Rehabilitating a mass housing neighborhood in Barcelona, a successful transformation?

Abstract

Mass housing neighborhoods emerged in the second half of the twentieth century as an important part of the affordable social housing stock in Southern Europe, but now these are suffering from social problems and physical degradation. This article, which focuses on a case study of an archetypical transformation of a housing estate in Barcelona (Canyelles), aims at identifying the conditions needed to reduce social inequalities in this type of neighborhood and implement urban rehabilitation programs. The mixed methodology applied consisted of a combination of semi-structured interviews with the main actors involved, a focus group with the neighborhood council, and a multivariate statistical analysis of intra-urban fine-scale social indicators. Based on these methods, the urban transformation projects and their social consequences, which can be observed in the evolution of the social composition of the neighborhood, are analyzed. A significant improvement in the quality of life of the neighbors is seen as a result of the housing rehabilitation and renovation of public spaces programs. Ultimately, these changes are contributing to increasing social integration, as well as initiating a gentrification process.