Australian city should look like Barcelona, urban planners say

This Australian city could replicate the European tourist mecca Barcelona, according to urban planning experts. And the change would be simple.

Barcelona is by every metric one of the most successful global cities on the planet.

It is a cultural mecca that attracts millions of tourists every year inspired to visit the mega-city famous for its Gothic cathedrals and the towering masterpieces of architect Antoni Gaudi.

It is loud — in volume and visually — but there are subtle details that make the Spanish city the envy of urban planners, too. And they are best viewed from above.

Barcelona is famous for its architecture, including the Sagrada Familia church, but it is also known globally by architects and urban planners for its Superblocks. Picture: Getty Images

Barcelona is made up of a series of ‘superblocks’. Superblocks are described as an area covering multiple city blocks — typically nine blocks in a 3x3 format — that give priority to cyclists, pedestrians and residents while still allowing cars to move through at 10km/h.

Superblocks were pioneered in Barcelona to make urban areas more liveable and people-friendly.

Urban planning experts, including Barcelona-born urban ecologist Salvador Rueda, say superblocks could revolutionise Melbourne — the only Australian city where it could work because of its existing grid.

We need to fundamentally “redesign the networks of the city” to create “a human urban city for people, not cars”, he said during a recent visit to Melbourne.

Marco Amati, Professor of International Planning at RMIT University’s Centre for Urban Research, agrees.

Speaking to news.com.au this week, he said the City of Melbourne had shown interest as recently as 2018 in adopting superblocks.

Melbourne from above. Picture: Sarah Matray

Beautiful Barcelona where large areas are sectioned off from cars.

Prof Amati said “design flaws” in the Melbourne CBD need to be addressed and superblocks would provide a surprisingly affordable solution.

“The main design flaw in Melbourne is that cars can just go through the city as it was transparent,” he said.

“Drivers don’t need the number of options they have.”

Instead, he would like to see areas where cars and pedestrians “share the space more equitably”.

“Inside a superblock, the speeds are important. Cars travel at 10km/h, cyclists do the same. Outside the superblocks, the speed would ideally be 30km/h. That’s what they have in Barcelona.”

To achieve the changes, the city would need to introduce low cost “filters” including pocket parks — small areas of green space, as well as banned turns and one-way streets.

RMIT created a series of artist’s impressions showing what a future Melbourne could look like.

They used Lonsdale Street as an example. Below you can see what it looks like today, with cars given priority.

The existing Melbourne CBD.

And with pedestrians and cyclists given equal share of the same intersection.

A future Melbourne where superblocks allow for greater pedestrian access. Picture: RMIT

Prof Amati said introducing superblocks would not require a huge amount of public funds to achieve a powerful change.

“What you wouldn’t need is a large expenditure of money,” he said.

“The main thing you’re doing is to change the direction of traffic, some tree planting. You’re just changing the heirachy of the roads. It’s a network. It’s a changing of the network.”

He said Melbourne had undergone a significant change in recent decades from populated suburbs around a hollow centre “to a cafe society”.

Writing in The Conversation in 2022, he said it is time for cars to be moved out of town.

“For more than 30 years, cities around the world from Curitiba to Barcelona have in effect been saying: ‘Thank you, dear car, for all you have given us in the 20th century, but now it is time to move on’.

“In practice, this needs to be a gentle and caring process with many steps, learning as we go. It is as de Oliveira Andreotti might argue, low-intensity activism and a marathon rather than a sprint.”

Barcelona skyline from Park Guell. Barcelona, Spain.

News.com.au approached the City of Melbourne for comment.

Not everybody is in favour of a CBD plan that would take cars off the roads.

Speaking with news.com.au in April about the removal of a 1000-space car park for Justin Hemmes’ contentious hospitality development, Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar owner David Malaspina described Melbourne as a “driving city”.

“We are all for bringing people to the city, but you have to understand how the city works,” he said.

“We’re a driving nation. Where’s the consideration for people who need to drive in?”

Urban strategist Steven Burgess told Nine Newspapers in 2018 that superblocks were the future.

“Melbourne has to be careful that it doesn’t get left behind,” he said.

“There are certain spots in the Melbourne CBD where it is just too crowded for people,” he said.

“All the big cities around the world are moving this way, the more cars you can get out of your downtown area, you’re better off.”