Change in Perceptions and Social Value of the River Corridors in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona: The Case of the Besòs Basin

Abstract

In addition to their environmental and landscape potential, river corridors play a strategic role as socio-spatial elements that allow the structuring of the urban systems arranged around them. In addition, they strengthen citizens’ connections with the place through daily practices. Following years of intense degradation and abandonment, the growing social use of these corridors has become prevalent in developed countries since the 1980s. The metropolitan region of Barcelona is a privileged territorial exponent of this transformation. This chapter will address the changes in perceptions of and increased social value awarded to these spaces, which are progressively and simultaneously conceived as ecological corridors, heritage spaces and social cohesive meeting points. For this purpose, emphasis will be placed on a project carried out in the Besòs basin and on the strategies implemented for its improvement.