Barcelona (ES)

How can the site contribute to a productive city?

The proposed site is part of a desire to shape an urban area as a space for new housing and equipped urban agriculture. The goal is urban densification and urban production.
We regard the city as a diverse, mixed, active territory where production and housing should complement and be integrated with the immediate surroundings. The existence of land that is still available for agricultural uses in the urban areas around Barcelona is a great opportunity. At the same time, the project is working on improvements to the neighbourhood and its residential densification. Naturalization and production are appreciated as the basic thrusts of this urban renewal.

City strategy

Ideas should be developed to consolidate a mixed area with residential and equipped urban agricultural uses, as well as energy generation and water management. The proposals should take into account the appropriate conditions for sustainability and timetable for implementation. Ideas for the recovery of natural geographical elements and their complementarities with the city's major infrastructures, the neighbourhood’s own residential uses and the densification process will be particularly appreciated. Two pre-existing railway lines running parallel to the river must also be taken into account. They are currently being placed underground. There is a line at the top of an embankment that splits the territory and the project areas.

Site definition

Vallbona, an outer suburb of Barcelona, is part of the Nou Barris District. It is located near the Northern boundary of the municipality. It sits on a plain at the foot of a hill, on the South-East side of the Besós River in an area where the Collserola and Marina Hills, part of the Coastal Range, converge. This location is important in land planning terms, given that it is used as a strategic transit corridor by the city’s large-scale transport infrastructure, which separates the suburb from the rest of the municipality. It has a close relationship with the Can Sant Joan suburb, part of the Montcada i Reixac District, on the Northern slope of a hill known as Turó de Vallbona. In addition to their proximity, these two suburbs also share the alignment of the Rec Comtal canal, built in the 10th Century providing Barcelona with water, from springs near the Besós River. Today water still flows along the canal from its source down to Vallbona’s agricultural area, where the largest open-air sections of the canal can be found.
Huerta de la Ponderosa, agricultural farmland on the Vallbona plain that receives water from the Rec Canal, is a feature of the suburb, which wants to maintain and enhance this activity and also increase its production area. Bear in mind that this is the largest agricultural area in the Barcelona municipality, a key aspect in the promotion of healthy, responsible production and consumption in the city.

How is production inserted in the urban diversity programme?

The project area clearly incorporates production into an urban programme by means of the conservation and improvement of a large area of urban agriculture plots. The project is based on the proposal for a well-equipped, productive city that will encourage agricultural output, with several architectural elements to be built for supplementary facilities, energy generation and the proper management of the water cycle.
A residential densification process that complements the agricultural project and the existing suburb is also envisaged for the project area. In addition, land must be set aside for public facilities. The development of 300 to 350 new dwellings is proposed. This new development could accommodate a population of approx. 650 to 850 inhabitants, adding to the current population of almost 1,400.

Overview of the project site - different activities and typologies

Huerta de la Ponderosa: agricultural farmland

Vallbona City: an outer surburd of BarcelonaRec Comtal Canal providing Barcelona with water