Can you picture turning the port into an urban park in the middle of a lake? A park that residents from Ciutat Vella, Poble Sec, the Raval, or Barceloneta may enjoy? A park that links Ciutadella, Montjuic, and the beaches? A park where you may go for a stroll, run, play sports, swim at the beaches, and practice surfing or canoeing on the islands? A location that is rich in recreation, culture, biodiversity, and tranquility where the water surrounds the perimeter? Welcome to ON-A’s “Parc Blau” then.

Throughout its history, Barcelona’s port has only served to welcome and send ships away from the city. The idea of the Port Vell facing the city and being enjoyed by residents, on the other hand, was made possible by the Port of Barcelona’s development into a logistic zone.

Currently, we have two ports — the logistical port and Port Vell or Port Ciutat, each of which have very different qualities:

We believe that Port Ciutat has the potential to develop into a community for the locals; it might even turn into a park that relieves congestion in the nearby Ciutat Vella, Raval, Parallel, or Barceloneta.

By using data from Open Data to examine Ciutat Vella, it is possible to observe that this district has more than 104,507 inhabitants, but still only 182 acres of green space and 10,760 trees, or rather 0.10 trees and 7 m² of green space per person. According to the WHO, 0.33 trees and 10-15 m² of green space per resident are the very minimum requirements for a good quality of life.

Nonetheless, the location of Paseo Columbus and the port perimeter are significant architectural barriers, with approximately 80% of this area being inaccessible. This is a hermetic space with little participation from the inhabitants.

We are convinced that now is the time for the city and the port to talk; it is the moment to move beyond election times and focus on making these spaces more enjoyable for all Barcelona residents.

We propose strategies such as breaking the perimeter line to create port logistics on a more human scale, one that is more accessible and allows for leisure, cultural, and restoration activities.

Following that, we suggest creating a walk that connects all of this perimeter and collects all of the flux from all of the neighborhoods.

This new design will allow for the connection of Montjuic Park and Ciutadella Park, as well as the creation of a new green lung along Barcelona’s coastline.

As we like to say, it’s a new park with a big lake in the middle. A surgery similar to the one performed in 1992, when the city retrieved the coastline and more than 10 kilometers of beaches. Now, we can repeat this successful change and conquer this nearly 10-kilometer perimeter, transforming Barcelona into a city that is even more appealing to its citizens because of this water surface.

This is Parc Blau by ON-A, a new park for the twenty-first century.