The demographic and urban growth experienced by the 36 metropolitan municipalities over the decades has strengthened their functional ties to such an extent that they now form their own urban metropolis. Even though each of the metropolitan municipalities has its own clearly differentiated municipal identity, they all share mobility services and infrastructure and social, cultural and educational facilities; they are recipients of services provided by shared networks and infrastructure, such as energy, public transport, water and waste management; they enjoy the same green and blue spaces, beaches and metropolitan parks, the Collserola mountains and natural park; and they are all subject to the same metropolitan-scale economic situation, housing opportunities and job market.
Metropolis of cities
AMB
THE MAJOR CHALLENGES FACING THE PDU
Forty-one years after the approval of the PGM, the territorial diversity and complexity of the elements that characterise this territory call for new approaches, tools and planning instruments to ensure environmental sustainability, economic competitiveness and social cohesion. In short, these measures must improve people's quality of life and guarantee a better tomorrow for future generations.
Given the highly consolidated nature of the area it covers, the PDU focuses its attention on renewing existing fabrics, transforming obsolete areas, conserving natural, heritage and landscape elements, integrating fabrics and infrastructure, and adapting to an immediate future marked by climate change, the technological revolution and increasingly complex social demands.
Given the highly consolidated nature of the area it covers, the PDU focuses its attention on renewing existing fabrics, transforming obsolete areas, conserving natural, heritage and landscape elements, integrating fabrics and infrastructure, and adapting to an immediate future marked by climate change, the technological revolution and increasingly complex social demands.
‘OPEN SPACES: FROM PASSIVE ELEMENTS TO PLAYING A STRATEGIC AND CENTRAL ROLE'
The PDU must recognise the value of the biodiversity of our Mediterranean metropolitan landscape. More dynamic and active regulations are therefore necessary to improve ecological functionality and put people more in touch with ecosystem services.
This is the reason why green infrastructure is proposed as the backbone of the metropolis. This system is formed by spaces of great environmental value (accounting for 52% of the territory) in addition to a large number of urban spaces that have the potential to become green spaces. Streets, squares, urban parks and even roofs and façades can connect us to the area's major natural parks, forming an interconnected network of green spaces that provide numerous environmental and health benefits.
‘FROM A CAR-CENTRIC METROPOLIS TO LOCAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT FOR ALL'
Providing people with better access to activities is one of the foundations upon which the functional improvement of the metropolis is based. The aim is to create a more pleasant and comfortable city by connecting and reconnecting paths and streets to allow people to cover the entire territory on foot or by bicycle and to guarantee fairer accessibility by designing the metropolis around a network of intermodal spaces that provide access to different means of public transport.
‘FROM HOMOGENEITY TO IDENTITY DIVERSITY AS A VALUE IN THE BUILT CITY'
Residential fabrics require urban planning legislation that focuses more on urban regeneration and less on the occupation of new spaces by urban growth. Actions must take into account the consolidated and mature nature of the territory and the diversity of its residential fabrics and pay particular attention to the 14 different types of elements that define the identity of the metropolis.
The focus should therefore be on integrating residential fabrics with a view to ensuring their participation and close ties to each other throughout the whole territory. This will, then, necessitate an assurance of equal opportunities as far as quality of life throughout the territory is concerned and the definition of the fundamental criteria for urban regeneration and architectural restoration, especially in vulnerable areas like residential estates and isolated urban developments.
The focus should therefore be on integrating residential fabrics with a view to ensuring their participation and close ties to each other throughout the whole territory. This will, then, necessitate an assurance of equal opportunities as far as quality of life throughout the territory is concerned and the definition of the fundamental criteria for urban regeneration and architectural restoration, especially in vulnerable areas like residential estates and isolated urban developments.
‘FROM A GROUP OF DIFFERENT MUNICIPALITIES TO A CONSTELLATION OF DIFFERENT CENTRES'
The metropolis is becoming more and more extensive, which is why central spaces and areas of centrality play such a vital role in contemporary urban planning debates. They have traditionally been the symbolic spaces of the collective imagination, but they are now also the spaces where people gather and where activities and services are provided. The PDU proposes organising the metropolis's urban fabrics around central spaces with a view to configuring a constellation of different nodes of centrality linked to the intermodal public transport network.
