In my previous article I explained how density is key to urban vitality and that, in this aspect, the metropolitan region of Barcelona is in an advantageous situation compared to many other cities in the world, as it shows much higher levels of density distributed across various points of the territory.
Even so, the presence of low density in our environment is not negligible and is associated with great economic, social, environmental, and even political challenges. This issue was precisely the subject of a seminar organized by the Diputación de Barcelona on May 2 and 3 at the CCCB facilities, as a complementary activity to the exhibition Suburbia.
The significant development of low-density urbanization began in our country, as explained by the exhibition's curator, geographer Francesc Muñoz, during the 1960s. At that time, it mainly consisted of second homes on the outskirts of the first metropolitan ring (Ordal, Valleses, Maresme, and the southern coast up to the Penedés coast).
These second homes, in single-family format (the famous "chalet" or "torre" of the working middle class), in many cases self-built and/or in areas with significant urbanistic (if not legal) deficits, spread coinciding with the impulse of industrialization resulting from the economic opening of the time, with the appearance of the SEAT 600 on the market and also coinciding with a period of growth in the density of the central city with the characteristic housing estates of the era, built to accommodate a new wave of migrants, mainly from southern Spain. The "little house and the garden," then, as a sign of prosperity that meant the possibility of disconnecting from work and the stress of the city.
The second major impulse towards low density and the consequent urban sprawl occurred in the late 80s, following a different model. Firstly, because these are generally already primary residences. Secondly, because there is a predominance of terraced houses that are practically mass-cloned. Thirdly, due to its scope, which now reaches the entire metropolitan area and beyond. And fourthly, because with housing, the dispersion of economic activity (and associated jobs) across the territory also occurs, including consumption and leisure facilities.
On the other hand, as a coincidence, here too we find communicating vessels with the transformations of the central city. On this occasion, the urban improvement operations linked to the deployment of the "Barcelona model" of urban planning to update the city of Barcelona for the celebration of the 1992 Olympic Games.
The presence of low density in our environment is by no means negligible and brings with it great economic, social, environmental, and even political challenges.These population movements implied that, if Barcelona city concentrated 60% of the province's population in 1950, in 2011 this percentage had already fallen below 30%.Logically, this drastic reduction does not mean that all growth moved to low-density environments, since another 30% of the total population was located within a 20 km radius of Plaça Catalunya, according to demographer Antoni López Gay. The population that does so in urbanizations, according to the expert, presents very specific characteristics; for example, only 17% of women between 35 and 39 years old in Sant Quirze del Vallès, a municipality with a dozen population entities that has doubled its number of inhabitants since 1995, do not have children, compared to an average of 27% in the Barcelona metropolitan region and 45% in the capital.
The culture of property, the lifestyle reproduced in American series, which the exhibition Suburbia so graphically captures, together with the ease of access to credit before the 2008 crisis, are key factors to explain the explosion of the phenomenon at the turn of the century. Today, however, it can be said that the main factors explaining suburbanization in our environment, according to sociologist Sergio Porcel, have to do with the housing crisis in large metropolitan cities, new housing preferences after the shock of lockdowns, and the revaluation of rural environments.
The difference between displacements forced by market conditions and those made voluntarily and with economic capacity is key to understanding another phenomenon associated with suburbanization: the segregation of the population according to their income levels. A phenomenon that, as geographer Oriol Nel·lo reminds us, intensifies over time and tends to form true metropolitan axes of wealth and poverty throughout the territory.
Where there is also an almost unanimous view on the negative effects of low density is when evaluating its environmental impact. Environmentalist Irene Navarro made an extensive review: from higher water consumption to the unavoidable need to resort to private vehicles for travel, essential to access the vast majority of services, passing through the progressive disappearance of agricultural land or the difficulties in ensuring the energy efficiency of homes.
In this context, geographer David Saurí showed how the maintenance of private gardens and lawns consumes much more water than swimming pools, which also act as climate refuges. In this regard, the use of progressive pricing and regulations in some municipalities, such as Sant Cugat del Vallès, limiting the percentage of lawn area on plots, has significantly curbed water consumption. This is an example of measures that did not have to wait for the current extreme drought situation and that pave the way for other emergency measures to become part of regular regulations.
Similarly, the commitment to territorialized agri-food systems, advocated by various strategic frameworks of food policies in Europe and the rest of the world, was seen by political scientist Lidón Martrat, an expert in this field, as an opportunity to integrate them with low-density areas and achieve greater proximity between production and consumption, the protection of productive soils, and the promotion of short marketing circuits.
Regarding mobility, architect Mónica Carrera explained how several experiences are already underway to provide on-demand transport solutions for people living far from population centers, as well as carpooling. The development of alternative routes on roads for walking or cycling is also incipient. Even so, this remains one of the main pending issues for improving the quality of life and opportunities for people living in low-density areas.
One of the interesting conclusions from all the challenges presented pointed to the lifestyle model in urbanizations as a choice that, in a caricatured version, would be specifically designed for a very specific type of cohabitation unit and life stage: couples with children up to 16 years old (or until they want to enjoy autonomy of movement).
Today, with such diverse family structures, with the greater communication options (physical and virtual) offered by digital technologies, or with the transformations occurring in compact cities in terms of traffic calming and renaturalization, it remains to be seen whether this model has a future or not.
Be that as it may, following what the course director, geographer Josep Bàguena, explained in the introduction to the seminar, we must continue to permanently analyze the evolution of suburban Catalonia and update strategies, landing in the diverse local realities and in the mechanisms of daily life, to make low density part of the city; to make urbanizations fully functional neighborhoods.