Peripheral Urban Renewal and Contemporary Social Responses: The case of Bon Pastor
by Chris Govers | Supervisor: Dr. Carmen Mendoza
The city of Barcelona has been undergoing a process of rapid spatial change for some time, and Bon Pastor lies in the sector of the city earmarked for the current generation of growth, through various major projects including Glòries, the Forum and La Sagrera. Taking account of this past and present urban development context suggests there continues to be very grand plans for the future of Barcelona. This thesis hypothesises that while project-related material regarding the urban renewal project for Bon Pastor focuses primarily on the local needs of the community itself, it is in this broader planning context of the wider city that the true drivers for the urban renewal of the barrio lie. These grander plans are suggested to be underlying the decisions that are made in relation to individual projects such as the renewal of Bon Pastor.
While it is not suggested that these broader planning pressures applied to the neighbourhood of Bon Pastor are unacceptable, these drivers must be formally recognised and made clear during community engagement. Through this recognition, a more open debate can take place regarding the need for urban renewal, and a more thorough analysis be undertaken of how it can be achieved through consideration of a variety of different approaches, which can in a more balanced way retain that which is still considered valuable by the local community while renewing and adapting that which is not.