The Catalan capital (and Spain's second largest city) consists of remarkable urban design planning - something that can be attributed to the plan of Ildefons Cerdà.
La entrada del blog en español.
Barcelona is one of Europe's most visited cities. Both the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (of which Barcelona is its capital) and the city of Barcelona receive more international visitors than any region of Spain. When going to Barcelona, visit the most typical of tourist attractions (Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell and Bunkers del Carmel) and one will see the unique form of the streets that make up the Barcelona core.
The city is mostly made up of grid-like formations with major thoroughfares (avingudes and passeigs) crossing right through the heart of the city. The grid-system is notably associated with the downtown/central business district (CBD) of American cities and the most recognised case of a grid system would be the layout of Manhattan, containing the core downtown and CBD of New York City. One would not think of a European city to have such geometric linearity and, yet, Barcelona's development can be traced back to thousands of years prior. Much of that is attributed to one of the greats of urban planning.
Prior to the present, Barcelona started out as a small walled city - its limits are still evident in the existing Barri Gòtic (the Gothic Quarter district). Colonised by the Romans, Barcino (or officially the Roman Colony of Iulia Augusta Feventia Paterna Barcino) consisted of linear streets and a Roman forum, quite literally a castrum. The walls of the city expanded several times, accommodating an expanding city until the War of Succession where the Bourbon King Felipe V enacted the Nueva Planta Decrees that abolished the institutions of the former Generalitat. Furthermore, the city wall was forbidden from expansion - a decree which would result in poor sanitation as a result of high population density within the limits. The Spanish Government authorised the demolition of the wall in 1854 to huge local approval and the city was set for further expansion.
Several expansion plans were drawn up. The city council opted for a radial design but was overruled by the Spanish MFOM (Ministry of Development) which favoured the 'Reforma y Ensanche' Plan by Ildefons Cerdà . Cerdà's Plan de Eixample* (the Extension Plan) of 1859 would expand the limits of the city nearly 4 times more and connect the former walled city to small villages to form the City of Barcelona. The Plan, devised by Ildefons Cerdà i Sunyer, included the construction of several cross-city avenues: some of these included Meridiana from the North, Gran Via from West to East and Diagonal from North-East to South-West (Urbano, 2016) and squares at their intersections - one of the most recognisable and important being the Plaça d'Espanya which connects the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes and Avinguda del Paral·lel as well as leading to the Palau Nacional.
What is notable about implementing the Cerdà Plan is the identicality of the sections - fly over Barcelona and you will see that many of these blocks do not exceed a certain height - specifically, no more than 20 metres. Identical blocks were seen as a symbol of Cerdà's desire to bring about social equality in a region where disease, sewage and riots were rampant. The wall and the Cerdà Plan came about at a time when the walled city was overpopulated and in extremely unhygienic conditions. The social class division in the old city was evident - life expectancy for the rich was almost double that of the poor. His plan included chamfers (a rounding of) block corners to improve transportation and mobility along with maximising sunlight on all sides of the block.
The Cerdà Plan was and is still controversial. Criticised as lacking creativity and after the plan was opposed by the city council who favoured a more radial design, modifications were made where intended blocks for green-spaces were widely diminished to make way for housing and commercial construction instead. Though receiving Royal Assent, the majority of buildings did not comply with Cerdà's bye-laws - block sizes increased and road widths were reduced to 20 metres instead of the intended 30 metres. Even a century after the plan and decades after Cerdà's death, changing legislation during Franco's dictatorship meant buildings within the extension could surpass the intended 20 metre height limit. Nevertheless, to the present day, Cerdà's plan has become an iconic symbol of the city and his work has given him the title "the founder of modern town planning".
The Cerdà Plan has led the grid city plan for Eixample to be hailed as one of the most beautiful urban districts worldwide but should planners be striving for grid-city models everywhere? Through the prioritisation of eliminating social class division, the Cerdà Plan attempts to rid societal divisions at the expense of architectural individuality, fuelling the idea that such populist ideology results in creative restrictions. Cerdà basing his plan on social equality should not be overshadowed by fears of bland design and lack of creativity because the one certain thing is that the city design of Barcelona is certainly unique and it would be difficult to replicate this in other cities to the extent that Barcelona did.
*The Plan de Eixample is officially known as Plan de los alrededores de la ciudad de Barcelona y del proyecto para su mejora y amplicación.
(Urbano J, 2016) The Cerdà Plan for the Expansion of Barcelona: A Model for Modern City Planning