From “Ribera Plan” to “Diagonal Mar”, passing through 1992 “Vila Olímpica”. How urban renewal took place as urban regeneration in Poblenou district (Barcelona)

Abstract

The paper aimed at analyzing the Poblenou district evolution after the 1970 s–1980 s due to postindustrial development in Barcelona, especially its regeneration by some large urban projects such as Vila Olímpica (1986–1992) and Diagonal Mar district (1990–2004). As to address this analysis, the methodology used is the following. Starting from a desk research analysis on the Poblenou’s urban transformation process and a fieldwork by the Author, this study analyzes the different Poblenou’s process of spatial production by three key moments. These moments are materialization, emptying/dismantling, and regeneration of large industrial and railway properties understood as a “capital in land” strictly linked to real estate development. This work demonstrated that the last 20th century decades growing tendency of neoliberal urbanism has been legitimized by public administrations so as to let private actors search for urban rent benefits despite belonging to different political contexts. Additionally, the research shows how Poblenou’s industrial urban environment has been manipulated as a tool which led to the global homogenization of the urban landscape, the destruction of the historical legacy, and the dramatic change of socio-economic structure. Regardless of the fact that the urban renewal project “Ribera Plan” did not take place in the 1970s, following the real-estate market purposes a similar intervention was developed twenty years later taking advantage of the 1992 Olympic Games.