Barcelona case study

Barcelona case study 

• Key idea: making a successful pace requires planning and design 

Key facts 

• Location: in spain and lies on the metitorian coast.

• Has 1.6 inhabitants 

• It is spain's second largest city

• One quarter of spain's exports come from barcelona 

History of barcelona 

• Barcelona has been occupied for over 2000 years. Originally a Roman settlement, it became a tightly packed medieval city, with a dense network of streets and alleys contained within city walls.

• Barcelona’s maritime heritage was well established by the fifteenth century and the city received and sent goods throughout the known world. 

• Nineteenth-century industrialisation added another dimension to the city’s geography, with cotton, cork, iron and steel, shipbuilding and wine all becoming important.

• City’s population grew rapidly in the nineteenth century from 115,000 to over 500,000 and reached 1 million by 1930.

• Various political events crystallised support for a separate Catalan identity. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, Barcelona became a volatile centre of Republican opposition to the Nationalists led by General Franco.

Role of rebranding 

• 1888 the Universal Exhibition was held and in 1929 the World Exhibition showcased Barcelona, attracting exhibitors and visitors from Europe, the USA, Latin America and the Far East.

• Barcelona gradually reclaimed more democratic rights which included the ability to make decisions about the management of the city. 

• local authority began regeneration with a seven-year plan starting in 1980 focused on 140 small projects providing more piazzas (public squares) and better housing, transport routes, schools and hospitals.

Sport 

• Winning the right to stage the 1992 Olympic Games was a major moment in Barcelona’s rebranding.

• Athletes’ village was located on the waterfront, with the main stadium a little way inland.

• Games to generate city-wide redevelopment and to renovate…