Space In Barcelona Research Articles

Urban routines, spatial occupancy, and their effects on outdoor crime in Barcelona

Based on mobile phone data from the city of Barcelona, Spain, generalized linear models are used to analyse the relationship between urban mobilities and the spatial and temporal patterning of robbery and theft. The hypothesis was made that mobility fluxes may undermine social control mechanisms by altering the socio-demographic composition of urban populations, therefore increasing the risk of crime victimization. The analysis brought together indicators of land use and a measure of the ambient population disaggregated by different profiles of public space users (by sex, age, and place of residence). The results indicate that robbery and theft tend to cluster around locations that attract a higher proportion of non-residents (i.e. national and international visitors). Non-local visitors, who visit the city occasionally or once in a lifetime, lack a comprehensive knowledge of the environment which would help them to navigate safely through the urban space. Therefore, their presence not only unsettles the social routines of public spaces in Barcelona but also reflects negatively in terms of crime occurrence. This finding raises questions about how to accommodate growing mobilities in our cities without detriment to incumbent residents and their safety, which seems to be critical in post-COVID-19 urban planning.

Relevance of Catholic Parish Churches in Public Space in Barcelona: Historical Analysis and Future Perspectives

Knowledge of the link between church and public space remains limited. However, there seems to exist a relationship between the church and the city, dating back to the first foundational temples. This relationship is still present in the churches of the most recently created neighborhoods, including those that are now gone and gave way to new squares, as well as those that were repurposed to house new activities. In this study, the relationship between public space and 132 parish churches within the municipal limits of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) was analyzed, with the aim to highlighting the most representative examples to understand the role of religious buildings in the urban landscape of the contemporary city. Morphological analyses and comparative views were the methodological research tools used for drawing new maps highlighting how they configure urban axes and homogeneous patterns. Finally, we included a relevant case study of urban regeneration, Mare de Déu dels Àngels church, as an example to demonstrate that a church without a square can have one. In conclusion, churches influenced both the public space adjacent to the parish temples and the urban growth and expansion of the city of Barcelona. Moreover, urban regeneration and new uses of some underutilized churches are a non-negligible future perspective. Churches are relevant for understanding the past of the city of Barcelona, but they are also important for the present and future of the city’s public space.

Financial and analytical assessment of the costs of maintaining large urban park spaces in the Mediterranean on the example of Barcelona

The relevance of the subject is conditioned upon the fact that large park plantations have a great positive impact on the climate of Mediterranean cities, which increases the comfort of living in them. Such weather conditions as abnormal heat are increasingly manifested in Mediterranean cities due to global warming and other causes. In addition, there is air pollution in cities with solid particles and other impurities harmful to human health. The analysis of scientific literature has demonstrated that in the cities of the Mediterranean, these problems can be solved through urban park plantings and other types of landscaping. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the costs of maintaining large urban park spaces in Barcelona. The leading method to explore this problem is the empirical method, namely, the study of urban landscaping programmes and budget expenditures. The research examines the sources of financing the costs of maintaining urban park spaces and considers urban programmes for the development of landscaping, and their financing. In addition, the influence of green spaces on the comfort of living in the city of Barcelona is explored. As a result of the study, it was found that landscaping in the city of Barcelona is financed for the most part from the city budget, while spending increases annually. It has been identified that the city of Barcelona receives a significant positive effect from investments in green spaces, namely, air pollution decreases, its temperature decreases, people get places for hiking, sports, and other types of activity, the psychological and physiological health of the population improves, the urban environment becomes more comfortable to live in. It is the large park plantings that allow reducing the air temperature, which improves the quality of life in the city

The evaluation of the 3-30-300 green space rule and mental health

Background and aimsUrban green space has many health benefits, but it is still unclear how much actually is needed for better health. Recently a new 3-30-300 rule of thumb for urban forestry and urban greening has been proposed, but this rule has not been evaluated for benefits on health. The rule requires that every citizen should be able to see at least three trees from their home, have 30 percent tree canopy cover in their neighbourhood and not live more than 300 m away from the nearest park or green space. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the 3-30-300 green space rule and its components in relation to mental health. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study based on a population-based sample of 3145 individuals aged 15–97 years from in Barcelona, Spain who participated in the Barcelona Health Survey (2016–2017). We created 3-30-300 green space indicators using questionnaire data, GIS, remote sensing and land cover maps. Mental health status was assessed with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and also the use of tranquilizer/sedatives or antidepressants and psychiatrist or psychologist visits. Analyses were conducted using mixed effects logistic regression models with districts as the random effect, adjusted for relevant covariates. ResultsWe found that people in Barcelona had relatively little exposure to green space, whether through window view, living in an area with sufficient greenness, or access to a major green space, and only 4.7% met a surrogate 3-30-300 green space rule. Residential surrounding greenness, but not tree window view or access to major green space, was significantly associated with better mental health, less medication use, and fewer psychologist or psychiatrist visits. Meeting the full surrogate 3-30-300 green space rule was associated with better mental health, less medication use, and fewer psychologist or psychiatrist visits, but only for the latter combined the association was statistically significant (Odds ratio = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.11, 0.91). ConclusionFew people achieved the 3-30-300 green space in Barcelona and we used a surrogate measure. We observed health benefits when the full surrogate rule was met.

Economies of Coworking: Sharing, Exchanging, and Buying as Acts of Commoning

AbstractThe past fifteen years have seen a rapid growth in the number of coworking spaces worldwide. In the research literature, these spaces, in which start‐up entrepreneurs and other self‐employed people form professional and social networks, are often understood either as a manifestation of increasingly precarious forms of work within neoliberal capitalism or as a solidary alternative to this form of individualizing and competitive economy. Drawing on ethnographic research from a coworking space in Barcelona, we identify three forms of sharing—demand sharing, passion sharing, and public sharing—which simultaneously carry the potential for communal and passionate work and for instrumental and exploitative forms of collaboration in coworking. We show how coworkers balance acts of sharing, exchanging, and buying/selling their skills and knowledge in different ways, depending on their personal situations, experiences, and professional skills. Accordingly, we argue, in this setting coworking also involves forms of “differential commoning” through which coworkers can obtain—even if it is only momentary—a sense of being part of an intentional community that operates according to values of solidarity, care and passion, which intersects with yet differs from what they perceive as individualist capitalist work life.

Agglomeration and coagglomeration of co-working spaces and creative industries in the city

ABSTRACT The present paper investigates the location patterns and the effects co-working spaces (CWS) generate on the urban context. The focus is on Barcelona, one of the most important creative hubs in Europe in terms of knowledge-based, creative, digital, and sharing economy, and the city hosting the largest number of co-working spaces in Spain. The paper addresses three main questions: (1) Which are the location patterns of co-working spaces in Barcelona? (2) Do CWS agglomerate in the same areas? And, (3) Do CWS coagglomerate with the creative industries (CIs)? To do that, this paper uses open data on Barcelona neighbourhoods’ socioeconomic composition provided by the Statistics Department of the Council of Barcelona and micro-geographic data of private CWS and creative labs in Barcelona. By using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Kd functions of agglomeration and coagglomeration, results show that CWS are highly concentrated in central areas of Barcelona where there are greater chances to meet customers and suppliers, the proximity to urban amenities and the fact of being associated to a specific place-image. Moreover, they coagglomerate with CIs firms, especially with symbolic and synthetic knowledge-based CIs. These results are relevant when assessing the actual goal of urban policies in Barcelona.

Temporal relationship between a sudden disruption of a local illicit drug market in a deprived neighborhood of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and the number of discarded syringes collected from public space

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to describe the temporal relationship between an illicit drug market abrupt disruption and the number of discarded syringes collected from public space in Barcelona. MethodsThe monthly number of discarded syringes collected and interrupted time-series analyses were used to analyze changes and trends from January 2014 to December 2017, before and after an illicit drug market disruption comparing three different areas of the city: intervened (A) and not intervened (B) high trafficking areas and, as a reference, a low trafficking area (C). ResultsAfter the disruption, a decrease in the average number of syringes collected in area A was observed, although the trend was not significant (p value 0.09). In area B, there was a significant increase with an upward trend in the average number of collected syringes (p value <0.001). A flat trend was observed throughout the period in area C (p value 0.62) The systematic counting of discarded syringes collected from public places is confirmed as a useful indicator to monitor drug dealing and use in urban areas. It may help public health services strengthen safe needle disposal practices and harm reduction interventions in these areas.

Development of the urban green space quality assessment tool (RECITAL)

The quality of green spaces could play a crucial role in green spaces’ health benefits and their underlying mechanisms. We developed and implemented the RECITAL: a multidimensional in situ quality assessment tool for urban green spaces, primarily to characterize quality aspects relevant to human health. The tool includes 90 items divided into eleven thematic dimensions. Applying RECITAL, we assessed the quality of 149 urban green spaces in Barcelona, Spain, and the obtained results showed overall good-to-excellent reliability. Decision-makers could use the quality scores generated by RECITAL to fine-tune the design and management of urban green spaces. Simultaneously, researchers could apply it to study how different quality aspects of urban green spaces would affect their potential to exert health benefits.

Urban health: an example of a \u201chealth in all policies\u201d approach in the context of SDGs implementation

BackgroundCities are an important driving force to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda. The SDGs provide an operational framework to consider urbanization globally, while providing local mechanisms for action and careful attention to closing the gaps in the distribution of health gains. While health and well-being are explicitly addressed in SDG 3, health is also present as a pre condition of SDG 11, that aims at inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities.Health in All Policies (HiAP) is an approach to public policy across sectors that systematically takes into account the health implications of decisions, seeks synergies, and avoids harmful health impacts in order to improve population health and health equity. HiAP is key for local decision-making processes in the context of urban policies to promote public health interventions aimed at achieving SDG targets. HiAPs relies heavily on the use of scientific evidence and evaluation tools, such as health impact assessments (HIAs). HIAs may include city-level quantitative burden of disease, health economic assessments, and citizen and other stakeholders’ involvement to inform the integration of health recommendations in urban policies.The Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)‘s Urban Planning, Environment and Health Initiative provides an example of a successful model of translating scientific evidence into policy and practice with regards to sustainable and healthy urban development. The experiences collected through ISGlobal’s participation implementing HIAs in several cities worldwide as a way to promote HiAP are the basis for this analysis.AimThe aim of this article is threefold: to understand the links between social determinants of health, environmental exposures, behaviour, health outcomes and urban policies within the SDGs, following a HiAP rationale; to review and analyze the key elements of a HiAP approach as an accelerator of the SDGs in the context of urban and transport planning; and to describe lessons learnt from practical implementation of HIAs in cities across Europe, Africa and Latin-America.MethodsWe create a comprehensive, urban health related SDGs conceptual framework, by linking already described urban health dimensions to existing SDGs, targets and indicators. We discuss, taking into account the necessary conditions and steps to conduct HiAP, the main barriers and opportunities within the SDGs framework. We conclude by reviewing HIAs in a number of cities worldwide (based on the experiences collected by co-authors of this publication), including city-level quantitative burden of disease and health economic assessments, as practical tools to inform the integration of health recommendations in urban policies.ResultsA conceptual framework linking SDGs and urban and transportplanning, environmental exposures, behaviour and health outcomes, following a HiAP rationale, is designed. We found at least 38 SDG targets relevant to urban health, corresponding to 15 SDGs, while 4 important aspects contained in our proposed framework were not present in the SDGs (physical activity, noise, quality of life or social capital). Thus, a more comprehensive HiAP vision within the SDGs could be beneficial.Our analysis confirmed that the SDGs framework provides an opportunity to formulate and implement policies with a HiAP approach. Three important aspects are highlighted: 1) the importance of the intersectoral work and health equity as a cross-cutting issue in sustainable development endeavors; 2) policy coherence, health governance, and stakeholders’ participation as key issues; and 3) the need for high quality data.HIAs are a practical tool to implement HiAP. Opportunities and barriers related to the political, legal and health governance context, the capacity to inform policies in other sectors, the involvement of different stakeholders, and the availability of quality data are discussed based on our experience. Quantitative assessments can provide powerful data such as: estimates of annual preventable morbidity and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) under compliance with international exposure recommendations for physical activity, exposure to air pollution, noise, heat, and access to green spaces; the associated economic impacts in health care costs per year; and the number of preventable premature deaths when improvements in urban and transport planning are implemented. This information has been used to support the design of policies that promote cycling, walking, public, zero and low-emitting modes of transport, and the provision of urban greening or healthy public open spaces in Barcelona (e.g. Urban Mobility, Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity Plans, or the Superblocks’s model), the Bus Rapid Transit and Open Streets initiatives in several Latin American cities or targeted SDGs assessments in Morocco.ConclusionsBy applying tools such as HIA, HiAP can be implemented to inform and improve transport and urban planning to achieve the 2030 SDG Agenda. Such a framework could be potentially used in cities worldwide, including those of less developed regions or countries. Data availability, taking into account equity issues, strenghtening the communication between experts, decision makers and citizens, and the involvement of all major stakeholders are crucial elements for the HiAP approach to translate knowledge into SDG implementation.

Reassembling Lesseps Square, Rethinking Barcelona: A More‐than‐Human Approach

AbstractThis article discusses the great paradox of the planning of public spaces in Barcelona. While for years the city's residents, politicians and experts have been steeped in democratizing, participatory discourses, the interminable controversies almost all the council's initiatives in the streets and squares of Barcelona have aroused are evidence of a clear short‐circuit. Somehow this participatory‐democratic consensus has run up against a collective discord which, in my view, indicates the incapacity of the current channels and mechanisms of citizen participation to truly give shape to a more democratic city, one which does not block dissent or stand in the way of the possible. I discuss this short‐circuit through a case study, the Lesseps Square controversy, including a methodological and epistemological debate which, in order to study how the square was reassembled in practice after the participatory remodeling process, puts forward an actor‐network‐theory‐inspired approach to the study of public space. I argue that Barcelona, a city whose public institutions are deeply committed to creating channels for residents to participate in public processes, is at the same time enacting a closure of its public spaces. My contention here is that the urban environment is already distributed (in Rancière's sense) before it is given over to participation, and that this prevents the emergence of a (more‐than‐human) demos that could redistribute public space by taking account of innumerable unrepresented parties.

After Planning, the Production of Radical Social Space in Barcelona: Real-Estate Financial Circuit and (De Facto) Right to the City

This article is based on the premise that it is possible to apply Henri Lefebvre’s critical-theoretical apparatus to complex urban processes as a pedagogical case study. From previous knowledge of Lefebvrian thought, the article provides an overview of what Lefebvre called “the science of the use of social space”, supported by a transdisciplinary methodological plurality. The starting point is that neoliberal social space is produced, prepared, and led to the imminent urban post-neoliberalism, in the midst of this movement, a sophisticated planning system appears, with the old promise of service tradition, egalitarian ethics and pragmatic orientation. But in practice, it only reproduces the impotence of being inside a wave of localized surplus-benefits that expels human residues, avoiding any reaction. The Lefebvrian apparatus and a part of its theoretical tradition guide the research on Barcelona as a paradigm of global real-estate violence. This urban phenomenon is examined in central Barcelona, in order to rescue it from the pessimism of its own inhabitants, from the harsh perception that urban centrality no longer reproduces life. In this way, the article puts into operation an analytical tool designed to sabotage the real-estate circuit through a renewed right to the production of radical social space.

The impact of harm reduction programs and police interventions on the number of syringes collected from public spaces. A time series analysis in Barcelona, 2004–2014

BackgroundTo estimate the effect of opening two services for people who use drugs and three police interventions on the number of discarded syringes collected from public spaces in Barcelona between 2004 and 2014. MethodsWe conducted an interrupted time-series analysis of the monthly number of syringes collected from public spaces during this period. The dependent variable was the number of syringes collected per month. The main independent variables were month and five dummy variables (the opening of two facilities with safe consumption rooms, and three police interventions). To examine which interventions affected the number of syringes collected, we performed an interrupted time-series analysis using a quasi-Poisson regression model, obtaining relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). ResultsThe number of syringes collected per month in Barcelona decreased from 13,800 in 2004 to 1655 in 2014 after several interventions. For example, following the closure of an open drug scene in District A of the city, we observed a decreasing trend in the number of syringes collected [RR=0.88 (95% CI: 0.82–0.95)], but an increasing trend in the remaining districts [RR=1.11 (95% CI: 1.05–1.17) and 1.08 (95% CI: 0.99–1.18) for districts B and C, respectively]. Following the opening of a harm reduction facility in District C, we observed an initial increase in the number collected in this district [RR=2.72 (95% CI: 1.57–4.71)] and stabilization of the trend thereafter [RR=0.97 (95% CI: 0.91–1.03)]. ConclusionThe overall number of discarded syringes collected from public spaces has decreased consistently in parallel with a combination of police interventions and the opening of harm reduction facilities.

Health impacts related to urban and transport planning: A burden of disease assessment

IntroductionUntil now, estimates of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) have mainly been produced on national or regional levels. These general estimates, however, are less useful for city governments who have to take decisions on local scales. To address this gap, we focused on the city-level burden of disease (BD) due to exposures affected by urban and transport planning. We conducted a BD assessment using the Urban and Transport Planning Health Impact Assessment (UTOPHIA) tool to estimate annual preventable morbidity and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) under compliance with international exposure recommendations for physical activity (PA), exposure to air pollution, noise, heat, and access to green spaces in Barcelona, Spain. MethodsExposure estimates and morbidity data were available for 1,357,361 Barcelona residents ≥20years (2012). We compared recommended with current exposure levels to estimate the associated BD. We quantified associations between exposures and morbidities and calculated population attributable fractions to estimate the number of attributable cases. We calculated DALYs using GBD Study 2015 background DALY estimates for Spain, which were scaled to Barcelona considering differences in population size, age and sex structures. We also estimated annual health costs that could be avoided under compliance with exposure recommendations. ResultsNot complying with recommended levels for PA, air pollution, noise, heat and access to green spaces was estimated to generate a large morbidity burden and resulted in 52,001 DALYs (95% CI: 42,866–61,136) in Barcelona each year (13% of all annual DALYs). From this BD 36% (i.e. 18,951 DALYs) was due to traffic noise with sleep disturbance and annoyance contributing largely (i.e. 10,548 DALYs). Non-compliance was estimated to result in direct health costs of 20.10 million € (95% CI: 15.36–24.83) annually. ConclusionsNon-compliance of international exposure recommendations was estimated to result in a considerable BD and in substantial economic expenditure each year in Barcelona. Our findings suggest that (1) the reduction of motor traffic together with the promotion of active transport and (2) the provision of green infrastructure would result in a considerable BD avoided and substantial savings to the public health care system, as these measures can provide mitigation of noise, air pollution and heat as well as opportunities for PA promotion.

Nature-based solutions for urban landscapes under post-industrialization and globalization: Barcelona versus Shanghai

Using Barcelona and Shanghai as case studies, we examined the nature-based solutions (NBS) in urban settings—specifically within cities experiencing post-industrialization and globalization. Our specific research questions are: (1) What are the spatiotemporal changes in urban built-up land and green space in Barcelona and Shanghai? (2) What are the relationships between economic development, exemplified by post-industrialization, globalization, and urban green space? Urban land use and green space change were evaluated using data derived from a variety of sources, including satellite images, landscape matrix indicators, and a land conversion matrix. The relationships between economic development, globalization, and environmental quality were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling based on secondary statistical data. Both Barcelona and Shanghai have undergone rapid urbanization, with urban expansion in Barcelona beginning in the 1960s–1970s and in Shanghai in the last decade. While Barcelona's urban green space and green space per capita began declining between the 1950s and 1990s, they increased slightly over the past two decades. Shanghai, however, has consistently and significantly improved urban green space and green space per capita over the past six decades, especially since the economic reform in 1978. Economic development has a direct and significant influence on urban green space for both cities and post-industrialization had served as the main driving force for urban landscape change in Barcelona and Shanghai. Based on secondary statistical and qualitative data from on-site observations and interviews with local experts, we highlighted the institution's role in NBS planning. Furthermore, aspiration to become a global or globalizing city motivated both cities to use NBS planning as a place-making tool to attract global investment, which is reflected in various governing policies and regulations. The cities’ effort to achieve a higher status in the global city hierarchy may have contributed to the increase in total green space and urban green per capita. In addition, various institutional shifts, such as land property rights in a market economy vs. a transitional economy, may also have contributed to the differences in efficiency when expanding urban green space in Barcelona and Shanghai.

The health impacts of current urban and transport planning practices: A morbidity and burden of disease assessment

Introduction: Until now, estimates of the Global Burden of Disease have mainly been produced on national or regional levels. These estimates, however, are less useful for city governments who have to take decisions on local scales. We were interested in the city level morbidity and burden of disease (BoD) impact of current urban and transport planning practices. We therefore conducted a BoD assessment and applied the Urban and Transport Planning Health Impact Assessment (UTOPHIA) tool to estimate annual preventable morbidity by complying with international exposure recommendations for the performance of physical activity (PA), exposure to air pollution, noise, heat and access to green spaces in Barcelona. Methods: Exposure estimates and morbidity data were available for 1357361 Barcelona residents ≥20 years. We compared recommended with current exposure levels. We quantified the associations between exposures and morbidity and calculated population attributable fractions to estimate the number of morbidity cases. We also quantified the BoD attributable to non-compliant exposure levels by calculating disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). Results: Our results show that a large morbidity burden is attributable to current urban and transport planning practices in Barcelona. Non-compliance of recommended exposure levels for PA, air pollution, noise, heat and access to green spaces were estimated to generate almost 40000 DALYs annually. From this BoD almost 50% was due to road traffic noise with especially sleep disturbance and annoyance contributing largely. Conclusions: The results indicate that the contemporary environmental determinants and physical inactivity BoD could be modified by changes to urban and transport planning related practices. We emphasize the need for (1) the reduction of motorized traffic and (2) the provision of green infrastructure as suggested to provide mitigation of noise, air pollution and heat as well as opportunities for PA engagement.

Tourism promotion and urban space in Barcelona. Historic perspective and critical review, 1900-1936

This paper focuses on the historic connections between tourist promotion as a factor for both capital attraction and competitiveness and its influence on the urban configuration of Barcelona. Today, tourism represents a strategic value in the urban organisation of Barcelona and constitutes an excuse for the design, management and planning of the city, but the genealogy of this process has not been considered. In analysing this origin, the paper emphasises the validity of the strategies that were used at the beginning of the 20th century and makes a parallelism with the current promotion of the city. The tourist construction of Barcelona originated in the framework of the bourgeois ideology, which placed aesthetic and cultural values as a core idea of its discourse. Both the urban reconfiguration and the monumental construction of Barcelona were a prerequisite and a consequence of this promotion.

More Than Words: Place, Discourse and the Struggle over Public Space in Barcelona

The social construction of human-environment relations is a central concern of an emerging tradition of research on place, which extends the so-called “discursive turn” in social psychology. This research highlights the primary role of everyday linguistic practices in the production of place meanings, challenging the prevailing tendency among environmental psychologists to treat place meanings mainly as an expression of individual cognitions. By the same token, in this article we argue that research on human-environment relations also has the potential to enrich the field of discursive psychology, tempting discursive researchers to move beyond their customary focus on verbal and written texts. Specifically, we propose an analytic framework that transcends the dualism between the material and discursive dimensions of human-environment relations. In order to develop this argument, we outline the novel concept of place-assemblage and illustrate its utility by conducting an analysis of a recent conflict over a public space in Barcelona. This analysis shows how discursive constructions of the development of this public space over time were inextricably entwined with other kinds of material and embodied practices—practices through which place meanings were actively performed, reproduced and contested.

Different Inter-Organizational Collaboration Approaches in Coworking Spaces in Barcelona

Inter-organizational collaboration plays a crucial role in the innovative capacity and competitiveness of firms. This article discusses the collaboration practices in localized spaces of collaboration through a study of different coworking spaces in Barcelona, following an inductive and qualitative approach. Three types of collaboration approaches are identified: 1) cost-related collaboration, where agents are motivated in reducing their operational costs and the transaction costs related to collaboration; 2) resource-based collaboration, where agents collaborate to learn or complement their resources by integrating external resources and sources of knowledge; and 3) relational collaboration, where actors engage in intense synergistic collaborative practices. The results show that each coworking space tends to focus on one kind of collaboration type that is influenced in different ways by the coworking space managers. The article contributes to the research on inter-organizational collaboration by explaining how the physical environment and the action of the space and community managers can facilitate the implementation of different collaborative practices among colocated economic agents.

Coworking Spaces and the Localized Dynamics of Innovation. The Case of Barcelona.

The innovative capacity of cities does not exclusively depend on the innovation processes managed by local firms. This paper considers a multi-level perspective to analyze the crucial role of individuals and communities outside firms in the dynamics of innovation in cities. Through a qualitative study of the communities emerging in coworking spaces in Barcelona, we disentangle the different dynamics of innovation involving community insiders and local actors (firms, citizens and governmental bodies). We argue that coworking spaces act as intermediaries between creative individuals (“the underground”) and innovative firms (“the upperground”), contributing to the interaction between colocated actors through the articulation of places, spaces, projects and events. The results lead to suggestions for policies to contribute to the emergence and development of innovation in cities by fostering innovative processes outside firms.

Urban tellurics in Barcelona: Between a Heideggerian rock and a postmodern swimming pool

Abstract This article reflects on the possibility of resisting globalization by relying on some sense of the local as found in public art and public space. The term ‘urban tellurics’ explores how the notion of the tellurics of place, which I derive from Heidegger’s thinking and from Kenneth Frampton’s proposal for a Critical Regionalist architecture of resistance, interacts with the reality of endless urbanization within global capitalism. To articulate this relation, I focus on a singular public space in Barcelona, the Parc de la Creueta del Coll, designed in 1987 by the architectural firm MBM. The park was ‘sculpted’ on the slopes of a former stone quarry and includes a sculpture by Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida that hangs above a swimming pool. Heidegger considered Chillida’s work the most precise embodiment of his thought on art and space. Thus, focusing on the tension between the telluric elements of the park and the flat surface of the swimming pool provides a good occasion to reflect on the contradictions between Heideggerian rootedness and the flatness of capitalist globalization. ‘Urban tellurics’ aims to enable forms of spatial resistance that are neither reactionary returns to the provinces, nor mere celebrations of city diversity, nor simple manifestations of political struggle.