To convert a model into a city-wide program
Right after the controversy surrounding the implementation of the first 3×3 block superblock model in Poblenou in 2017 with tactical urbanism actions, we initiated technical assistance to the Program Secretariat of the Barcelona City Council, which will extend until the end of 2023.
During this period, VAIC Mobility supported the redefinition of the global implementation strategy for the superblock model in Barcelona, as well as the definition of the program’s technical criteria and the evaluation of its potential city-wide impacts.
This work contributes to the evolution of the initial model towards a more scalable and adaptable strategy for the entire city, which will subsequently lead to the deployment of Green Axes and new superblocks in Eixample.
Main contributions
The main contributions of VAIC Mobility, as a mobility consultancy, to the evolution and implementation of the Superblock model in the city of Barcelona have been:
- Define a new road hierarchy with three levels of streets, incorporating a new category of “local street” between the “basic street” and the “neighborhood street”, so that the model could be expanded throughout the city, beyond the prototypical case of the Eixample grid.
- Provide technical knowledge to facilitate consensus among municipal departments regarding the technical design criteria for “tactical” and “structuring” interventions for each type of street, and especially those related to mobility.
- Define a network of basic pedestrian civic axes at a city scale, non-existent until now, based on historical traces, activity distribution, directness, etc., crucial for prioritizing transformation actions in all types of routes (basic, local, or neighborhood).
- Identify priority Green Axes in Eixample based on the dual qualification of neighborhood streets and civic axes at a city scale.
- Establish the implementation strategy for the Superblock model by areas or by axes, depending on its suitability in each application area of the city, breaking with previous conflicting visions.
- Define a complementary model for breaking vehicle traffic continuities but without opposing directions, as an alternative to the loop model, to facilitate implementation in certain axes, reducing the impact on the neighborhood.
- Evaluate the traffic impacts of the different transformation phases planned in the projects.
- Review mobility criteria in the development of urbanization projects linked to the program.
- Provide data and technical knowledge throughout the participatory process with the driving groups and the main stakeholders who have requested direct interaction, contributing to explaining technical concepts and studies to all citizens in an engaging and inclusive way.
