{"id":74729,"date":"2016-10-02T16:36:54","date_gmt":"2016-10-02T14:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=74729"},"modified":"2018-07-16T15:45:30","modified_gmt":"2018-07-16T13:45:30","slug":"pedestrian-superblocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/pedestrian-superblocks\/","title":{"rendered":"The new pedestrian friendly superblocks of Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Architecture<\/strong> and city development plans are constantly changing. With both population and pollution on the rise, different<strong> designs and layouts<\/strong> are being thought up to help deal with these issues. If you&#8217;re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">looking for a flat<\/a> to buy\u00a0or rent, new options are on the horizon. You too can be a part of this ever-changing world, putting <strong>quality of life<\/strong>\u00a0first.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/pedestrian-superblocks\/#Whats_the_problem\" title=\"What&#8217;s the problem?\">What&#8217;s the problem?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/pedestrian-superblocks\/#Whats_the_solution\" title=\"What&#8217;s the solution?\">What&#8217;s the solution?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/pedestrian-superblocks\/#Where_will_it_start\" title=\"Where will it start?\">Where will it start?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/pedestrian-superblocks\/#What_are_the_benefits\" title=\"What are the benefits?\">What are the benefits?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats_the_problem\"><\/span>What&#8217;s the problem?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_74733\" style=\"width: 297px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-74733\" class=\" wp-image-74733\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/passeig-de-gracia-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by Francesc_2000 via Visual Hunt\" width=\"287\" height=\"215\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-74733\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Francesc_2000 via Visual Hunt<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The main issue is with the amount of vehicles traveling within the city. Both air <strong>pollution<\/strong> and noise pollution levels are at an all-time high. And it&#8217;s also the fact that this traffic shares the space which <strong>pedestrians<\/strong> use too. Barcelona has failed to meet the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.who.int\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">world health organization<\/a>&#8216;s<strong> air quality standards<\/strong>, year in and year out. Over 3000 deaths are thought to be caused by this annually. And there are also many traffic accidents. So, <strong>city planners<\/strong>\u00a0have now been pushed to come up with a <strong>solution<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats_the_solution\"><\/span>What&#8217;s the solution?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The idea of <strong>&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/smartcity.bcn.cat\/en\/superblocks.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Superblocks<\/a>&#8220;<\/strong> was first thought up in 2014. They aim to push cars and buses out from the populated areas\u00a0to the main thoroughfares of the city. This would mean freeing up the internal space, <strong>encouraging walking and cycling<\/strong> as means of transport, thus <strong>cutting down on the air pollution<\/strong>. Urban planners hope to double the number of cycle paths, reducing traffic by 21%.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The blocks themselves will be like <strong>mini-neighborhoods<\/strong>, bustling with life and creativity. <strong>Quality of life<\/strong> will go up as air pollution goes down, and more space for community activities will become available. This will lead to a more <strong>eco-friendly<\/strong> environment, with <strong>green spaces<\/strong>\u00a0on the rise.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_will_it_start\"><\/span>Where will it start?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eixample\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Eixample<\/a> is the first area which will be <strong>implementing the plan,<\/strong> this is the most polluted area in Barcelona. There is only a measly 1.85 sq m of green space per person in the district, much less than the recommended 9 sq m. They plan to build<strong> 9 superblocks<\/strong>, which will house around 6000 people. Each block will contain <strong>160 municipal squares<\/strong>, thus creating the extra green space needed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i>Looking to invest in property in Barcelona?\u00a0<b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">ShBarcelona<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>is the answer.<\/i><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_benefits\"><\/span>What are the benefits?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_74734\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-74734\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-74734\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/tenement-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by Stephanie Overton via Visualhunt.com\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-74734\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Stephanie Overton via Visualhunt.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Aside from the immediately obvious <strong>community benefits<\/strong>, studies show that the <strong>health<\/strong> of inhabitants will improve drastically. Just from the lowering of toxic fumes in the air 1200 lives would be spared, creating an <strong>extra 5-month life expectancy<\/strong>. They predict there will be 18000 fewer asthma attacks, 12000 less cases of acute bronchitis, and 600 less cardiovascular hospital admissions. Noise levels will also drop dramatically, creating a much less stressful environment. More than 60% of residents currently live amongst levels deemed unhealthy by law.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It can often seem that progress is slow in this world since there are a lot of<strong> environmental issues<\/strong> which need addressing. But plans are in action, and soon we&#8217;ll see the results. Let&#8217;s hope that the <strong>Barcelona superblocks<\/strong> serve as an example to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><i>Looking for a place to stay during your visit to Barcelona?\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>ShBarcelona<\/b><\/a>\u00a0offers a variety of apartments for short and long stays in the city.<\/i><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-left \"\n    data-id=\"74729\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 150px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">1<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            vote        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Architecture and city development plans are constantly changing. With both population and pollution on the rise, different designs and layouts are being thought up to help deal with these issues. If you&#8217;re looking for a flat to buy\u00a0or rent, new options are on the horizon. You too can be a part of this ever-changing world, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":75255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8871],"tags":[5294,5299,5302,5300,5295,5301,5297,5296,5293,5298],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74729"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74729"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75276,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74729\/revisions\/75276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}