The site is situated in the Ciutat Meridiana neighbourhood, within the district of Nou Barris, in the northeast of Barcelona
Registrations will close on Thursday 13 April 2023 - 5pm UTC.
The site is located on the outskirts of the city, bordering the Serra de Collserola Natural Park, the Torre Baró and Vallbona neighbourhoods as well as the municipality of Montcada i Reixac. The area is mainly residential, but the topography at the base of the mountain has had a significant impact on the neighbourhood's layout, accessibility, and mobility.
During the period of highest migration to Barcelona (between 1952 and 1975), mass housing estates were constructed across different geographies, with Ciutat Meridiana being constructed in 1963. These large housing estates standardised this type of urban model given that it was extremely economically efficient. This led to a repeated composition of isolated blocks with large spaces between them allocated for green areas. However, the city's geography disconnected these neighbourhoods from the rest of the city, leaving them lacking amenities and shared infrastructure, and without clearly defined public spaces.
Social and economic quality indicators have revealed significant inequalities in the neighbourhood, such as high unemployment rates, low levels of education, low family income, housing insecurity and a lack of open spaces. Students should therefore consider ideas that will promote a more inclusive and diverse city to tackle social segregation and the environmental, economic and energy crisis.
Proposals should develop specific strategies that will strengthen the community and regenerate Ciutat Meridiana into a more multifunctional neighbourhood, repairing the issues created by the way in which the neighbourhood was originally constructed.
Approx. site area
35.5 hectares
Key Information
The area has 11,152 inhabitants. 33.3% of its population is foreign, with 7.8% having a university education and 12% of the working-age population unemployed (July 2022).
Priority areas & main expectations
The project should develop strategies that focus on the following areas:
- Multi-functional uses of space using solutions that boost the local economy
- Generating local employment through plans that fill currently empty sites with local businesses and services
- Better integrating the community, the neighbourhood and the Collserola Natural Park into the rest of the city
- Improving physical, environmental and social accessibility to spaces
- Enhancing the environmental and functional use of urban spaces and the gaps between buildings
- Boosting community engagement and bringing the community together
The Team-up contact form is now available. Click here to connect and team-up with other participants who are interested in the same site/city. The contacts provided can be found here. The Site Form in Catalan will be uploaded soon!
Location