HOW CAN GENTRIFICATION BECOME A POSITIVE ELEMENT AND FOSTER THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS?
Our research has started with the analysis of commercial activity in Barcelona. We used different types of data to reveal the commercial pattern of Barcelona and understand what are some overlapping patterns that exists at the moment.
The data that we have used informed us that Poblenou inhabits a various kind of commercial activities and undergoes a distinctive gentrification process, which is different than the rest of the city and region.
We started to analyze different kinds of gentrification processes around the world and their impact to their surroundings. We identified 4 different kinds of gentrifications;
-Expansive Gentrification
-Concentrated Gentrification
-Limited Gentrification
-Nascent Gentrification
However, We have identified the gentrification type in Poblenou rather different then of these 4 types. Poblenou is gentrified through INNOVATION and KNOWLEDGE, which creates a specific environment for its inhabitants.
We have used following data to uncover the gentrification process in Poblenou;
-Density of the population
-Development through time
-Different types and scales of commerce
-Innovation centers
After identifying the innovation centers in Poblenou, we wanted to look at how these innovation centers influence its surrounding and foster the gentrification. We found that these points of innovation generates a different kind of commerce and activities around them, such as fabrication centers, co-working spaces and artist studious.
BOTTOM-UP GENTRIFICATION
The innovative functions that we have identified in Poblenou becomes a core for our development plan . The relationship between different programs exists in horizontal configuration. Through densification process we propose to transform the horizontal relationships into a horizontal one, which can generate a new urban dynamic and typology of commerce in the city
After analyzing different kinds of commercial typologies, we wanted to propose a vertical mall, where hybrid functions coexist and generate a vertical relationship.
Students: Caglar Gokbulut, Mayra Lopez, Sherine Zein
Instructors: Carlo Ratti, Matteo Silverio & Antonio Atripaldi