Viewed from above, Barcelona looks like a giant chessboard, where blocks of buildings form an octagon, interspersed with strangely regular roads. The planning of this urban area deserves the word “wonder”.

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Unique design of Bracelona urban area

People cannot help but be surprised by the special, extremely perfect appearance of urban Barcelona . Across a large area, the blocks of buildings are arranged consecutively, covering them like a chessboard. More specifically, in each octagon there is also a central courtyard, with small gardens or common living areas of the homeowners. The special shape of the zones also makes the intersections clear even during peak hours.

A city planned in straight lines is very rare in the world

Barcelona is a famous livable city, where residents and tourists can enjoy fresh air even in the heart of the city, where vibrant urban life blends with the green of nature, trees, and animals. The road rarely encounters traffic jams, instead there are open spaces friendly to everyone. These are all built on the city’s ambitious, cleverly calculated urban planning, which began many years ago.

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The roads rarely encounter traffic jams

Behind the almost perfect architecture is a long story. In the 50s of the 19th century, Barcelona was at risk of extinction because of overpopulation and pollution from industrial activities. Medieval city walls also made the city’s area more limited. On average, nearly a thousand people have to live cramped in one hectare of land, when high-rise buildings have not even been developed.

The city space becomes fresher and better for human health

Travel was difficult because horse-drawn carriages occupied the entire narrow road. Quality of life falls into red alert level. From 1843 to 1865, epidemics killed 3% of the city’s population. The average life expectancy of even the upper class cannot exceed 40 years old.

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Finally, in 1867, the city government had to find a solution, considered the final solution to solve this situation, based on the ideas of architect Ildefons Cerdà. In the plan, small residential areas are built surrounded by roads in the most orderly way possible. People also demolished the wall of Barcelona that was hundreds of years old.

A colorful ancient city wall in Guell Park

Areas expanding from the old city will be planned into square plots of land 133 x 133m. Buildings are limited in height and cannot be built on the entire area, but must leave some space inside. Roads are also designed to be at least 30m wide and must be divided into two parts: for pedestrians and for vehicles.

The streets are airy and large with many trees for pedestrians to freely enjoy the fresh air

After implementation, the plan has brought clear benefits: the city space becomes cleaner and better for human health, traffic speeds on the road are limited, reducing traffic congestion and dust pollution due to reduced car traffic, streets become spaces for pedestrians and cyclists. The city becomes greener and fresher thanks to the rows of trees on both sides of the road and in the lots.

Barcelona has transformed dramatically to become a beautiful city

From this architectural foundation, Barcelona has transformed dramatically to become a beautiful landscape and environmentally friendly city like what we see. This city has also become famous, becoming one of the unique tourist destinations in Portugal , attracting millions of tourists to visit every year because of the beauty and bustle of the city but still in harmony. with nature, creating a feeling of extreme excitement and happiness.

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