September 2026 marks ten years since Barcelona implemented its first superblock in Poblenou. Over the following decade, superblocks became an emblematic feature of urban transformation in Barcelona and part of a wider set of street-space interventions, alongside pedestrianisations, bike lanes and school streets, generating research into their environmental, social, economic and political dimensions.
Researchers from the GEMOTT research group have contributed to this field by examining how superblocks and other street-space transformations are experienced, perceived and contested across Barcelona. Looking beyond the physical redesign of streets and reflecting the group’s broader focus on mobility and its environmental, social and territorial consequences, this research addresses, among other topics, public acceptability and backlash, electoral consequences, media discourse and commercial dynamics.
Two new studies developed within the group as part of the ERC-funded ATRAPA project also add important perspectives to this research. They explore two interconnected dimensions of urban transformation: how people evaluate changes to street space and how these changes are represented and contested in public discourse. Their findings suggest that backlash is neither uniform nor driven by a single factor. It is associated with anticipated effects on everyday life, perceptions of freedom and fairness, institutional credibility, and the political and media narratives surrounding an intervention. Together, the studies underline that urban transformations are not only physical projects, but also social, political and communicative processes.
Is opposition really about cars?
The first study, Not just self-interest: How car dependence shapes the acceptability of street interventions in Barcelona, by Monika Maciejewska, Oriol Roig-Costa, Filippo Tassinari and Oriol Marquet, draws on the ATRAPA-BCN survey of 2,000 adults living in Barcelona and its metropolitan area. It examines support for pedestrianisations, bike lanes, superblocks and school streets.
Although frequent car users initially appear less supportive, driving frequency no longer explains opposition once anticipated personal impacts and perceived loss of freedom are considered. As the authors explain,
“What matters more is whether people feel dependent on the car and how they expect the intervention to affect their daily life and freedom of movement.”
At the same time, beliefs about public benefits and social fairness remain positively associated with support, showing that acceptability cannot be reduced to personal consequences alone.
Why does this matter? If people are concerned about how a transformation may affect their everyday mobility, cities can address those concerns directly while making the public benefits and fairness of the intervention visible and credible.
Why do some climate-friendly urban transformations become symbols of progress while others spark protest and political conflict?
The second study, Media framing and political discourse of Barcelona’s urban transformations (2016–2024), by Serena Mombelli, Jerònia Cubells, Pablo Villar-Abeijón and Oriol Marquet, examines how Barcelona’s superblocks have been represented and contested in public discourse. Over the past decade, superblocks have become one of the city’s most recognisable—and controversial—urban transformations. To examine their portrayal in public debate, the researchers analysed 896 newspaper articles and headlines published between 2016 and 2024, using natural language processing (NLP) techniques to track changes in media sentiment and emotion over time.
The findings reveal that media coverage was mostly negative, with emotions like anger and fear frequently appearing in discussions of superblocks. Periods of especially negative coverage coincided with protests, legal disputes, and election campaigns. This suggests media narratives both reflected and amplified political conflict. At the same time, concerns about public participation emerged as a central theme and were linked to subsequent municipal efforts to address these criticisms. Furthermore, a relatively small group of journalists accounted for a large share of the coverage, illustrating how concentrated media attention can shape the dominant narrative around an intervention.
Overall, the study highlights that urban transformations are not only about streets, traffic or public space. They are also about narratives, perceptions and political struggle. As the authors explain, the paper demonstrates “the dual role of the media as both a reflection of public opinion and an arena where urban transformations are legitimised or contested.” This offers important lessons for cities seeking to implement sustainable urban change while maintaining democratic legitimacy and public trust.
A broader line of GEMOTT research
These latest contributions are part of a broader line of research developed by GEMOTT researchers on the transformation of streets and mobility in Barcelona.
Barcelona is a key case study in the ERC-funded ATRAPA project, which examines the factors shaping public acceptance, opposition and backlash towards urban street-space interventions and sustainable mobility policies. You can read more about the project on the ATRAPA website.
Previous GEMOTT studies have examined whether superblocks and other street-space interventions carry an electoral cost. Their findings challenge the assumption that sustainable transport interventions inevitably lead to electoral backlash, while showing that political responses vary by the type, location, and context of each intervention. Other research has approached opposition to the 15-minute city through the lens of climate-policy acceptability, highlighting the importance of distinguishing conspiracy narratives from substantive concerns about implementation, fairness, and participation. More recently, GEMOTT researchers have examined the effects of pedestrianisation on commercial dynamics, adding an economic perspective to how reallocating street space can affect neighbourhoods and local activity.
- Maciejewska, M., Roig-Costa, O., Tassinari, F., & Marquet, O. (2026). Not just self-interest: How car dependence shapes the acceptability of street interventions in Barcelona. Journal of Urban Mobility, 10, 100270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urbmob.2026.100270
- Mombelli, S., Cubells, J., Villar-Abeijón, P., & Marquet, O. (2026). Media framing and political discourse of Barcelona’s urban transformations (2016–2024). Cities, 179, 107443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2026.107443
- Fernández Núñez, M.-B., Orrego-Oñate, J., Triguero-Mas, M., & Marquet, O. (2025). Electoral consequences of urban interventions: The case of superblocks, school streets, and bike lanes in Barcelona. Cities, 165, 106130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2025.106130
- Marquet, O., Fernández-Núñez, M.-B., & Maciejewska, M. (2024). The political price of superblocks: Electoral outcomes of sustainable transport interventions in Barcelona. Environment International, 189, 108789. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.108789
- Marquet, O., Mojica, L., Fernández-Núñez, M.-B., & Maciejewska, M. (2024). Pathways to 15-minute city adoption: Can our understanding of climate policies’ acceptability explain the backlash towards x-minute city programs? Cities, 148, 104878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2024.104878
- Villar-Abeijón, P., Miralles-Guasch, C., & Marquet, O. (2026). The effects of pedestrianization on commercial dynamics: A quasi-experimental study in Barcelona. Applied Geography, 189, 103947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2026.103947
- Villar-Abeijón, P., Miralles-Guasch, C., & Marquet, O. (2025). Can pedestrianization trigger gentrification? Analysis of Barcelona’s sociodemographic changes following pedestrianization schemes. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 142, 104718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2025.104718
Explore all GEMOTT publications here.
Credits: https://www.barcelona.cat/imatges/ca/search/25808/resultat-de-les-millores-fetes-a-la-s/
