Impact of the impacts on the residential fabric and on the commercial fabric, derived from the gentrification processes in a “two-speed Barcelona”

Abstract

Barcelona has not been oblivious to the phenomena of urban segregation, even the implementation of its first reforms at the end of the 19th century led to the displacement of less favored social classes due to the rising cost of living in the intervened areas. These dynamics have given rise to gentrification processes, which although they are configured as a phenomenon: structural, permanent and general of cities, they are not exempt from particular features that define their own reality. Thus, from its great transformation for the 92 Olympics to the current context, Barcelona has managed to position itself as a global city, where its growing tourist activity represents one of the main dimensions of the gentrification processes.

This exponential increase in tourists - a floating population that is increasingly present in the daily life of the city - has impacted the residential fabric by demanding more tourist accommodation, becoming the rise in the value of housing and the appearance of housing for tourist use (HUT's by its acronym in Catalan). In addition, the impact on its environment that has transformed the structure of the commercial fabric; characterized by its proximity model, forcing its adaptation to the profile and demands of new consumers, due to the profitability it represents and leaving the needs of residents in the background. This is reflected in the figure of the food markets, whose validity is governed by its possibilities of reinvention, must contemplate its double dimension "economic - social", disputing the weight between its roles of commercial activity and public equipment.

In this context, the study of the repercussions on the urban structure of the city, pointing out the impacts on the residential fabric and the commercial fabric, as effects derived from the gentrification processes developed within the framework of an intense tourist activity. Likewise, this complex reality tends to polarize even more, if it manifests itself in a “two-speed Barcelona”; referring to the divergence in the trajectories that the socioeconomic behavior of its neighborhoods experiences, increasing the inequalities between its inhabitants and living in a constant competition between residents and tourists.

A quantitative analysis methodology will be developed based on data obtained in previous studies and official documents of the City Council (reports, censuses, websites). Considering two indicators; the 1st: referred to the change in the use of the residential fabric expressed through the registry of dwellings for tourist use (HUT's) in the neighborhoods of the municipal area and the 2nd: related to the dynamics of the commercial fabric with respect to the interventions executed in the markets Food and the number of active establishments. Linking all this to the level of available family income (NRFD) of the residents, in order to establish the incidence of the population's spending capacity.

The results show a relationship between the evolution within the food markets; expressed in number of establishments, depending on the residential fabric of the neighborhoods that house them. In turn, this evolution can be linked to one of the main consequences of gentrification: the presence of HUT’s, which impacts traditional uses. It should be noted that HUT’s find a bearable coexistence in consolidated neighborhoods such as the Dreta de l’Eixample; which has a mostly well-stocked population, as well as a high rate of tertiary activities, allowing an ideal environment for these businesses to develop their double dimension: innovating as a commercial activity and as a public service that meets the needs of the community.

Finally, the present study has not only referred to a theoretical and descriptive review of gentrification processes in Barcelona, but also focuses on analyzing them through indicators and interrelates them, with the aim of having a joint vision of their effects concatenated in the framework of a city where the socioeconomic differences of its population are increasingly noticeable.