- Email: [email protected]
Homage to Barcelona
doi:10.1016/j.cities.2004.03.005
Cities, Vol. 21, No. 3, p. 183–186, 2004 Q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain 0264-2751/$ - see front matter
www.elsevier.com/locate/cities
Editorial
Homage to Barcelona
advisor, is designed to generate civil society connections in cities from Quito to Tampere. The project aims to create 10 television programs and 180 audiovisual units, and will ultimately reach five million people in an effort to bridge the digital divide. This cooperative endeavor is very much at odds with most of the relations that exist between cities. With the exception of formal links between places that are ‘‘twinned’’, most cities view themselves as being in competition—or at least their managers compete on their behalf—and this is increasingly a matter of great economic importance. As Beriatos and Gospodini (2004) indicate in this issue, managerial entrepreneurialism is now a global activity, with commensurately high stakes. As they indicate in their study of Athens and the 2004 Games, the costs and the stakes are both enormous. This is not always understood. The last time the Winter Games were held in the US, there was much clucking about bribery, but very little discussion (at least that I can recall), about the dynamics of public– private development strategies (Kirby, 1999). But as Beriatos and Gospodini show rather well, this can be an opportunity to almost entirely recast a city. Barcelona is widely seen as having accomplished this in 1992, hence the importance of the ‘‘Barcelona model’’ that is now being earnestly examined for its applicability to other situations. There is one part to this narrative that gets less outside attention and that is the role that its residents play in all of this. Barcelona has some of the same centrifugal tendencies exhibited by other cities, resulting in ex-urban development (Luna-Garcia, 2003; Munoz, 2003). It does though possess a rich political tradition that confronted the Franquists during the Civil War and has continued to serve as a powerful compass to city administrators. Indeed, as is shown in another paper in this issue, urban social movements, of the kind discussed by Manuel Castells, have continued to exert pressure for what can anemically be called quality of life issues (Castells, 1983; Garcia-Ramon et al., in press). Whereas development schemes in American
In a recent article in Newsweek International, Barcelona was dubbed ‘‘the coolest city in Europe’’ (Rossi, 2004). It is not hard to see why, as ever since its government pursued and won the right to host the summer Olympic Games in 1992, it has attracted attention as a place with vibrant cultural, architectural and planning attributes. It has, moreover, all the things that constitute a great city—a rich cultural tradition and challenging architectural features (that extend back to the Universal Exhibition of 1888 and far beyond), quixotic design, and a legacy of public figures such as Antonio Gaudi (Hughes, 1992). It is a city of contrast, with parts that have been plucked from the design pages of the most contemporary magazines, and a medieval quarter that seems to have resisted all but the least intrusive changes (see Figure 1). It has what Florida calls a ‘‘creative class’’, but Barcelona’s residents would, of course, regard it as de´classe´ to even mention such a thing (as they would in any place with even an ounce of cool). The events and the successes of the 1990s have resulted in a number of awards, not least of which was the Royal Gold Medal, given by Queen Elizabeth on the recommendation of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for distinction in architecture and urban design, in June 1999. The concept of the Barcelona ‘‘model’’ dates from this period, and has attracted the attention of political figures and urban professionals from across Europe and beyond. For many cities of its size (its population is less than 4 million), this would be enough. However, Barcelona has never been a passive place. In 1999, it began planning to host the Universal Forum of Cultures (Garcia-Ramon and Albet, 2000). It began in May 2004 and lasted three months. Described by Mayor Clos as ‘‘an intellectual Olympiad’’, its goal was to showcase the diversity of the city but also its commitment to a vibrant social and cultural life. This will extend out from Catalonia and will create virtual connections across two continents. To take just one example, the Cybernarium project, on which Manuel Castells is an
183
Editorial
Figure 1 The ‘‘gothic quarter’’ of Barcelona; source of all photos, author
cities often involve not much more than costly teams of gargantuan sports figures, and equally Brobdingnagian shopping malls (and perhaps the fevered pursuit of that elusive creative class), development in European cities must more often answer to community sensibilities and aesthetics (see Figure 2). Development on its own terms is often seen to be disruptive and damaging. That is why the Barcelona ‘‘model’’, that has emphasized redevelopment for short-term uses but with long-term community benefit, is seen as a superior strategy. But we should be enormously skeptical of efforts to move this experience around the world without paying close attention to public–private relations, to planning and design skills, and to the nature and influence of civil society (Garcia-Ramon and Albet, 2000: p 1333). A glance at the way in which
184
the city has created public spaces, for example, would cause officials in many American cities to have a fit (Figures 3 and 4). Some urban parks are so tiny that they necessarily encourage residents to use all of the available space and to interact. However, studies in other cities (such as the analysis of Famagusta, elsewhere in this issue) show that parks may be disliked by residents precisely because of the prevalence of this unscripted behavior. Something similar can be said of Barcelona’s larger open spaces, which in many other cities would be officially viewed somewhere between an invitation to riotous assembly and a loss of valuable parking spaces. In other words, the social, political and cultural context is everything. Few cities can realistically describe themselves as possessing a commitment to ‘‘urban quality and social dignity’’ and the promotion of values of ‘‘toler-
Editorial
Figure 2 Mural criticizing developers for replacing homes by offices, Barcelona
Figure 3 Recently refurbished urban park and public art, Placa de Vicenc Martorell, Barcelona
185
Editorial
Figure 4 Public space, Barcelona
ance, solidarity and a sense of belonging to the city and to the community’’ (Garcia-Ramon and Albet, 2000: p 1334). Even in Barcelona itself, there has been, at times, ‘‘dangerous self-indulgence and reluctance to accept criticism’’ (ibid.). The attempt to import and export models of development from one nation to another was surely shown to be inappropriate back in the 1960s. The imposition of an international style of housing design (resulting in hideous apartment blocks) was, in the same era, equally damaging. It is not hard to see why—when economic, political and civil society institutions vary, the degrees of freedom make the blueprints impossible to use without extensive alteration. Contemporary events seem to show, though, that this lesson has not been learned. Across the US, business editors are pontificating about what their cities need to do to attract a creative class, even in communities that would rather do everything in their power to stifle the slightest sign of artistic originality or social dissent. Doubtless, as I write this, some city managers are reeling around Barcelona trying to cherry-pick the more useable ideas for transplantation. What they will not do is study the city in any detail, try to comprehend its dynamics, or even aim to learn from its programs and partnerships. These are readily available for analysis—indeed the volume
186
of material is almost overwhelming [see www.barcelona2004.org]. It will be truly fascinating to see how this information diffuses through the urban system, and what its impacts turn out to be. Just how dangerous could it be to replace Disneyland’s Main Street with the Barcelonese Ramblas? Andrew Kirby
References Beriatos, E and Gospodini, A (in press) ‘Glocalising’ urban landscapes: Athens and the 2004 Olympics. Cities. Castells, M (1983) The City and the Grassroots. Arnold, London. Garcia-Ramon, MD and Albet, A (2000) Commentary: preOlympic and post-Olympic Barcelona, a model for urban regeneration today? Environment and Planning A 32, 1331– 1334. Garcia-Ramon, M D, Ortiz, A and Prats, M (in press) Urban planning, gender and the use of public space in a peripheral neighbourhood of Barcelona. Cities. Hughes, R (1992) Barcelona. Knopf, New York. Kirby, A (1999) Amateur sports, professional economic developers. Cities 16(3), 141. Luna-Garcia, A (2003) Cities of Spain, localities on the edge of an identity breakdown. Cities 20(6), 377–379. Munoz, F (2003) Lock living: urban sprawl in Mediterranean cities. Cities 20(6), 381–385. Rossi, M (2004) The Barcelona model. Newsweek International (on-line, February 2).
Cities, Vol. 21, No. 3, p. 183–186, 2004 Q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain 0264-2751/$ - see front matter
www.elsevier.com/locate/cities
Editorial
Homage to Barcelona
advisor, is designed to generate civil society connections in cities from Quito to Tampere. The project aims to create 10 television programs and 180 audiovisual units, and will ultimately reach five million people in an effort to bridge the digital divide. This cooperative endeavor is very much at odds with most of the relations that exist between cities. With the exception of formal links between places that are ‘‘twinned’’, most cities view themselves as being in competition—or at least their managers compete on their behalf—and this is increasingly a matter of great economic importance. As Beriatos and Gospodini (2004) indicate in this issue, managerial entrepreneurialism is now a global activity, with commensurately high stakes. As they indicate in their study of Athens and the 2004 Games, the costs and the stakes are both enormous. This is not always understood. The last time the Winter Games were held in the US, there was much clucking about bribery, but very little discussion (at least that I can recall), about the dynamics of public– private development strategies (Kirby, 1999). But as Beriatos and Gospodini show rather well, this can be an opportunity to almost entirely recast a city. Barcelona is widely seen as having accomplished this in 1992, hence the importance of the ‘‘Barcelona model’’ that is now being earnestly examined for its applicability to other situations. There is one part to this narrative that gets less outside attention and that is the role that its residents play in all of this. Barcelona has some of the same centrifugal tendencies exhibited by other cities, resulting in ex-urban development (Luna-Garcia, 2003; Munoz, 2003). It does though possess a rich political tradition that confronted the Franquists during the Civil War and has continued to serve as a powerful compass to city administrators. Indeed, as is shown in another paper in this issue, urban social movements, of the kind discussed by Manuel Castells, have continued to exert pressure for what can anemically be called quality of life issues (Castells, 1983; Garcia-Ramon et al., in press). Whereas development schemes in American
In a recent article in Newsweek International, Barcelona was dubbed ‘‘the coolest city in Europe’’ (Rossi, 2004). It is not hard to see why, as ever since its government pursued and won the right to host the summer Olympic Games in 1992, it has attracted attention as a place with vibrant cultural, architectural and planning attributes. It has, moreover, all the things that constitute a great city—a rich cultural tradition and challenging architectural features (that extend back to the Universal Exhibition of 1888 and far beyond), quixotic design, and a legacy of public figures such as Antonio Gaudi (Hughes, 1992). It is a city of contrast, with parts that have been plucked from the design pages of the most contemporary magazines, and a medieval quarter that seems to have resisted all but the least intrusive changes (see Figure 1). It has what Florida calls a ‘‘creative class’’, but Barcelona’s residents would, of course, regard it as de´classe´ to even mention such a thing (as they would in any place with even an ounce of cool). The events and the successes of the 1990s have resulted in a number of awards, not least of which was the Royal Gold Medal, given by Queen Elizabeth on the recommendation of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for distinction in architecture and urban design, in June 1999. The concept of the Barcelona ‘‘model’’ dates from this period, and has attracted the attention of political figures and urban professionals from across Europe and beyond. For many cities of its size (its population is less than 4 million), this would be enough. However, Barcelona has never been a passive place. In 1999, it began planning to host the Universal Forum of Cultures (Garcia-Ramon and Albet, 2000). It began in May 2004 and lasted three months. Described by Mayor Clos as ‘‘an intellectual Olympiad’’, its goal was to showcase the diversity of the city but also its commitment to a vibrant social and cultural life. This will extend out from Catalonia and will create virtual connections across two continents. To take just one example, the Cybernarium project, on which Manuel Castells is an
183
Editorial
Figure 1 The ‘‘gothic quarter’’ of Barcelona; source of all photos, author
cities often involve not much more than costly teams of gargantuan sports figures, and equally Brobdingnagian shopping malls (and perhaps the fevered pursuit of that elusive creative class), development in European cities must more often answer to community sensibilities and aesthetics (see Figure 2). Development on its own terms is often seen to be disruptive and damaging. That is why the Barcelona ‘‘model’’, that has emphasized redevelopment for short-term uses but with long-term community benefit, is seen as a superior strategy. But we should be enormously skeptical of efforts to move this experience around the world without paying close attention to public–private relations, to planning and design skills, and to the nature and influence of civil society (Garcia-Ramon and Albet, 2000: p 1333). A glance at the way in which
184
the city has created public spaces, for example, would cause officials in many American cities to have a fit (Figures 3 and 4). Some urban parks are so tiny that they necessarily encourage residents to use all of the available space and to interact. However, studies in other cities (such as the analysis of Famagusta, elsewhere in this issue) show that parks may be disliked by residents precisely because of the prevalence of this unscripted behavior. Something similar can be said of Barcelona’s larger open spaces, which in many other cities would be officially viewed somewhere between an invitation to riotous assembly and a loss of valuable parking spaces. In other words, the social, political and cultural context is everything. Few cities can realistically describe themselves as possessing a commitment to ‘‘urban quality and social dignity’’ and the promotion of values of ‘‘toler-
Editorial
Figure 2 Mural criticizing developers for replacing homes by offices, Barcelona
Figure 3 Recently refurbished urban park and public art, Placa de Vicenc Martorell, Barcelona
185
Editorial
Figure 4 Public space, Barcelona
ance, solidarity and a sense of belonging to the city and to the community’’ (Garcia-Ramon and Albet, 2000: p 1334). Even in Barcelona itself, there has been, at times, ‘‘dangerous self-indulgence and reluctance to accept criticism’’ (ibid.). The attempt to import and export models of development from one nation to another was surely shown to be inappropriate back in the 1960s. The imposition of an international style of housing design (resulting in hideous apartment blocks) was, in the same era, equally damaging. It is not hard to see why—when economic, political and civil society institutions vary, the degrees of freedom make the blueprints impossible to use without extensive alteration. Contemporary events seem to show, though, that this lesson has not been learned. Across the US, business editors are pontificating about what their cities need to do to attract a creative class, even in communities that would rather do everything in their power to stifle the slightest sign of artistic originality or social dissent. Doubtless, as I write this, some city managers are reeling around Barcelona trying to cherry-pick the more useable ideas for transplantation. What they will not do is study the city in any detail, try to comprehend its dynamics, or even aim to learn from its programs and partnerships. These are readily available for analysis—indeed the volume
186
of material is almost overwhelming [see www.barcelona2004.org]. It will be truly fascinating to see how this information diffuses through the urban system, and what its impacts turn out to be. Just how dangerous could it be to replace Disneyland’s Main Street with the Barcelonese Ramblas? Andrew Kirby
References Beriatos, E and Gospodini, A (in press) ‘Glocalising’ urban landscapes: Athens and the 2004 Olympics. Cities. Castells, M (1983) The City and the Grassroots. Arnold, London. Garcia-Ramon, MD and Albet, A (2000) Commentary: preOlympic and post-Olympic Barcelona, a model for urban regeneration today? Environment and Planning A 32, 1331– 1334. Garcia-Ramon, M D, Ortiz, A and Prats, M (in press) Urban planning, gender and the use of public space in a peripheral neighbourhood of Barcelona. Cities. Hughes, R (1992) Barcelona. Knopf, New York. Kirby, A (1999) Amateur sports, professional economic developers. Cities 16(3), 141. Luna-Garcia, A (2003) Cities of Spain, localities on the edge of an identity breakdown. Cities 20(6), 377–379. Munoz, F (2003) Lock living: urban sprawl in Mediterranean cities. Cities 20(6), 381–385. Rossi, M (2004) The Barcelona model. Newsweek International (on-line, February 2).