically houses the central business district (CBD) of major cities, accommodating corporate headquarters, banks, and city administration. It also serves as a tourist destination, showcasing modernist architecture.
The Periphery
Since 1950, Barcelona has experienced rapid growth due to the baby boom and rural migration. This has blurred city boundaries, creating peri-urban and suburban areas extending beyond the Eixample. This trend is amplified by de-urbanization, with people seeking peripheral living and depopulating the center.
Growth and Annexation
Barcelona’s periphery, starting where the Eixample ends, primarily serves a residential function. In the late 19th century, municipalities bordering the Eixample, like Horta, Gracia, and Sarria, were annexed, mainly to the west. The city’s location between the sea and the coastal range limited expansion, leading to sprawl along the coastline towards towns like Hospitalet and Badalona.
Urban Form and Land Use
Peripheral areas have a more irregular layout than the Eixample, although some retain a grid plan. Building styles range from Franco-era social housing (open weave) to predominantly private development from the 1980s (open plot), with greater provision of services and green spaces. Recent years have seen the emergence of single-family neighborhoods, primarily in the western hills.
Beyond residential areas, the periphery houses major industrial zones. The Zona Franca, south of the city between the port and the coast, is a large industrial area linked to the port’s activity. The Barcelona airport is also located south of the city.
Peripheral land uses tend to be zoned, unlike the mixed-use city center. Large shopping malls and transportation hubs are common.
Challenges in the Periphery
Some peripheral areas face challenges like slums and deterioration of older working-class neighborhoods built in the 1950s with inadequate services to accommodate the influx of migrants. Programs are underway to address these issues.