1266 | 50 | Dr | Samuel Nello-Deakin

# “Winner” versus “loser” streets? Traffic calming and intra-neighbourhood equity_x000D_
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Barcelona’s superblock plan is widely acknowledged as an innovative model of street and public space transformation. Since the creation of the first superblock in 2016 and particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, superblock interventions — both tactical and permanent — have expanded significantly. However, the implementation of superblocks remains highly controversial. A main criticism of superblocks is they can lead to a growing differentiation of uses between streets, in which the newly traffic-calmed street becomes a lively public space, while the adjacent streets absorb the majority of motorised traffic. In other words, the implementation of superblocks may lead to the creation of “winner” and “loser” streets, which in turn can create tensions between residents and shopkeepers located on different streets, and raise the prospect of “green gentrification” on traffic-calmed streets. This presentation reports the preliminary findings of a research project examining the implications of superblock implementation from the perspective of *intra-neighbourhood* equity, i.e. between different streets in the same neighbourhood. This project seeks to provide a complementary perspective to existing research on the spatial equity of traffic reduction measures, which has primarily adopted an inter-neighbourhood perspective (i.e. exploring imbalances between neighbourhoods). The project explores inequities both from an objective and subjective perspective: on the one hand, it analyses how traffic externalities (i.e. noise, pollution, accidents) are distributed between streets, and how these have evolved through time; on the other hand, it explores these inequities from a qualitative perspective through in-depth interviews with key actors (e.g. residents/shopkeepers’ associations, local government).

Samuel Nello-Deakin
Autonomous University of Barcelona

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ID Abstract: 50