Measuring neighbourhood change in public space: a public life study in Poblenou, Barcelona

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5821/siiu.6622

Abstract

This research aims to learn if gentrification processes and neighbourhood change might be manifested in observable patterns of public life. Through the systematic observation of pedestrian movement, staying behaviour and other indicators, the study provides a diagnostic of the current conditions in four sites in the Poblenou neighbourhood of Barcelona: the Rambla of Poblenou, Pere IV at Trullàs, Mar Bella beach, and the Superilla. The research team observed public life from 8:00-24:00 hrs during a week in June 2018. The studydoes not find clear evidence of gentrification processes but there are systematic differences across sites. The Rambla performs best overall, with the highest level of pedestrian traffic, afternoon staying behaviour and gender balance. Three of the four sites are gendered spaces, in which men have a disproportionate use of public space. Describing the current patterns of public life may inform urban design interventions and serve as a baseline for long-term studies that aim to measure neighbourhood change.

Author Biography

Jordi Honey-Rosés, University of British Columbia

Jordi Honey-Rosés PhD is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia and Director of the Water Planning Lab at the School of Community and Regional Planning. His research interests are in environmental planning, water resource management, and impact evaluation. As Director of the Water Planning Lab, Jordi has supervised student research on water planning and policy. In the summer of 2015 the Water Planning Lab conducted the BC Municipal Water survey on municipal water use, metering coverage and pricing structures. Prior to becoming a faculty member at UBC, Jordi held research appointments at the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA) and at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He received his PhD in Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and holds a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard.

Downloads

  • PDF (Español (España))
    • PDF

Published

2019-11-05

Issue

No. 11 (2019)

Section

Sede Lisboa

License

Aquellos autores/as que tengan publicaciones con esta revista, aceptan los términos siguientes:

  1. Los autores/as conservarán sus derechos de autor y garantizarán a la revista el derecho de primera publicación de su obra, el cuál estará simultáneamente sujeto a la Licencia de reconocimiento de Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND- 4.0 que permite a terceros compartir la obra siempre que se indique su autor y su primera publicación esta revista, pero no se pueden cambiar ni se pueden utilizar comercialmente.
  2. Los autores/as podrán adoptar otros acuerdos de licencia no exclusiva de distribución de la versión de la obra publicada (p. ej.: depositarla en un archivo telemático institucional o publicarla en un volumen monográfico) siempre que se indique la publicación inicial en esta revista.
  3. Se permite y recomienda a los autores/as difundir su obra a través de Internet (p. ej.: en archivos telemáticos institucionales o en su página web) antes y durante el proceso de envío, lo cual puede producir intercambios interesantes y aumentar las citas de la obra publicada. (Véase El efecto del acceso abierto).