Previous state
Redefining mobility, the Superblock programme, which gives priority to pedestrians, bicycles, and public transport in Barcelona, has become a model for transforming streets because it has now been extended from its first interventions in Ciutat Vella, Gràcia, and other districts to the Eixample. With very few green spaces, this is the Barcelona neighbourhood with the highest pollution levels. Cars occupy 60% of the streets but represent only 20% of users.
Aim of the intervention
The existing model of the street needed to evolve. First it had to move towards more efficient, less contaminating mobility that would occupy less space and give priority to pedestrians, bicycles, and public transport. Second, the zone involved had to become a new public space adapted to climate change while also seeking to improve environmental and health conditions and fostering community relations.
The application of the concept of Superblocks in the Eixample entails an overall reorganisation of mobility that make it possible to free one in every three streets from vehicular traffic, thus turning them into new green axes. Cars can no longer move lineally along these streets and must turn at each intersection. The project aims to create 21 green axes and 21 squares with the axes connecting public spaces and neighbourhoods, and the new squares at the crossroads offering larger and more natural public spaces.
Description
The first phase (2020-2023) involved sections of four streets—Consell de Cent, Rocafort, Borrell, and Girona—and four squares. The design prioritised pedestrians and included infrastructure adapted to the climate with permeable surfaces and new vegetation. Two streets, Rocafort and Enric Granados, have focused on urban gardens, while Rocafort and Borrell are now civic spaces for community activities.
This phase has entailed the transformation of 100,000 square metres, with 4.65 kilometres of green zones, and 8,000 square metres of squares. Pedestrian space has been expanded by 58,000 square metres, permeable surface has increased from 1% to 15%, 11,000 square metres of urban greenery have been added, and 400 new trees of various species have been planted. Increased shade and replacement of paving have lowered the summer surface temperature by five degrees. The volume of vehicles circulating in the green axes and in the Eixample neighbourhood is 17% lower.
Assessment
From the very first day, the four new green axes and four squares have become very popular and are much appreciated by pedestrians. Many people are using the benches and tables as spaces for resting and socialising. The squares have provided new, necessary, and unprecedented public spaces in the Eixample, and the green zones have permitted something that was once unimaginable: walking in the middle of the street. The transformation has led to a new way of looking at the urban landscape and experiencing public space in the Eixample, which has now changed from prioritising mobility to offering meeting places and revitalised street life to pedestrians.
[Last update: 04/06/2025]
