Urban_Renewal


 * The Olympic Village **

-how have the Olympics' infrastructure (the Olympic Village) affected the city of Barcelona? -What was the purpose of the Olympic Village? -What benefits did the different Olympic structures bring to the city/citizens? -How has Barcelona evolved since 1984? -Name at least 3 new projects (space transformation) and mention what old structures they replaced, if mentioned, and what specific benefit(s) brought to the city and/or citizens. 

The 1992 Olympic Games took place in Barcelona and they had a huge influence on the development of the city. The interventions made have transformed this spanish city into one of the most important cultural and financial centers of the world.

Now well, as we all know, the Olympics are an important event, so it attracted lots of people to the city. Therefore, Barcelona had to make some interventions in order to receive the entire people. So large scale infrastructures, like the airport, a new ring road around the city and a 35 km under-grounded service gallery. On the other hand, this event helped the old city and the industrial zone to gain value and importance. To support the games it was built a whole new neighborhood in an old depressed area near the traditional center, and it was named “The Olympic Village”. It is a district with residential and commercial buildings, most of them sport facilities like the “Port Olympic”, “The Olympic Ring” and others. The Olympic village revitalized this area of Barcelona and also made positive changes for the whole city.

The purpose of this neighborhood was to take advantage of the opportunity of hosting the games to change the city. To do this, they renewed the old industrial area and the beaches that surrounded it were cleaned. with the project they managed to provide a new environment for the city and its inhabitants. All this vision of changing the city emerged since 1984. From this date the city has had many urban interventions, prioritizing public transport and pedestrian movement.

Furthermore, the structures made brought many benefits to the citizens. They provided more public spaces, new landmarks and they also gave a modern system of transport, a high-speed rail. These structures helped to strengthen tourism and the quality of life of the citizens. It is also important to mention some of the projects of space transformation that were built in the city. We can highlight three of them: 1. Olympic Stadium of Montjuic: a transformed stadium. 2. The Royal Palace: An old palace which became a museum for medieval art. 3. Velodrom D'Horta: a Velodrome which is also used for soccer games.

<span style="background-color: white; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">Finally, we might say that the Olympic Games are a good example of how an urban renewal can change the face of a city and convert its heritage in an important part of the world.

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