Barcelona lays the foundations for the "second great transformation" of Ciutat Vella

BarcelonaCiutat Vella has historically been a difficult puzzle for Barcelona's governments to solve. This is also true for Mayor Jaume Collboni, who, upon taking office, made the revitalization of this district one of his top priorities. To this end, he launched a tool—the Pact for Ciutat Vella—which, after two years of work, officially presented its roadmap this Thursday, outlining 187 actions intended to, in Mayor Collboni's words, address "the second major transformation" of the Catalan capital's historic center over the next ten years and revitalize it. The municipal government has repeatedly denounced the fact that in recent years, successive city administrations had "abandoned" Ciutat Vella and that the district needed to be rethought. That's why he tasked Ivan Pera, the commissioner of the Pact for Ciutat Vella, with organizing discussions with entities and social and economic stakeholders in the district to forge a consensus on what to do in the neighborhoods of Raval, Gòtic, Barceloneta, and Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera. This work has resulted in a strategic document that includes 187 actions to "recover" Ciutat Vella. It is a strategic document without specifics, timelines, or a budget, and is intended to serve as a guide for policies implemented in the district in the coming years.

If in the past the focus of transformation was to open up the neighborhood with urban interventions, now the priority is the rehabilitation of a housing stock that, in the case of Ciutat Vella, is particularly aging. While the average age of buildings in Barcelona is 65 years, in this district it's around 115. Therefore, among the priorities of the document—structured around four pillars: people, public space, economy, and community—is the development of a rehabilitation plan to renovate at least 5% of the municipal building stock, which could mean renovating some 4,000 homes. In fact, the City Council recently secured €12.5 million in funding from the Generalitat (Catalan government) for this project through the [unspecified program/funding initiative]. Pla de BarrisThe city council is also awaiting a study from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) on the exact state of the housing stock in Ciutat Vella, which comprises some 30,000 apartments. This analysis will help them to more accurately determine and plan the intervention to be carried out in the coming years. The document also proposes promoting a comprehensive social and healthcare action plan that addresses issues such as homelessness—Ciutat Vella is the district with the most people sleeping rough—child poverty, unwanted loneliness, and addictions. The actions included also encompass the implementation of a civic pact in Ciutat Vella, expanding the video surveillance network in all neighborhoods of the district, improving the control of street prostitution, and increasing police presence. Overcrowding in the district

Among the plan's priorities is combating overcrowding in the district, one of the most densely populated in Europe and by far the one most affected by the city's tourism. Another challenge is addressing the over-reliance on tourism and promoting local businesses. All of this aims to ensure that Ciutat Vella "regains its centrality" and that Barcelona residents once again feel a sense of ownership over neighborhoods that, the city government admits, they have stopped visiting in recent years. During the presentation of the Pact this Thursday afternoon, Collboni called for a shift from a "showcase district" to a "district for living." Despite projecting a transformation for the next decade, the city government emphasizes that this vision is combined with the most urgent actions already underway, which include, for example, the remodeling of La Rambla; the premiere of the new Via Laietana, wave transformation throughout the grounds of the Old Hospital of the Holy Cross and the area around Gardunya Square. There is also the renewal of the district's land-use plan – which should be definitively approved in May – and various measures to improve cleaning and maintenance in the district's four neighborhoods.