Students in the UIC Master's Programme in International Cooperation: Sustainable Emergency Architecture at the ESARQ School of Architecture gave a presentation at the Zona Nord library in the Nou Barris district of Barcelona for residents of Ciutat Meridiana on Thursday, 20 December 2012. The students explained the results of an academic initiative that involved providing solutions for regeneration of the neighbourhood. A total of five projects were presented whose common objective was to adapt the neighbourhood's existing urban and architectural barriers in order to improve its physical character and address socioeconomic challenges. The event was attended by the students, Carmen Mendoza and Sandra Bestraten, the co-directors of the Master's programme, and Raquel Colacios, the coordinator of the programme.
The numerous evictions
taking place in Ciutat Meridiana, the neighbourhood with the highest eviction rate in
Spain, are having a dramatic effect on civic and commercial life and
compounding the social and urban problems that have affected the neighbourhood
since its creation in the 1960s. For this reason, students in the Master’s
Programme in International Cooperation: Sustainable Emergency Architecture at
the ESARQ School of Architecture are working on "Eviction City", the
nickname currently used to describe the neighbourhood. The social divide caused
by this stigma in contemporary society, coupled with the lack of physical
connection between the city and the neighbourhood, which is located in the Nou
Barris
district, has been the subject of research projects and theses by students in
the Master’s Programme in International Cooperation: Sustainable Emergency
Architecture.
Ciutat
Meridiana,
which has 11,000 inhabitants, 40% of whom are immigrants, high levels of
unemployment, below-average levels of education, a shortage of public and green
spaces, as well as a lack of community facilities and transport systems,
demonstrates a clear socioeconomic complexity that is further complicated by
the unusual geography of its urban setting.
The students were divided
into five groups and maintained contact with residents to draw up a complete
physical and social analysis of the neighbourhood. Based on this research, each
team developed intervention tools and proposals for the regeneration and
reinterpretation of this troubled community. The five proposals presented on
Thursday, 20 December 2012, included such things as a guide with routes
described by residents and a list of neighbourhood places where people meet; a
manual with guidelines for increasing the involvement of citizens and
generating physical improvements; the development of an open source map known as
a Crowdmap that can be used in this case to list empty flats and spaces that
may provide opportunities to create places for free community use; the creation
of a main street to connect the different parts of the neighbourhood; and a
solution for significantly increasing mobility.
The Master’s Programme in
International Cooperation: Sustainable Emergency Architecture at the ESARQ
School of Architecture, which is jointly directed by Carmen Mendoza and Sandra Bestraten, prepares future
professionals to carry out projects and manage urban planning processes in
developing countries where international cooperation is most needed and in
cities affected by problems related to high-speed transformation. It also
trains experts to study and carry out research on materials, urbanism,
economics, and environmental and social aspects, based on the local culture and
principles of sustainability and with a clear objective to provide solutions
that aid the recovery of the affected communities.
