Barcelona’s Superblocks have made headlines around the world. Made up of nine city blocks by closing off transit traffic and known for radically changing urban mobility concepts with its ambitious goal to free up to 60% of the traffic area for multifunctional ‘citizen spaces’ and green infrastructure to tackle air pollution and the urban heat island effect, the Superblocks are part of a complex urban model promoted by the Barcelona Agency of Urban Ecology in its Ecosystemic Urbanism charter.
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The charter calls for the recognition of cities as key players in addressing the challenges of climate change and a growing population. Changes in parameters of governance and regulatory frameworks as well as institutional and economic structures are required to give cities the control – and the budget – to drive the urban transformation.
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The Ecosystemic Urbanism model represents a holistic idea of the city as an ecosystem that is defined by relationships, restrictions and proportions. Its characteristics are a compact morphology and urban functionality, a complex organisation in terms of mixed uses and biodiversity, metabolic efficiency in form of flow of materials, water and energy, and – most importantly – social cohesion.
A human-centred approach
What sets it apart from other eco-city models is a human-centred approach with the human being at the heart of the urban ecosystem, that stresses the importance of the relationships of the citizens with each other and the city itself.
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The urban model is scalable and can be applied to new developments and the urban regeneration of compact inner-city suburbs and low-density settlements. The 16-20ha sized Superblock has proven the smallest possible urban ecosystem to achieve the principles of mobility, social infrastructure, density and self-sufficiency. The Superblock is key to the successful implementation of the model as due to its size it is the ideal testing field to trial and adapt the strategy, which allows for tangible and immediate results. Its neighbourhood scale can also foster a bottom-up approach and local citizen engagement. As the pilot projects in Barcelona have shown, a flexible approach, community involvement and retaining the social balance are vital for urban regeneration and the success of the model.
We have spent the past few months analysing and reviewing our editorial concept with the aim of bringing it up to date and making improvements. Topos 99 is the result. Take a peek!
Content
Healing the city: When it comes to landscapes and urban space, wounds, scars and even trauma are phenomena that may result from a variety of violent incidents, such as acts of crime, political upheaval, or terror attacks. The biggest conceivable and by far most destructive human-made intervention in the cityscape, however, is war. In icting vast and dramatic marks to the spatial fabric and confronting people with ultimate loss, war leaves the surviving generations with a crucial question: How to rebuild the city?
Defending Europe’s Urbanity – Katja Veil
Large European cities such as Berlin, London and Paris have become targets of international terrorism over the last few decades. The security and prevention policies practised by public urban planning departments are, however, as varied as the cities themselves. They must nevertheless ask themselves the same question: Does security in public open space also mean less freedom?
Dear Kabul – Ronja von Wurmb-Seibel
It is no exaggeration to say that the relationship Kabul’s inhabitants have with their city is a story of unconditional love. Even if its destruction during the war turned the lives of Kabulis upside down, that did not in the least change the deep affection they have for Afganistan’s capital. Ronja von Wurmb-Seibel lived here from 2013 to 2014 and takes us to a place where surrender is no option.
Time vs. Sustainability – Mark Kammerbauer
Disasters and conflicts lead to the destruction of the built environment and to the forced migration of its inhabitants. Resulting recovery efforts reflect a dilemma that arises in such situations: there is a need to return and rebuild housing quickly, but also to support the re-establishment of sustainable and resilient settlement patterns. Cases in Nepal and Ukraine show that improved shelter types such as Ikea’s “Better Shelter” play an important role in addressing these needs.
Ghost Ecologies – Pierre Belanger and Alexander Arroyo
The U.S. Department of Defense boasts an impressive 25-million-acre footprint of military facilities and installations around the world. However, it is the lesser- known inventory of more than 10,000 sites – remote dumps, barren test sites, abandoned infrastructures, and obsolete facilities – that represent the haunting territorial shadows of militarism. Yet this extraordinary legacy is not only underrepresented, it is systematically ignored in much American environmental history. Appearing as mere afterthoughts of military administration, or outsourced to the civilian world of remediation, this article traces the scales and significations of this spatial residuum in the military-logistical operations of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Further Articles:
Old bullet holes and new high-rises – Ute Strimmer
Beyond Reconstruction – Jala Makhzoumi and Rabih Shibli
The Aesthetics of Danger – Erik Wegerhoff
The US Department of Defense boasts an impressive 25 million-acre footprint of military facilities and installations around the world. However, it is the lesser-known inventory of more than 10,000 sites— remote dumps, barren test sites, abandoned infrastructures, and obsolete facilities— that represent the haunting territorial shadows of militarism.
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Yet this extraordinary legacy is not only under-represented, it is systematically ignored in much American environmental history. Appearing as mere afterthoughts of military administration, or outsourced to the civilian world of remediation, this article traces the scales and significations of this spatial residuum in the military-logistical operations of the US Department of Defense.
Read more in our current 99th Topos magazine
