22@Barcelona: creative economy and industrial heritage - a critical perspective

Abstract

In 2000 the municipality of Barcelona launched an ambitious project called 22@bcn. This had two main goals: to make the city a leading center of scientific and technological production in the knowledge economy and to promote the integration and functional reconversion of a traditional industrial neighborhood located near the downtown area. This urban strategy is known as knowledge-based urban development (KBUD). The aim of this paper is to analyze the development of 22@bcn from the urban planning perspective, giving attention both to the theoretical framework of KBUD, as well to the social resistance and ideological, political and technical disagreements between residents, scholars and municipal advisors along this first decade. We state that 22@bcn constitutes an interesting case study of the creation of a knowledge-based district within a complex industrial area, with a rich urban heritage but also full of social diversity that must be taken into account in knowledge-based urban development initiatives.