A Journey Through Time: The Evolution of Urban Planning in Barcelona

Throughout history, there has been a significant evolution of urban planning in Barcelona. The city's historical and territorial events, public space, architecture, urban infrastructure, parks, and gardens have dictated the urbanism of the metropolis.

One of the main attractions of Barcelona that tourists often highlight when they arrive in the city, aside from the monuments, is the architectural differences between neighborhoods that they discover while walking through its streets. We have all experienced that feeling at some point, when leaving the old town and entering the Eixample, or when arriving at one of the city's historic villages. The fact is that over 22 centuries, Barcelona has grown and transformed according to the standards of the time, making a visit to the city a true journey through time.

The origin: Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino

The earliest traces of what is today Barcelona can be found in the current Gothic Quarter. During the Roman expansion along the Catalan coasts, a military settlement was established on the slopes of Mount Táber. The location was considered strategic for controlling the interior and maritime trade of the Mediterranean, which was a constant struggle between Romans and Carthaginians. There, the colony of Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino was founded. Built in the Roman style, Barcino had an octagonal shape, with two main streets perpendicular to each other, converging at the Forum, the nerve center of social life.

Plan of Barcino superimposed on the current map of the Gothic Quarter (Wikipedia)

Around it, various straight streets shaped the rest of the city's layout. As can be seen on the attached map, the Forum of ancient Barcino was located next to the current city forum, the Plaza de Sant Jaume, where we find the City Hall and the Palau de la Generalitat. From that era, the Columns of the Temple of Augustus are preserved in situ, which today are the main attraction of the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya. Other archaeological remains of Roman Barcelona can be found in the Plaza de la Villa de Madrid and in the Barcelona History Museum.

Photograph of the columns of the Temple of Augustus (Urban Planning Barcelona)

Centuries pass and the old Roman castrum gradually loses its purpose as the Empire disintegrates. Fortunately for the city, its prosperity due to trade leads to a progressive and steady growth that will continue until the 18th century. This is medieval Barcelona, which expands northward towards the Ribera area thanks to the Rec Comtal and southward towards La Rambla, and from the 15th century onwards to the suburbs. During this long period, the Jewish quarter, the cathedral, and the church of Santa María del Mar emerge. An artificial port is built, consolidating the city's strength in maritime trade, and the walls are expanded to form what we would today know as the Ciutat Vella district (Raval, Gothic, Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera, and Barceloneta). In this era, the current old town was shaped, full of narrow alleys and labyrinthine layouts always bounded by the walls.

Down with the walls!

19th century. The strong territorial limitation of the city (the sea on one side and the walls on the other) meant that Barcelona continued to grow upwards, building floors on top of already existing ones. There was a lack of space and infrastructure, and the sanitary conditions were dire. In 1818, 83,000 people lived in Barcelona. By 1850, that number had risen to 187,000. The city was collapsing within its walls while the outskirts were filled with deserted fields. Faced with this situation, there was a growing public outcry demanding the demolition of the walls.

From that movement would emerge the so-called Cerdà Plan, which designed the expansion of Barcelona, an urban plan of straight, parallel, and perpendicular streets, forming three-dimensional grids known as blocks. With this process, Barcelona extends to absorb former independent towns such as Gracia, Horta, Sants, or Sant Martí de Provençals. Barcelona adapts to the future and widens its streets, making them suitable for the use of public (tram, train) or private (carts and cars) transport. These are the years of the Modernist fever, thanks to the patronage of the Catalan bourgeoisie who find in the new architectural trend a way to satisfy their desires for modernization and to express, discreetly, their wealth and distinction. A clear example of all this is undoubtedly the Casa Lleó i Morera, designed by Domènech i Montaner.

Map of present-day Barcelona, with the 15th-century walled perimeter superimposed. (Wikipedia)

We have now reached the 20th century and Barcelona begins to transform into the city we all know. It reaches its maximum territorial extent and the population rate soars. Having encountered its natural limits at Collserola and the Besós and Llobregat rivers, the city continues to grow internally with the consolidation of the Cerdá plan.

And so we arrive at the present, where we have a millennial city that looks to the future and has managed to preserve a piece of its history in the various neighborhoods that make it up. Traveling through time, in Barcelona, is possible. You just need a map of the city.

Plan of the surroundings of the city of Barcelona and the project for its improvement and expansion, by Ildefonso Cerdá (1859).

Barcelona opens up to the sea

The designation of Barcelona in 1986 as the host city for the 1992 Olympic Games triggered the city's penultimate major transformation. This took place on Montjuic mountain and, above all, in Poblenou. Abandoned factories were demolished, shantytowns were eradicated, and the city opened up to the sea in the Olympic Village. This is a new area of the city, with wide green spaces. Straddling the 20th and 21st centuries, the city is not just a place where people work and sleep, but now also a place to live and enjoy. Parks and bike lanes are plentiful. And as an extension of the Olympic Barcelona, the northern area of the city completes its last major transformation on the occasion of the 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures. The 22@ and the Diagonal Mar residential area are created, with a focus on the sustainability of the buildings.

Views of Barcelona