Superblocks : A Study of Public Life in Barcelona
Abstract: The motivation for this thesis is a belief that the quality of Public Life is key to unlock the qualities of urbanity and create a community capable of facing social and ecological challenges. Public Life being a complex matter, it is primordial to study it as much as possible, in order to understand the mechanisms controlling it. The aim of this thesis is to describe the Public Life as it is in the new public spaces created in Barcelona through the implementation of a large magnitude urban transformation program called Superblocks. Superblocks consist of a group of city blocks of which the interior streets are “pacified” to free public space from cars, while the entire transportation network is reorganized. The research aims at uncovering how Public Life differs between two Superblocks and the rest of the city, by comparing them to similar areas . The research consisted of 2 weeks of direct observation using methods created by Jan Gehl, followed by an in-depth analysis of the data collected, describing Public Life while separating it between Traveling and Stationary Activities. It found that the quality of Public Life was indeed improved by the Superblocks, but that the changes differed greatly between the two different contexts of the study objects.
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