Public block centers as a tool for urban integration

Analysis of housing complexes in Barcelona and Buenos Aires

Abstract

When studying the socio-spatial configurations of collective housing, their exterior spaces, often underused or of low quality, raise the question of what strategy to implement to make these spaces a link with the rest of the city. How could they connect with public spaces, improve accessibility, rehabilitate landscapes and the environment, leading to true urban integration? Through a comparative analysis, the aim is to understand the patterns of use that enable these central spaces of public access, the social dynamics that allow development, how architectural morphology and territorial management variants affect space use, as well as how they contribute to the configuration of the urban fabric in order to achieve proper integration and result in an improvement in habitat quality.