Jenny G. Reading 1.2
I was struck by a couple of questions when reading this article.
- In Barcelona, what role does the perception of the homeless population play in enacting policy such as the creation of the superilles? In the article, it is stated that, “with the help of data analytics, the City of Barcelona has planned superilles…by limiting
vehicle access to perimeter streets using newly designed intersections that could match in size and quality the plazas in Gràcia as spaces of “placer,” or human pleasure” (Speranza, 2018, pg. 43). In Portland, for example, data-driven social policies have to go through a gauntlet of public perception regarding possible impacts the policy might have on the presence or absence of people experiencing homelessness. Does the city of Barcelona have more authority to enact infrastructural policies such as the superilles than the city of Portland? What role does shared public perception and the cultural ideal of ‘the village’ play in Barcelona’s ability to create and sustain the superilles? - I am wondering to what degree capitalism enforces the form our streets take in the United States. Can we measure the impact that the single bottom line has on the way our streets are laid out? In the reading, conditions for diversity are stated as being such that, ” (1) the district must serve more than one primary use, and preferably more than two uses; (2) short streets/blocks that enhance a diversity of route choices and experiences; (3) building fabric should be mixed by age, condition, and required economic yield; and (there must be) (4) population density (Jacobs 1961)” ((Speranza, 2018, pg. 45). Many downtown cores in the United States are laid out to make the consumption and distribution of goods as convenient as possible. Is it possible to predict that a district’s only purpose is the consumption and distribution of goods by looking at the form of the streetscape? Could this help us reverse engineer the form of a diverse district in the United States?
- I would love to know how this figure was made! It is really beautiful.
Figure 6. Figure 6_Barcelona – Eixample Esquera Superilla
Citation
Speranza, Philip. “A Human-Scaled GIS: Measuring and Visualizing Social Interaction in Barcelona’s Superilles.” Journal of Urbanism, vol. 11, no. 1, 2018, pp. 41–62, https://doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2017.1341426.
I’m eager to learn how to create these diagrams too, so easy to read!
Interesting to consider the homeless in the superilles, does more public space create a magnet for the homeless? Always interesting to find ways to provide amenities for the homeless population. Very relevant topic to Portland and Eugene.