Urban connectors. Santander Street. A transformation project for Urban Cohesion (2016)

Abstract

The urban design project proposed for possible intervention in Carrer de Santander seeks to provide quality public space, due to its peripheral location and its edge character., is not properly integrated into the various spaces surrounding it.
Along the street both residential and industrial zones are present. Integration problems between the street and these spaces are evident in situations such as changing number of vehicle lanes, lack of facilities, excessive use of street parking and the lack of pedestrian flow. As a result of these situations can be observed an important deterioration of sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, squares and parterres.
In this sense, through the reorganization of the space, its remodeling and the construction of new facilities, the project seeks to promote urban cohesion. The renovation of the public space will not only improve the urban quality of the sector and the connectivity with the neighborhoods nearby and with the rest of the city, but will also encourage the appropriation of this space by neighbors and the general public.
In order to favor urban cohesion, several specific and general interventions along the street are proposed: the widening of pavements, the construction of bicycle lanes, the implementation of urban furniture, the renovation of lighting fixtures, the reduction of areas of separation to a single lane and the planting of vegetation of a wide chromatic and olfactory range. Thus, these interventions focused on the generation of a public space that integrates the physical diversities of this and the different needs of its users.
The new sports facilities will also be another measure that will seek to integrate Santander Street with the rest of the city, with the objective of supplying the lack of spaces for the practice of minority sports in Barcelona.
The reorganization of the space aims to revitalize places such as the Mossèn Joan Cortinas square and allow the proper use of the Molinet bridge by pedestrians and bike users.