Barcelona’s Car-Free Superblocks Explained 

Agreed. One of my favourite Cities in Europe

I visited Barcelona on a family vacation in 1969 but I was very young. It would be nice to see it again as an adult but I don't think that is going to happen...

I vacationed five days in Barcelona, a few years back. I'd like to return and vacation, there, for five *weeks* . What a great town.

@@suddenlysolo2170 why

Yes 🙌 I’m in

So all the shops and houses would face traffic, while pedestrians are simply removed from the road?

What about the elderly and disabled? Screw 'em?

@@annother3350 As said in the video, cars would still be able to cross those streets if needed, but pedestrians have the right of way

@@annother3350 if you are into that.

@@brulsmurf Theyre always grateful!

is there a plan for more transit and bicycle lanes/paths/highways?

It's the other way round: To transition away from cars, it's not enough to make alternatives more appealing. Car usage has to be made more unpleasant, too.

and in the Netherlands walking and cycling is the norm while driving is pleasant as well

You don’t have to make driving unpleasant. You just have to have equally, or more, convenient options.

Once the cars are gone every other mode instantly becomes more appealing.

Car companies have everyone by the throat

The car companies,no,not the car companies!

Hyperbole or you're not trying.

Carmel, Indiana actually did something similar to provide more walking areas. Check that out.

Ellicott City, Eureka Springs, Celebration, any downtown area of major cities like Austin, San Diego, Baltimore, etc.

i think i know what youre trying to say, but just fyi, famous and infamous mean the same thing ^^

@@georgseide9764 how do you say famous for something bad

​@@matiyak4571 your usage was correct, they don't mean the same thing

What was Corbusiers architecture criticised for? I hadn’t heard about him until now

@@HenrikW12 just serch up his unrealised plans for Paris or the problems of Brasilia. Its pretty obvious.

Exactly private EV's are a gimmick. Only public transport is sustainable environmentally.

And better public transport

Thanks for being the anti-car stereotype. While you may not like cars, they do have a place in ouor transport systems.

Exactly.

@@kokofan50 of Course they have their place in our transport systems RIGHT NOW. But cars can't and won't be the future of transport. They are incredibly inefficient compared to trains. EVs aren't an alternative because they need a lot of rare resources to produce (that need to be imported from countries like China where people work under awful conditions). The shift to cities that are "public transport only" might seem like a radical measure but is the only option we have if we really want carbon neutral, livable and enjoyable cities.

I presume for the positive..... right?

​@@Daltem I mean, given the way he used that exclamation mark, it could be him calling it preposterous or amazing

@@Daltem well stress levels would decrease when thousands of cars are not roaring past your house.

@@thetimelapseguy8 But you are stuck there. Lower income people will have it tougher. It is like a massive gentrification then those same little businesses will have to go with the actual people that buys there. Public transport can’t service everything and rush ours are already bad. So it is a planning to make Barcelona convenient for few. At least people, normal people, friends (I was born there) aren’t happy with all this “cool barcelona” changes making their life worse. Well it is just an opinion. We’ll see. Edit: after seeing the whole video I see what I spotted isI obvious but I would say that regulating prices never ever has worked beyond mere words and promises. So 🤷🏻‍♂️

@@thetimelapseguy8 or increase as you have neighbors making noise above below and next to you.

I'm thinking about moving to Barcelona. Superblocks are the most exciting thing happening in urban planning and Barcelona is leading the way. If you were to estimate, how many superblocks do you think exist in all of Barcelona right now? Is the video correct that they will convert many more this summer?

@@mariusfacktor3597 i don't think that's happening any time soon.

@@mariusfacktor3597 AFAIK it's only a few at the moment, but there are many walkable areas, side streets and parks all over the city

How do ambulances work there?

@@rollinsomethingbutiforgot Ambulances are allowed everywhere ^^'

proud of the netherlands model?

This looks utterly miserable.

@@hydehouse t american suburbanite

@@hydehouse then go to texas

@@benjik3161 In fact, Austin is very livable so thanks for the compliment

That would be dope 🚂

TRAM ACCESS

Why can't the USA have a city like Barcelona ;(

And a big futbol club 😉

Do you imagine how many tram carts you need so anyone can fit in when they want or need ? You have gas, electicity and green energy so that you can mix it up. There is a reason why we will never have only electric vehicles, just because we dont have enough sustainable tech for it to feed all users. This is great idea only on paper but in reality its and utopia.

when people start to get new covid variants its so great to drive on public transport rather than safely drive your own car with your family XD XD XD I wish you always get someone standing or sitting next to you in that tram or buss and sneeze and cough. Feeling better now, dont you ?

@@geardownflapsup9344 I own car. Despite that I mostly go around city in public transport (buses and trams) and by bike. Public transport is way more efficient and actually uses less resources than private one because it transport much more people in one go. Also AFAIK more than 30% of travel is done in my city by public transport (and I live in Krakow when most of the time we have about 1 million population). In Asia and Europe public transport is widely used (otherwise especially in Japan or China traffic jams will be horrible).

@@michadoniec8151 you joking or you are a joker. Take your 2-3 kids to kindergarden and school in morning then go to work. After work come pick them up and go to hobby groups after that take them home. Use only public transport, day after day. XD

@@geardownflapsup9344 many kids goes themselves by foot. Schools are nearby. As kid I was going alone to school (and at secondary school i used bus). I was very rarely taken by car by my parents. When I have kids I plan to do the same. Many people in Europe are doing fine without car in everyday life.

Will never happen. Although cars are troublesome in cities and should disappear in the next 20 to 30 years. Cars are needed everywhere else. You can't do anything without cars if you live in the countryside where the only public transportation is a bus who comes 2 times per day (if bus there are)

@@uneotarieseul9584. Cities without cars would already be a beautiful change for better...I hope to live to see that became reality.

@@dystopiaeatsmoney You will never see such day.

@@uneotarieseul9584 Cars will not disappear. It always adapt to match whatever the current technological trends are. In 20 to 30 years you might as well see hovering cars like seen in the movie tomorrowland.

@@uneotarieseul9584 You solved your own prolem in your comment. Good public transport is the killer of cars.

Meanwhile all cities and even the smallest villages in Spain and the rest of Europe having multistore buildings with flats...

So true also first

Aren’t you both the same guy?

@@Gaybculture they are

@@Gaybculture the voice is the same. B1M is his channel, Tomorrow's Build seems to be owned by somebody else.

@@GrandTerr Both channels are owned by Fred, under The B1M Limited 👍

There is no such trend. The number of cars in the world is increasing.

Untill the end ? You want to cross countries on foot 😛

​@@abhishekparmar6702 um. train?

@Kingkar Das wind, solar, dams, nuclear is clean too. Really starting to prove my point indirectly

@@tryomama No, it's not clean. I don't know how you came to that conclusion but wherever you got your information it's misleading. You can't ignore the importance of such energy impact to the environment.

.. he said less than a minute after the seven-minute-long video was posted.. 🤔

@@mrsealpoop7781 I can also Wirte First, but now I get my heart.

@@ericdanielski4802 here’s another heart ❤️

It’s interesting and scary to see the hatred some people have for private ICE cars. It is the only form of mobility that can not be easily influenced by anyone. Electric cars are easy to restrict, public transport is not in the citizens control and walking or cycling can take you maybe 20 miles away. Basically people are talking against their own freedom of mobility.

Cerda gave _every_ block a park but they squandered them all away

@@mfaizsyahmi Yeah, that's the problem. If you see a satellite image of Barcelona, besides the aesthetic, you'll notice there's not much greenery or open spaces (contrary to Valencia or Madrid)

There are too many people on transit as well. Europe just needs to scrap the Schengen treaty , illegal immigration and fortify their national borders. E.U. citizens still won't need to show a passport to cross national borders but will still need to go through customs and immigration and show a valid photo I.D.. All others will be required to show a valid passport and or a visa when crossing between E.U. member countries.

@@mapgar1479 what does that have to do with this?

@@LaPingvino Literally explained to you on his first sentence. Learn to read.

You can live outside of big city in near small green town or village 15-20 km away. Now you need a car to move around. Many people do that and thats not because they want to use car so much its just that no other transport goes the way they need it to go. Simple.

Sure the us is so right about this , who needs cars right??

Thanks!!

I'm studying architecture in Zurich and we 3d printed the whole district of poblenou last semester...

@@Halomax I know!! I’ve been told previously that the intention is to donate it to the city once completed :)

@@mauro78 that's right :) was a lot of work also

Yes and I am very glad he mentioned that because that is greatly important too. The wealthy will all ways outdo everyone else and have those places (plus still have cars)

In Germany i liked their "Park and Ride" free parking lots at city entrances, where you can leave your car and hop straight on a bus or tram. It's way more convenient than driving through a city, then wasting time searching for a parking place, where you have to pay anyway. People who commute to work have a public transport subscription already, and it's way more convenient, as the time you spend driving from the city limit to the work place is better spent sitting in a tram, where you can relax, get a head start by reading a few work emails, read or watch something on the phone. I don't know why this is not a feature in every city in every country.

There's no ocean near Barcelona.

Ah yea the Mediterranean Ocean, is always stunning.

now imagine you have a family , old parents, wife and 2 kids. You need quickly to visit your parents on other side of city to bring them something, then you want to have lunch with wife because after work one child has painting class and second child wants to go for a walk in a park with friends. After long day everyone wants to be home and rest. How do you manage that fool with bike XD Oh yeah, you should never have kids, thats right.

@@scratchy996 park and drive is great, but you dont have enough space for all card drivers and in winter time its better to drive a car than take a ride with others covid sick people on a bus. Get it ? XD XD XD

Thanks Brian, very useless comment!

Thank you. Your the first comment that seems to understand that ideal is so much more complex than just saying do it.

@@JakeTroxell exactly, it’s simply not doable, escepially in places where during winter time, the temperature drops below 0 degrees.

Trucks are already having trouble on superblocks here!

Well, the car density thing is tricky. It is true, is the densest car city in Europe, BUT it is also the most densely populated metro area in Europe! So many people packed in there, only with some having a car, you already get a crazy density. Another statistic here: only 24% of trips in Barcelona are done by car, the rest is all walking or by public transport (cycling is a really low percentage still) :)

They will just prop it up with mass immigration like France.

@FedEXfright Cars don't need to be removed completely, but cutting it down to essential usage and going from there is the ideal way to go, both to ensure better public health and overall quality of life. You can make every 3rd street designed for delivery of goods, ambulances, fire trucks and police cars and it would still function fine. The ideal city/country is not where the poor can afford a car, but where the rich uses public transport. Sadly countries like the US have gotten to the point where public transport is extremely dangerous and distances are getting longer and longer because cities are turning into parking lots. I traveled around there two weeks ago and the air quality and overall urban architecture is pretty dystopian compared to cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Tokyo where you see a lot of benefits living without a car that go across countless aspects ranging from mental health quality to your cost of living.

Cars are not the main issue. Massive tourism is what should be addressed. If you want to get cars out the road, make a viable and useful alternative.

​@@j.s.4304 Barcelona is one of the most amazing cities in the world, so tourism will never disappear. Fewer cars will create more space for people, which is something that can actually be implemented. Anyone who has driven in the city knows how horrible it is. Main canals in l'Eixample/SF would help so much, especially for the locals. If you don't believe me try watching a delivery truck driving through Gracia next time you visit.

@@MarkyNomad I live in Barcelona and driving is not that bad. Do you live in Barcelona as well? Do you suffer the hordes of tourists in the center blocking the pass and stations near les rambles? Do you get the door of your house peed by drunk tourists every night?

@@j.s.4304 I lived there for around two years before I moved to Tokyo. It didn't take long until I moved to Gracia because I found it a lot better to live overall. Going back in two weeks. But, in all honesty I never had any issues with stations being clogged. The only places that were overcrowded were maybe La Rambla or the area around Sagrada Familia, but I feel most locals or expats living there don't really go to those places too much. I spent a lot more time in Sant Andreu, Sant Gervasi and the northern part of l'Eixample because it's cheaper, and less of a gimmick. Gotico, Raval and Born are all nice places. Perhaps not designed for the huge amount of people that walk those streets daily, but the thing about mass tourism is that it's bi-product of an amazing city. It doesn't help that the city is really tiny in terms of land area either. I read somewhere that l'Hospitalet is the most densely populated city in all of Europe because it's built like l'Eixample, but for families and commuters. There are things that can be done to cut down or prevent overtourism, but in all honesty I just see it getting worse. And now that the Chinese middle class is reaching a point where trips to Europe are getting more and more commune... Your wall will probably dissolve by 2030 from tourist pee and vermut.

The Alternative is the bicycle

Rodalies is about to hit peak capacity though, I hope the build more express lanes for busses on highway going to the city

@@burgerpommes2001 That's not really a solution for many people with disabilities.

@@moonbeeps yes it is Thera are bicycles for all sorts of disabilities And the car doesn't go away

@@burgerpommes2001 sure there are, I bet there are loads of bicycles for blind people.

It is being pushed by the government as a status symbol, something to show off to the world rather than a means of transport. Houston is planning on destroying multi-story apartments to build another freeway right now as we speak.

Listen buddy, you're not a real American unless you chug a gallon of gas a mile. It's in the constitution.

Europeans are not tolerant to shit Their societies are just more totalitarian, but it's not easy to decipher that at first sight

im no expert or nothing, but the more i read the better i understand my life long frustration with american suburbs. i can't imagine any dramatic changes in the places i have lived outside of climate change becoming so dramatic it can't be denied anymore. i was hoping though thats just me being cynical and that the experts had a more optimistic view.

@FedEXfright Because I'm an authoritarian son-of-a-bitch. Now sit down and shut up.

@FedEXfright we are already forced to get a car to live here, if anyone is forcing people to live a certain way it has already happened here. It's not about getting rid of cars but building for multiple modes of transportation and not force one time of building to take over huge amounts of land (single-family zoning)

@FedEXfright why are you so dic#-headed. Nobody talks about removing cars. It's about having multiple ways of traveling. If you are that addicted to them, then drive as much as you want. But stop forcing your view that much. No, of these 300.000.000 muricans the majority will want a greener life for them and their kids. So wrong arguement there also.

People in rural areas can take the train into the city

@@adanactnomew7085 or they can just drive like we do in modern times

That's why Tokyo is literally blocked with cars and people are being stuffed into trains like a cattle or to concentration camp?

@@bowwak5366 Though current traffic congestion is quite high (40%), its mostly during morning and evening rush hours. There has been significant decrease from 2019 which was at 60%. Train congestion also had a massive drop cause of the new health regulations. And Japan has been trying to improve it, but financial issues, landscape, and oppositions makes it quite difficult for change on a large scale for lowering traffic. _Source: tomtom, statista, ejrcf_

Blocks with inner courtyards are common all over Spain. Of course not all of them are as large as those in the deservedly famous Eixample blocks, but even when small they still provide functionality. Over here in Europe washer/dryers are way less common than in USA, so people hang their clothes to dry outside the inner courtyard facing windows, out of view from the main street. Also, on hot summer days, the draft created by opening the opposite windows of a double aspect appartment can be a life saver.

Not a superblock, just pedestrianised downtown, like many european cities.

@@marchernandez4596 look for "supermanzanas Vitoria Gasteiz"

@@ander4163 I have watched It, I have seen the project, and it's just a rebranded pedestrianisation of downtown, like we have in many places of Europe.

I agree. I went last year and loved seeing the cute dumpsters. Old San Juan in Puerto Rico uses small dumpsters like this because there's no space between buildings, and it a very nice change from the sore sight of hundreds of garbage bags every garage day.

barcelona is better in terms of layout. amsterdam is more sprawly and has neighborhoods segregated by highways. though in terms of infrastructure, amsterdam crushes barcelona.

Not just America mate! Australian cities are probably the most sprawling for their population sizes in the world! No public transport to a lot of suburbs or very poor and gets worse the further out you go, so car is the only way. My problem is that suburbs need to be much more mixed use. At the moment they are too segregated ie housing is not near commercial, is not near industrial etc...somehow you have to make it appealing to live near where you work and play so that cars are not required except for "special cases". Problem solved...good luck doing it though!

@@mnewm21 Yeah I don't know a whole lot about Australia, but I'm a google street view nerd, so I've spent a lot of time just going through the endless Aussie suburbs. It looks very much like America. Unfortunately we won't solve this problem as long as the boomers are alive. They're the biggest demographics in any Western country now, they have higher voting turnouts, they are more engaged in local politics, they either don't believe in or don't care about warned disasters like climate change or the limit of growth predictions and they do not want to see changes that can make their house lose value. There's nothing to be done as long as these guys are still the strongest voting block. We're gonna be stuck paying for their retirement and medical expenses while they don't give a single føkk about our future in return. I mean higher food prices, gas prices, electricity. More protests and more civil unrest. More natural catastrophes. More refugees. More wars. More terrorist attacks. We're already seeing the start of it, every one of these things which have been predicted by Stanford Uni since the 70s are already starting to happen. It will just get worse in time. Meanwhile the simplest little things we can do to make it better, have more efficient commuting infrastructure, save energy consumption. Nah. We can't even do that cause a bunch of baby boomers don't want their property to fall in value, and the rest are too spoiled and lazy to vote for people wanting to improve bike possibilities or public transport just for the habit of doing everything with a car. We'll drive our cars until the end, doesn't even matter if half the country is burning outside of our window. It's all worth it as long as I can have the freedom to sit half an hour of my day waiting for signals to turn red due to inefficient infrastructure. That's the real dream life.

thanks for the book, loved it.

​@@RaphaelAguirre if that's the size of the books you read, then maybe you should stop reading children's books.

@@NabiumI'm not even there yet, still on the alphabet. I'm mostly just watching the pictures at this point.

Highways are a disaster as well

@@slimmsherpa9771 not really. Have you ever lived in a city without them? Nothing sucks worse

@@flowbrandz316 yes I have. The highway system in America right now is a waste of space and money. Yes it’s more convenient, that’s the whole point of being an American.

I don't mean to sound pedantic but Barcelona is a city Barça is a football club Barca means boat Also, the video says the highest car density, not car per capita. That title goes to a city in Italy.

@@jaumesol3480 ah thanks. Americans we call it barca lol for short

@@mikepod637 you can call it Barna or BCN, but please, not Barça :) It actually makes sense that Barna is the city with the highest car density in Europe, as it's also the metro area with highest people density in Europe :)

I second this

I've visited Ghent a couple of years ago and I liked very much the fact that I couldn't go by car in the centre. Was a very pleasant experience, no noise, beautiful architecture and relaxing.

the idea of this is so foreign and wonderful to me as an american that its like reading some fantasy novel. its like watching star trek.

@@rpemulis ​ @whopper jr. I understand you. I've had a similar problem couple of years ago in my home country, but the things are getting better even there. Currently I live in Berlin and since January I've took the car 3 times from the garage: once to go to ski and 2 times to go with my cat to vet, apart from I am cycling with my son every morning to the school and back and in week-ends we take the bikes and either cycle to a nice place that is below 20km from our place or we take a train to go with our bikes in some remote villages around. Traveling longer distances: High Speed train: Berlin to Paris 8 hours, Berlin to Switzerland 8 hours. Take the train from the city, go out from the train in the city.

El área metropolitana de Barcelona tiene la recuperación del Besòs y el Llobregat junto con las playas (estas desde los 80'), más la Sierra de Collserola y la Conreria.

@@marchernandez4596 Sin faltar, pero lo del Besos no se acerca ni por asomo a lo del Manzaneras. Y ya nos volvemos a remontar al 92. Lo de Montjuic no tiene nada que ver, es más como la Casa de Campo. Honestamente, admiro esa facilidad de BCN para saber vender su marca y darse a conocer.

@@manelsevilla7200 Montjuïc? Más bien toda la Sierra de Collserola, la Conreria, y las playas recuperadas.

Do everybody a favor by picking up a dictionary, opening it up to the C section, finding "Communism", and learning what it means.

@@vqlcano1698 LOL You should practice what you preach and search "commie housing block" and tell everyone what you learned.

@@JaysSavvy It's a fucking ugly concrete box with holes. This is not. Just because it was invented by communists doesn't make it communist. If your idea of communism is a concrete box, I don't know what to tell you. Communism is an economic system, not a building.

@@vqlcano1698 By "everybody" you mean you, right?

@@AxtionMag No, I mean everybody except American conservatives who have a victim mentality and have been brainwashed to think communism is anything they don't like. That means everybody except you.

Ah, building a shopping mall is great because those contain a lot and can have virtually everything in there. Insurance companies, grooming businesses, even entrepreneur's can put up shop. This is something I was wondering in places like this, how businesses, esp entrepreneur's can flourish in such places where the space isn't high. But it can't have schools, colleges, and other government business places repetitively there though.

@@marlak4203 that's y I use the term " network " 🤣 As each subway station are different, some have office or hotels build on top. And it like octopus, believe it or not , u can get to the supreme court and the Government HQ from a subway station without getting wet in a stormy day 😅

@@ylfyg Yes you can get around with the other transit. But you have answered a question about this kind of thing I have wondered. Thanks.

minimal compromise for a young person maybe but I bet few American families would be satisfied with life in European "walkable cities" and no private outdoor space. its great for poor people with no kids. terrible for kids and people with money want privacy

@@ChrisG1392 America has built a society around cars since the end of WWII, of course many Americans wouldn’t like it. There’s a lot of things Americans don’t like that are commonplace around the world. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t work, it just means America has built its identity around being different. I’m 27 with a young family and strapped for cash and space. It takes almost $80 to fill up my 2016 Subaru once a week if I just go to my routine places, then there’s potential maintenance, insurance, depreciation, etc. so by the time it’s said and done, it easily can be $6,000+ a year just to have a relatively decent car because I’m forced to and even then, the I’m going to have to upgrade soon due to a growing family. That’s more cost effective than having to share public spaces with other people? I live in a car dependent area that is just a few miles from downtown yet there’s dirt trails where sidewalks should be due to so many people walking that it’s killed off the grass, the nearest bus stop from me is a 15 minute walk but doesn’t go anywhere near the most popular stuff in the city - it’s a 30 minute walk to the bus stop that takes me where I need to go and another 20 minutes just to go 2-3 miles yet the bus stops are always full, but the infrastructure near my house is built up to move thousands of cars every hour at 45mph to drive out to the suburbs and even then they’ll complain because there’s too many red lights and they can’t stay at a consistent 45-50mph all the way to their community. There’s a popular park and botanical garden about half a mile from my house and I would never consider walking there due to how poorly the infrastructure is built for pedestrians. My neighborhood just got a sidewalk within the last few years and people use it all the time yet when we go for walks we have to walk around cars, garbage, debris, the curb cuts making it to where we have to actually walk on the street to turn a corner, the sidewalks are narrower in some parts, etc.. I’m just happy to be able to walk somewhere besides in the street but that’s pathetic and I live in one of the 25 largest cities in the U.S. If people have money and want to live in a private space to avoid people, they can do that. But it’s illogical at best to tear cities apart and build infrastructure so they can get somewhere 10-15 minutes quicker and build our cities to where only the richest can afford to live in the center parts but even they still have to own a cars lot of times due to funding for other forms of public transportation being limited so the transportation departments can build bigger highways and afford upkeep. It’s easy to be comfortable with the illusion that cars make life easier and quicker, especially if you’re content to just accept and repeat the narratives within American auto culture, but with how much society at large and individuals spend to sustain it, it’s silly to think that it’s the only way that should be prioritized.

@@ChrisG1392 TIL Europe is only made of poor people with no kids

@@ChrisG1392 Actually for people with kids are excellent, because the kids are becoming independent from a younger age, you don't need to carry them by car everywhere until 16. Kids as young as 9-10 are using alone the public transit or are cycling to school and to other activities in the city where I live.

​@@ChrisG1392 If American houses are better for privacy, why the skinny wood walls and sliding windows? Thick masonry walls and casement windows are far better for keeping stuff out. Plus I want my kids to be able to walk around from a young age instead of being a virtual prisoner before the legal driving age.

It's true. The USA could make much use of this type of city planning.

Fußgänerzonen sind im Gegensatz zu Superblocks aber nicht auf einen Großteil der Stadt ausgelegt, sondern meist im Stadtzentrum. Und dann landet man eben wieder bei dedizierten Einkaufszonen.

Governments are out to get us

as a Catalan myself, i love Barcelona, but right now crime has gotten higher, and I really wish we could change the mayor to fight that :/ otherwise I love my city! Visca Barcelona i Visca Catalunya :)

xddddd

You make a good point, but it's easy enough to design superblocks without residences built close to the perimeter. The perimeter spaces could be used for other things like delivery points and businesses, public transport hubs, etc.