Changing Paradigms in Urban Planning 2000–2020

Abstract

Urbanism is the physical urban materialization of the social, cultural, and technological conditions, concepts and paradigms of each era and each place. From 2000 to 2020, there have been numerous relevant events that have made us see and design cities in a very different way in each of those moments.

This entry takes the paradigmatic case of the 22 @ Innovation District of Barcelona, started in 2000 and rethought in 2020, to show and reflect on the changes and differences between the two moments. The comparison shows a shift in the interest of urban planners from issues focused on urban remodeling linked to economic growth through the deployment of information technologies and the incipient digital economy in 2000, to the urban regeneration of the area proposed in 2020 that adds a deeper concern and interest in environmental issues, mixed-use redevelopment and quality of urban space.

A brief reflection on the impact and importance of facts such as the growing general perception of environmental deterioration and the impact of climate change and disruptive events such as the Covid-19 pandemic is carried out at the end.