Ciutat Meridiana is a typical residential project from the 70's: Designed to accomodate as many people as possible, as fast as possible regardless of a fitting area and terrain, no thoughts on social structures and communities.
There were some recent efforts to improve the quality of life and investions in safety and accessibility like the additional street lights and the
ascensors inclinat were smart decisions.
Nevertheless
Ciutat Meridiana, poorly connected to the centre and badly accessible, continues to be one of the least appealing districts of Barcelona.
Although there are plenty of public spaces, they are undefined and lack in structural composition: The existing squares are plane concrete surfaces with cars passing by. No cafés, bars or restaurants make them alive, not enough green areas interject the grey streets. As a result people do not stroll or linger and there is no chance that a social community can form.
Berlin has plenty of
high density housing areas, as dwellings were scarce after Wo
rld War II and society wanted to leave the past and its architecture of city blocks behind and looked forward to a new way of living. One of the most known high density housing areas is probably Marzahn. It was build in 1977 in the Eastern German part of Berlin and was therefore subject to socialist ideas: Equality in every aspect of life.
The apartments had modern heating systems and were very well equipped, wherefore they used to be very popular with people across all social stratums. The buildings form groups around a common green area and the new residential areas were advertised as "livin on the greenfield" or "living in the park". Berlin has the advantage of being in a very flat area, the limits Collserola g
ives Barcelona don't exist and the city can extend in all directions.
Although the buildings are very well maintained and constantly refurbished, Marzahn's popularity has decreased drastically since the Fall of the Wall. People desired an urban lifestyle and old buildings were found to be charming again.
Nowadays Marzahn is famous for its right-wing extremists, high unemployment rate and insuffiently educated population. There were efforts to make the area more att
ractive with parks, a public forum and shopping malls but the district continued to be one of Berlins problem boroughs. The first success in increasing the popularity was in 2005 when eleven-storeyed buildings were reduced to terrace houses with varying heights. It gave the whole district a suburban vibe and more people moved to Marzahn.
Ciutat Meridiana is a typical residential project from the 70's: Designed to accomodate as many people as possible, as fast as possible regardless of a fitting area and terrain, no thoughts on social structures and communities.
There were some recent efforts to improve the quality of life and investions in safety and accessibility like the additional street lights and the ascensors inclinat were smart decisions.
Nevertheless Ciutat Meridiana, poorly connected to the centre and badly accessible, continues to be one of the least appealing districts of Barcelona.
Although there are plenty of public spaces, they are undefined and lack in structural composition: The existing squares are plane concrete surfaces with cars passing by. No cafés, bars or restaurants make them alive, not enough green areas interject the grey streets. As a result people do not stroll or linger and there is no chance that a social community can form.
Berlin has plenty of high density housing areas, as dwellings were scarce after Wo
rld War II and society wanted to leave the past and its architecture of city blocks behind and looked forward to a new way of living. One of the most known high density housing areas is probably Marzahn. It was build in 1977 in the Eastern German part of Berlin and was therefore subject to socialist ideas: Equality in every aspect of life.
The apartments had modern heating systems and were very well equipped, wherefore they used to be very popular with people across all social stratums. The buildings form groups around a common green area and the new residential areas were advertised as "livin on the greenfield" or "living in the park". Berlin has the advantage of being in a very flat area, the limits Collserola g
ives Barcelona don't exist and the city can extend in all directions.
Although the buildings are very well maintained and constantly refurbished, Marzahn's popularity has decreased drastically since the Fall of the Wall. People desired an urban lifestyle and old buildings were found to be charming again.
Nowadays Marzahn is famous for its right-wing extremists, high unemployment rate and insuffiently educated population. There were efforts to make the area more att
ractive with parks, a public forum and shopping malls but the district continued to be one of Berlins problem boroughs. The first success in increasing the popularity was in 2005 when eleven-storeyed buildings were reduced to terrace houses with varying heights. It gave the whole district a suburban vibe and more people moved to Marzahn.
