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I just came back from an extended trip in Barcelona, and I saw first hand how there is plenty of wasted space in neighborhoods. Many intersections between dens

I just came back from an extended trip in Barcelona, and I saw first hand how there is plenty of wasted space in neighborhoods. Many intersections between dense housing areas are overly large hexagons where you must annoyingly walk around dedicated parking spaces to cross streets. https://www.flickr.com/photos/16nine/22802717995 https://www.flickr.com/photos/16nine/22802717995 Hopefully the city will have buy-in from the residents, as this plan seems to also modify the bus routes. And from what I saw, the locals have ingrained those stops in their daily routines, which might cause some backlash when those drastically change.

kristiandupont 10y ago
In my opinion, those blocks (known as Cerdá's manzanas) create a much nicer space than normal ones. It also seems safer traffic-wise. True, it takes a bit longer to cross as a pedestrian but I think that's worth the price.
- soci 10y ago
  As a Barcelona citizen I can not agree more on your comment. Cerdà blocks are much better than regular square corners, as a pederestian those "dead spaces" are a pleasure to walk, and as a driver makes crossroads much safer.
vecinu 10y ago
Why is green space also labelled as "dead space"? I thought having trees and green space in an urban environment really lightens up the whole feel of concrete structures.
nirvanis 10y ago
I'm from Barcelona (but abroad now). The whole bus system is being revamped (for the last 4 years) and is being done gradually. It's been a painless transition for most. In general, the amount of transfers to reach a destination has dropped, the average speed of bus routes has increased and the frequency of the revamped lines is better than the old ones. Basically, the buses "adapt" to the grid following "horizontal", "vertical" and "west-east diagonal" routes (as much as possible). The streets the buses run on are either main streets (those that will be the veins of the supergrids) or pacified streets with dedicated lanes (in some cases reverse direction lanes [such as Carrer Pi i Molist]). The transition, as I said, is being implemented gradually, with very intensive campaigns informing impacted neighborhoods. IIRC, 50% of the new routes are in place. New ones are introduced twice a year approx. Regarding your comment about the intersections in Eixample... I bet you will not find anyone in Barcelona who does not love them. They make the city open. And even if it seems impossible, there are occasions when they can be used to make the neighborhoods come together: http://eldigital.barcelona.cat/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/encesa-foguera.jpg http://eldigital.barcelona.cat/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/en... :)

kristiandupont 10y ago

In my opinion, those blocks (known as Cerdá's manzanas) create a much nicer space than normal ones. It also seems safer traffic-wise. True, it takes a bit longer to cross as a pedestrian but I think that's worth the price.

soci 10y ago
As a Barcelona citizen I can not agree more on your comment. Cerdà blocks are much better than regular square corners, as a pederestian those "dead spaces" are a pleasure to walk, and as a driver makes crossroads much safer.

vecinu 10y ago

Why is green space also labelled as "dead space"? I thought having trees and green space in an urban environment really lightens up the whole feel of concrete structures.

nirvanis 10y ago

I'm from Barcelona (but abroad now). The whole bus system is being revamped (for the last 4 years) and is being done gradually. It's been a painless transition for most. In general, the amount of transfers to reach a destination has dropped, the average speed of bus routes has increased and the frequency of the revamped lines is better than the old ones. Basically, the buses "adapt" to the grid following "horizontal", "vertical" and "west-east diagonal" routes (as much as possible). The streets the buses run on are either main streets (those that will be the veins of the supergrids) or pacified streets with dedicated lanes (in some cases reverse direction lanes [such as Carrer Pi i Molist]). The transition, as I said, is being implemented gradually, with very intensive campaigns informing impacted neighborhoods. IIRC, 50% of the new routes are in place. New ones are introduced twice a year approx. Regarding your comment about the intersections in Eixample... I bet you will not find anyone in Barcelona who does not love them. They make the city open. And even if it seems impossible, there are occasions when they can be used to make the neighborhoods come together: http://eldigital.barcelona.cat/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/encesa-foguera.jpg http://eldigital.barcelona.cat/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/en... :)