Cities of the Future

Tag: Barcelona

  • Barcelona’s first Superblock, Fighting the Power of Habit and Wavering Political Will

    A month ago, after nearly three decades of waiting, Barcelona urban designer Salvador Rueda finally saw the first “Superilla” (Superblock) installed in his city. The superblock faced some fierce opposition from unhappy residents and local businesses complaining about loss of curbside parking, and changes of bus stops and street direction. It was also criticized from […]

  • Superblocks, Barcelona Answer to Car-Centric City

    Superblocks, Barcelona Answer to Car-Centric City

    Barcelona wants to be the world’s best city for people. To reclaim the public space and community living that residents lost to cars over the last century, the city, in the spirit of the original design by Cerdà, is transforming mobility and access to public space by introducing the Superblock. When Catalan urban planner Ildefons […]

  • Barcelona Facing New Housing Problems, and Airbnb

    Barcelona Facing New Housing Problems, and Airbnb

    Barcelona is facing increasing pressure on its housing market, primarily in rental prices. The Mediterranean city, which last year became the third most popular European destination after Paris and London, is facing a new housing crisis. Barcelona Eixample Rents are being pushed up by lack of new housing stock, an increase in “sharing economy” rentals, […]

  • Barcelona Ready for Mobile World Congress

    How does a city handle the world’s biggest technology conference? Barcelona will answer that question this coming week when it hosts the Mobile World Congress (MWC) again. It starts Monday and promises to be the largest mobile conference and trade show of its kind ever held. MWC 2016 After renewing the contract with the GSMA […]

  • Barcelona’s Illegal Street Vendors Form Union to Defend Their Rights

    Barcelona’s Illegal Street Vendors Form Union to Defend Their Rights

    Illegal street vendors across Barcelona’s tourist districts last week created their own union to negotiate with city officials. New leftist Mayor Ada Colau has welcomed the move.

  • Barcelona wins five more years of MWC despite new mayor wobble

    Barcelona wins five more years of MWC despite new mayor wobble

    There’s nothing like continuity. Today, the GSMA announced that the Mobile World Congress — the world’s largest gathering of all things mobile — had extended its contract with Barcelona until 2023. It’s a measure of the city’s success in organizing a smoothly-run event attracting increasingly bigger crowds over the past 10 years that the GSMA should sign a new […]

  • Barcelona, Not Pedestrian Smart

    Every day I take a walk to our favorite bakery to buy fresh bread, and every day I have to side-step dozens of motorcycles parked on the pavement. Often they hog so much space there’s only a meter gap for pedestrians to squeeze through between them and the buildings. Barcelona is constantly referred to as […]

  • Smart Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona

    Those elegant old Modernist lamp posts along Barcelona’s main shopping avenue, Passeig de Gràcia (Spanish: Paseo de Gracia), are about to become communication towers in disguise. The Gaudí-designed paving tiles that span the widened sidewalks will be hiding the latest technology and miles of fiber optics beneath their ornate surfaces. It’s all part of an […]

  • Tourism: Barcelona’s Cautionary Tale

    “This is not a city to live in. It’s a theme park like Prague or Venice where’s there’s no local life left.” That’s the comment of long-time resident Picart in the new documentary, “Bye Bye Barcelona,” lamenting the rise of mass tourism and how it has transformed his city. In the past decade, Barcelona has […]