A research lab at ICTA-UAB
To Green Or Not To Green
Our short documentary created by filmmaker Alberto Bougleux sheds light on the dilemma of greening cities. To Green or Not To Green: Four Stories of Urban (In)Justice in Barcelona showcases four neighborhood struggles against urban inequality in Barcelona, tracing how civic groups are mobilizing to demand better air quality, safe housing conditions, and access to health care facilities—all in relation to green space. Illustrated through the cases of La Fira, El Raval, Tres Turons, and Poblenou, the documentary addresses how issues of wealth, class, race, and unequal access to environmental amenities manifest in a city that has historically grown around a tourism and tech-based economy.
ArcGis StoryMaps of Urban Justice Struggles in Barcelona
Barcelona is known for its progressive urban planning measures including the widely celebrated car-free Superblocks model and continues to consolidate its trajectory by making neighborhood revitalization, climate adaptation and green, public spaces a priority. Although this sounds ideal, a closer look reveals problematic trends. While new parks, street re-designs and traffic-calming initiatives in certain areas have driven prices up and many locals out due to gentrification, other areas still lack green space altogether. As a result, residents are fighting to make their neighborhoods both green and affordable. Watch their testimonials by clicking through the map or on the videos below.
The Green Divide
Our upcoming interactive web documentary, to be released in the coming months, will allow viewers to explore cases of green inequalities across six cities in Europe, United States and Canada. Created by Alberto Bougleux, the platform is based on field research from BCNUEJ's GreenLULUs and Naturvation projects, Green and (Un)Just Cities and documents the challenges of building greener and equitable cities in Portland, Washington D.C., Boston, Montreal, Nantes and Barcelona. Each city presents three stories of residents mobilizing for equity and inclusion around projects that aim to renature cities and improve access to green infrastructure, as well as brief geo-spatial analyses and relevant references to community groups and struggles.
10 Drivers of Urban Injustice
As part of our UrbanA project, this 10-part video series outlines the main drivers of urban injustice related to sustainability, explained by Isabelle Anguelovski and Panagiota Kotsila. The UrbanA project aims to co-creatively synthesise and broker knowledge for sustainable and just cities and translate this knowledge into action.