Urban Resilience in Perspective: Tracing the Origins and Evolution of Urban Green Spaces in Barcelona

The transition to the resilient city would benefit from an appreciation of our urban history and the challenges confronted by city builders of the past. This historical lens may provide contemporary planners with greater perspective, context and humility when envisioning the transformative changes needed to address our climate emergency. A historical perspective is particularly useful when examining parks and urban green spaces, which are key features of the resilient city because they provide essential ecosystem services related to biodiversity, water flows, air pollution, temperature control, health and recreation. This chapter traces the historical planning decisions that led to the configuration of the current green network in Barcelona, Spain. I propose a historical typology of urban green space that illustrates the origins and causes of its deficient network. Contemporary planners in Barcelona have now set ambitious goals to green the city with new street designs and urban greening projects. However these greening efforts have been criticised for their unintended consequences, as they bring in more visitors and may accelerate gentrification. Looking ahead, the pandemic may re-calibrate our expectations about urban green space, especially with regard to how much, how close and how crowded they should be.