Barcelona's pedestrianised 'superblocks'

[shelivesthedream]

I'd recommend watching the BBC video first because I don't think the article explains what it is very well.

Basically, Barcelona is taking nine city blocks together and designating them a 'superblock'. Traffic flows as it currently does around the outside of the superblock, but within it traffic is highly restricted (5mph) and the streets are renovated to be for pedestrians and cyclists. The junctions are turned into public spaces like playgrounds. It sounds very mustachian to me!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/features/magazine-38895435/38895435

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/nyregion/what-new-york-can-learn-from-barcelonas-superblocks.html

[AZDude]

Interesting idea. I like it, although I wonder how they deal with thru traffic? Do you just go around? Theoretically, if you had thru-traffic going over or under or something, then you could have lots of similar places in the city. Add public transportation to get from area to another and you have a city that could function without cars.

[slugline]

Interesting idea. I like it, although I wonder how they deal with thru traffic? Do you just go around? Theoretically, if you had thru-traffic going over or under or something, then you could have lots of similar places in the city. Add public transportation to get from area to another and you have a city that could function without cars.

I'm looking at Google Maps satellite view and the existing blocks in Barcelona are downright tiny. The resulting "superblocks" look like they are about a quarter-mile on each side. A driver accustomed to the hierachical road pattern in auto-oriented modern America would still find the Barcelona grid very fine-grained by comparison. Traditional traffic engineers might actually endorse this plan just because it eliminates so many intersections with car-carrying cross-streets. Right now there's an intersection every 400 feet.

[scottish]

We were in Barcelona about 1 1/2 years ago for a week.   We were staying near the university in an apartment rental.   

The streets are already pedestrian friendly.   The subway seemed to work very well.   The most common mode of private transportation seemed to be the scooter - there were scooters everywhere!

This sounds like a great idea.

[MMMaybe]

Its really great actually to walk around Barcelona. But absolutely horrible to drive. If you plan on catching a taxi to/from the airport, its worth staying somewhere close to a main road.