Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

The Local and Interior Spaces Programme (PEPI) will renew unused spaces in all city neighbourhoods to add greenery and benefit local people’s health. These are sites, spaces between buildings, corners or quadrangles between blocks which have real potential once they are transformed. They are located all around the city and account for a third of its surface space.

As part of the Climate Plan, 357 measures are planned with an overall investment of more than 150 million euros. These are small spaces which added together can make a difference to the quality of urban space in Barcelona. This term of office should see 71 actions around the districts, gaining 22.3 hectares of greenery, essential for reducing the impact of the heat in the current context of climate change.

Some examples of points where extra greenery will be added are: the rooftop over the Rei Marti water tank (Sarrià-Sant Gervasi), the space in front of the Escola Cal Maiol (Sants-Montjuïc), the space between housing blocks in C/ Juan de Mena (Horta-Guinardó), the rooftop of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya-Jardins d’Oriol Martorell (Sarrià-Sant Gervasi) and the square in front of the Escola Sant Martí, in C/ Castella (Sant Martí).

The planned measures include:

• 18 inner quadrangles, some of them new, such as the Illa Danubi (Les Corts), Estoril 34 (Horta-Guinardó) and the Illa Colorantes (Sant Andreu), and others to get improvements, such as the Jardins Beatriu de Provença, Clotilde Cerdà and Emma de Barcelona, all in L’Eixample.
• 216 spaces with shade, including children’s play areas and school playgrounds (Escola Pere-Vila, in Ciutat Vella, Institut-Escola Mirades, in Horta-Guinardó, Escola Mercè Rodoreda, in Nou Barris, and Escola Mestre Enric Gibert i Camins, in Sant Andreu). Shade minimises the effects of heatwaves. The intention is to add urban greenery but in spaces where this is not possible permanent infrastructures will be added (such as pergolas with solar panels), or seasonal structures such as shades.
• 60 party walls, all permanent. Of these, 17 form part of the international ideas competition within the framework of the city’s role as the World Capital of Architecture in 2026.
• 10 green rooftops on municipal nursery school buildings, with allotments, rainwater collection, installations to generate renewable energy, organic composting and spaces for local people to relax and spend time in. The five nursery schools earmarked for these projects are: EBM Pere Calafell (Sant Martí), EBM Ralet (Nou Barris), EBM El Fil (Sants-Montjuïc), EBM Les Quatre Torres (Sant Andreu) and EBM Caspolino (Gràcia).