Trees instead of parked cars, uniformly designed tiles are replacing asphalt and playgrounds where there has always been traffic. This is how the intersection between Calixto III and Palleter Streets will change when the Petxina super-complex in the city of Valencia becomes a reality. It is a wide intersection with an area of ​​about 1900 square metres, where there are local works in three of its corners and a school in the remaining corner. Hairdressers, handicraft shops and bars with terraces sheltered by carpools dot the landscape.

On April 7, the project was approved and submitted by the Vice Mayor and Urban Development Adviser to the Valencia City Council, Sandra Gómez, and Elisa Valella, Citizen Participation Adviser. Gomez described: “It’s part of the policy to restore public spaces to citizens, who walk the squares and breathe through Valencia’s friendliest and most sustainable gardens.”

“It’s part of the policy to restore public spaces to citizens, who walk through the squares and breathe through Valencia’s most friendly and sustainable gardens,” Sandra Gomez described.

This will be the first large residential complex in Valencia and will have a budget of 840 thousand euros, which will be used, among other things, to implement trees, urban furniture and replace asphalt with tiles designed by Valencia innovator Iban Ramon. Work will begin in the fall and will be for 14 weeks.

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And[مدش]. Valencia City Council (AjuntamentVLC) May 28, 2021

The idea of ​​the mega-blocks is an idea imported from the Barcelona city council that eatsThis initiative was launched in 2016 in the Poblenou neighborhood and moved to Sant Antoni and Horta, which, as described by the Council itself, consists “a model for the transformation of the streets of the entire city, with the aim of restoring the citizenship part of the space currently occupied by private vehicles”.

Citizen participation

Elisa Valya stresses that the voice of neighborhood residents was taken into account and that through in-depth interviews, “neighborhood associations, school representatives in the area and other entities such as Jean Fallas have been involved.”

160 surveys were conducted on residents of the area in question who, they say, received a brochure in which they could check different boxes according to their tastes or preferences.

However, acceptance of the procedure is not unanimous. The manager of one of the hairdressers who make up the four corners of the intersection claims he is “pleased” with the approval and considers that it will benefit him as a neighbor and project owner from whom he observes how cars are parked during rush hours “even in the Fifth Line”. But, a few inches apart, separated only by a partition, a convenience store owner has the opposite opinion. He believes that reducing parking will make access to the neighborhood more complicated, both for him and for customers, which he expects will decrease with this measure.

Parking is the primary concern of residents who are more important in urban planning, as they assure that private garages are scarce and expensive.

Parking is the primary concern of residents who are more important in urban planning, as they assure that private garages are scarce and expensive. A resident of the area notes that a project of this type should be accompanied by the construction of a public parking lot.

In this regard, Sandra Gomez announced a permit for residents of 103 places in the Santa Maria Michaela car park, which was rotating, and recalled 140 car parks created due to the work of Palleter PAI.

schools

Around the intersection on which this urban planner will operate, in a small radius, there are three educational centers. Jesús y María School, Escolapias Coordinated Teaching Center and CEIP Teodoro Llorente.

The father of a five-year-old girl graduating from soccer training in Jesús y María is clear: “I think it’s exceptional because of the dangers posed by cars. They don’t have to go through here because Gran Via is very close.” Another parent agrees: “The more parks and cars, the better for the kids.”

The owner of an area tavern waits suspiciously to start a business and fears you will hurt him. “I think it will not be good in the short term, but in the long term it can be beneficial. We don’t know what will happen.”

Look at the example of Barcelona

Barcelona, ​​as the pioneer of this measure, is a good mirror to look at to see what results it can achieve in Valencia, and perhaps allay some of the uncertainty it has created.

According to a study by the Public Health Agency (ASPB), the Sant Antoni super complex in Barcelona led to a 25% reduction in nitrogen dioxide levels and a 17% reduction in PM10 in the area.

to me A study by the Agency for Public Health (ASPB), Sant Antoni supermass led to a 25% reduction in nitrogen dioxide levels and a 17% reduction in PM10 in the area. For its part, at l’Horta, the levels of nitrogen and particulate matter have not changed since its implementation.

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) in collaboration with researchers from the inLab-FIB Laboratory of Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) In their study, they found that the large masses were insufficient to meet the annual average of 40 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) set by the European Union and that a “sharp drop in traffic” would be necessary to meet European standards. Mark Guevara, a postdoctoral researcher from BSC’s Department of Geosciences, emphasized, referring to the study, that “we’re not saying restriction measures don’t work; we’re saying they serve, but it is necessary to be more ambitious.”