MD Urban Design for Healthy Cities

Cultural Dimension/ Portsea Turton / In today’s post we discover a micro project development in Poblenou, Barcelona.

The importance of the environment in the well-being of our cities and their citizens today is evident. The quality of the water, the air and the soil, the care of the vegetation, and the fauna that accompanies us, are essential to enjoy a good environment. They constitute our natural heritage. And it has another face, which we call cultural heritage that results from human intervention. This course wants to reflect on the importance of cultural heritage in the identity of places, in the safeguarding of their memory, and how it contributes to the wellbeing of the city in terms of social connectivity, sense of belonging and the empowerment of its society.

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Environmental Dimension / Health Evaluation and Assessment of Urban Planning Interventions / Maha Alahmad (), Karen Niyonizeye () / “In today’s post we analyse Plaça Kennedy in the Sarrià - Sant Gervasi district of Barcelona.

The new proposed intervention tries to expand the free area, creating more inclusive green space for users and creating multidisciplinary zone where different activities can take place throughout the day.

BlueHealth Behavioral Assessment Tool provides information about the physical activity of the users, study human behavior and make comparisons between groups of people. Thanks to this tool we have been able to make sure that the project, apart from the studied urban conditioning factors such as accessibility and connectivity, green spaces and open spaces or activity, will attract more users to the place.”

Social Dimension / Environmental Justice/ Sara Kaso (._kaso), Celina Wallnöfer ()/ “The area under study in Poblenou is bordered to the north-west by the Gran Via de Les Corts Catalanes, in the north-east by Rambla de Prim, in the south-east by Cristobal de Moura and in the south-west by Selva del Mar. This was once a neighborhood full of small factories that is now being revitalized in an attempt to recapture the spirit of it’s industrial heyday.

Most of the interventions so far are not really elderly appropriate and also not used by this group. If we want to transform the district and continue with further innovations, we have to consider the needs of all the population groups, to ensure environmental justice and health equity for everyone, especially the vulnerable. Especially women, who make the majority of this group, but receive the lower retirement.”

Cultural Dimension / Place Attachment / Kani Jaff (), Maha Alahmad (), Safaa Zarea (.abdelwahab97), Fatima Zahra Mellouki (.mlk) / “Respondents attach themselves to a place that is most closely related to their family, their community or their memories. Most of these people share much the same attachment, even for those who have not lived here for long, their families have imprinted on them the identity of the place.

They have had very positive experiences in Poblenou, which makes them want to stay as long as possible.

Moreover, they are neither for nor against gentrification, in fact they think that what would be beneficial for the neighbourhood and for them is the right balance in terms of architecture. However, on the level of their visual comfort, they are bothered by new modern buildings. Quoting Fainstein and Campbell (2002), who state that the “stability of disadvantaged neighbourhoods is threatened by urban renewal projects”.

We can only wait and see how Poblenou and its residents will fare in the long term with the continuation of the 22@ project.”

Synthesis Workshop / Maha Alahmad (), Safaa Zarea (.abdelwahab97) / “PART I. The project is located in the Poblenou neighbourhood, on the plots located between C/ de Pere IV, C/ del Marroc and C/ de Cristobal de Moura.
The proposed urban design is configured firstly by identifying the pre-existing buildings that are maintained on the project plot, preserving the identity of the neighbourhood. Then, different connections are considered, which have different entities and configurations depending on the particular street they form, such as micro-passages with the potential to connect heritage axes or green axes.
The project complies with the requirements of the regulations applicable to the 22@ neighbourhood, which require land to be used for 22@ activities, social housing, public green space and facilities.
The ground floor is permeable and aims to incorporate different uses that help to achieve a healthier city, such as spaces dedicated to waste management, waste workshop or secondhand shop. In addition, having investigated the needs and deficiencies of the neighbourhood, the proposal introduces necessary facilities for its users, such as a CAP or sports spaces. All this configures a proposal that respects the surrounding environment, its memory and history, thus preserving its identity and incorporating uses that allow the proposal to be respectful with the environment and providing solutions and complying with the regulations required by local planning.”

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Environmental dimension / Food & Water / Sara Kaso (._kaso), Karen Niyonizeye (), Celina Wallnöfer () / “This project is carried out in the Poblenou superblock. It deals with the use of water and how to try to minimise its consumption and in what quantity. It proposes to collect, store and reuse rainwater, reducing the need for processed water. It is collected mainly from roofs and other built-up surfaces. This rainwater is collected in barrels, tanks, wells or chambers. From this storage, rainwater or greywater can be used for swimming pools, flushing toilets, laundry, watering gardens, livestock and animals.

The project also aims to design a food system that integrates sustainable production, processing, distribution, consumption and waste management to improve the environmental, economic and social health of the selected superblock.”

Economic Dimension / Sustainable Economy / Yara Naji (), Fidelia (), Paula Lizcano () / “The project consists of proposing sustainable buildings in Poblenou.

Here’s why. Poblenou is a neighbourhood that is transforming and changing, with new opportunities arising in terms of investment. Why not make these investments sustainable? Sustainable buildings have benefits in environmental, financial and social dimensions. Firstly, the cost of construction will be reduced, especially if local materials are used. Waste will also be minimised, as buildings will have a lower environmental impact and use renewable sources and materials. Buildings will also have systems that collect, recycle, store and reuse rainwater, as well as produce solar energy. In addition, we focus on quality of life and offer the community dedicated spaces for social activities, leisure and comfort. Generating this social dimension strengthens the bond of the community within itself, but also with the environment.

Investing in this project will be investing in 3 economic concepts (sustainable, circular and doughnut) which are all environmentally responsible and put the environment and people first. This is the future. After all, we care about the health of our planet as much as we care about the health of our people. “

Social Dimension / Physical activity in the city / Yara Naji (), Fidelia () / “Regular physical activity has been shown to help prevent and treat non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and several types of cancer. It also helps to prevent hypertension, maintain weight and can improve mental health, quality of life and well-being.

Therefore, the study in today’s publication is to propose four proposals for an effective physical environment for children and adolescents aged 5-17 years to achieve a friendly and healthy city, based on considering evaluations on current situation and encouraging the support and creation of a healthy, safe and imaginative-stimulative environment.”

Environmental Dimension / Health Evaluation and Assessment of Urban Planning Interventions / Yara Naji (), Celina Wallnöfer () / “Carrer Aragó is a street in the Eixample district of Barcelona, and is currently one of the fastest ways to get around. In the original design, Aragó Street was 50 metres wide, in order to counteract the loss represented by the location of the train tracks and thus maintain the space for carriages, if we pass along Aragó Street we will see that the church of La Concepción, which was one of the first buildings on the street, is set back from the line of buildings that exists today, which was the width that was originally intended for the street.
Currently this street is very noisy, the air pollution is high due to the high number of cars, there are also a lot of accidents due to traffic, there is no shelter from the sun or rain due to the lack of vegetation, in summary, there is no comfort due to the lack of vegetation and the high traffic rate. Therefore, the design proposed at the intersection of Aragó Street and Passeig de Gràcia is to reduce the section of road dedicated to vehicular traffic to gain space for the pedestrian, planting more vegetation to provide shade and reduce the heat island effect and add seating areas and create a clear separation between the vehicular road and the pedestrian to achieve a safer and more comfortable mobility.”

Research Tools / GIS and Spatial Analysis / Fatima Zahra Mellouki (.mlk) / “The use of specific software, in our case, GIS, is a powerful tool for the development of urban design that i discovered. This enabled me to locate the various types of green spaces and their accessibility. I conclude that in Barcelona, access to green spaces is more prevalent in certain districts to the north (the population avoids more air pollution, etc. due to forests) than in those to the south, which have access only to parks or gardens. Gis will be able to assist Us, urban designers, in locating ourserlves and developing a new design that will create balance throughout the city.”

Cultural Dimension / Urban Sense of Place / Kani Jaff (), Bernardo Garza (), Bertrand Grimm () / “Poblenou is changing. What used to be an industrial neighborhood is now transitioning into a technological and innovative district. It is attracting local and international companies to invest. Despite this aim to revitalize the area, we fear that this will erase the identity of Poblenou and create a new one that does not represent the essence of the neighborhood.

The loss of the sense of historicity and evolutionary identity is clearly becoming a major concern at the accelerated rate of today’s aggressive investment strategies and universal architectural fashions.

But, is newness a relevant aspiration and criteria of quality in art and architecture?

Is a future without its constitutive past even conceivable?

Tradition maintains and safeguards the collective and accumulated existential wisdom of countless generations.
It also gives a reliable direction to the new and maintains the comprehensibility and meaning of the new.”

Synthesis Workshop / Masterplan 1/10.000 + Sections / Collective work / “The project rethinks the mobility and green areas by reconsidering the location between the major axes of the city such as Gran Via, Avinguda Diagonal and Rambla Prim, aiming to create a new viability thought it.

First of all, enhancing some of the inner secondary axes of the Superilla, like C/ Marroc and Agricultura, which are transformed into pedestrian friendly roads, redesigning the crossings into green and public spaces dedicated to users and changing the section of the road from 4 lanes dedicated to cars to 1, gaining public space for pedestrians and vegetation.

In the Pere IV civic road, the section is transformed by incorporating the tram. Cristobal de Moura street is converted into a large green artery, with a single platform in which 20 lanes dedicated to vehicles are transformed into public space dedicated to pedestrians, which is occasionally shared with two lanes covered with vegetation for vehicles.

And last but not least, the main streets that delimit the main 3x3 mesh of Superillas such as C/ Josep Pla or C/ Selva de Mar maintain the vehicular circulation but reducing the section dedicated to vehicles by 4 meters, gaining back free green space and space for the users of the area.

In conclusion, a healthy city is achieved from the point of view of mobility, reducing car space, which implies a healthier environment with less CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and winning open and greener space for people.”