5 Minute Urbanism - Barcelona - With Mikael from The Life-Sized City

Mikael was in Barcelona shortly before Europe went into lockdown due to COVID19. Together with a local mobility expert, he had a look at Via Laietana, a Hausmann-esque street that runs through the heart of the city, and discusses the City's plans for a redesign.

[@rfldss89]

4:13 that girl posing for the camera had me crying 😂

[@mic9check]

Nothing wrong with being an opportunist😂

[@nicolasblume1046]

She's hot!

[@pascualgonzalez4186]

4:13 Me when I saw this video pop up in my feed.

[@GMargallo]

Nice video! I'm from Barcelona and I hope Via Laietana aswell as other streets in the city become pedestrian friendly. Cities need to be for the people, not for cars. Salut!

[@TamzinVokes]

It seems that Calou & her town hall minions are more interested in the political agenda (hidden or not) than actually serving the population. It wouldn't be that hard to fix the infrastructure...

[@shrutinahar830]

I recently had a class where my Prof. was talking about children in participatory planning and now I completely understand the significance of it. Sometimes, a planner/designer needs to put the degree aside and listen to honest opinions instead. Also, trams and not buses and considering the needs of a dog is so cute and wise of him!

[@Lifeisawheelie]

That boy's gifted. His solution is actually really good

[@TypoRyno]

Love the 5 minute urbanism series! Keep it up!

[@ambertapping7919]

I used to live about a 45 second walk from this very spot and it is LOUD. I cannot fathom why any modern city needs 5 lane traffic right in the middle - I personally didn't know a single person who owned a car (although I appreciate some folks need one for mobility reasons) and when unlimited public transport is 40€ a month what would you want to drive for? The only thing that would make this easier is if Spain got more on board with ordering groceries online, trying to haul a family's worth of food home on the metro when your nearest Mercadona is 6 stops away isn't an experience I wish to repeat.

[@peksn]

En mi mercadona si tu compra son mas de 50€ te la llevan a casa

[@shift-happens]

The car noise was the reason I left Barcelona... So sad

[@parmentier7457]

In the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht). Pedestrian sidewalk - bike lane - auto lane - tram/bus lane - auto lane - bike lane - pedestrian sidewalk

[@thror1709]

don't forget the "boat lane"

[@himarbr]

The interesting thing is that Barcelona kind of has the model you're proposing in Avinguda Diagonal, with the addition of a car lane near the pedestrian sidewalk and the one-way bike lane. They figured out how to put the bus stops there, located after crossing the first car lane and the bike lane in a sort of "island" in between the bike lane and the 4 big central mixed bus-car lanes, so I don't know why they didn't propose a similar model in Via Laietana, since it would fit quite nicely (and there's definitely space to do it).

[@williambunting803]

One of my favourite shared zones is in Brno in the Czech Republic. The road leading away from the central train station to, through and past the town square (triangle) is cobbled side to side with tram track running through. People, bikes, cars (servicing the shops) Trams, and I think the occasional bus all share harmoniously. I was standing on the cobble work one day looking up at a beautiful building when I sensed something near, and looked around to a tram stopped just an inch away waiting for me to move. No horn or bell just patience and a smile.

[@gcason2]

I love the no-nonsense way this guy talks.

[@insertname8889]

I love how he mixes french and spanish

[@FredThonar]

I would love to hear your opinion on Brussels! Tons of material of horrific urban design!

[@TalwinderDhillonTravels]

Love that kid and that woman who posed and waved❤️

[@AC-id5ow]

I like Nil's idea. A bright young mind. In fact we could elaborate further and take cars out of the equation altogether and introduce a garden corridor of trees and greenery. Thus reducing temperatures by providing shade. Throw in a pedestrian path, some seating and you have a pleasant environment to spend time in.

[@Zergcerebrates]

I think they should eliminate cars on that street and put trams in the middle as mentioned. There should be bike lanes on each side separated by plants or trees between pedestrian sidewalk and the bike lane.

[@CitiesoftheFuture]

Congrats con the 20k ;)

[@thinkplanetearth2946]

Upstaged by that adorable and thoughtful child. :o) I loved his concern for dogs having some green space as well as his preference for a trolley system (tranvia) over buses because of the pollutants that buses would emit. That is one smart kid assuaging some of my concerns for the future of the planet. Really enjoying your content. And by the way, gracias, not merci seeing as you are in Spain. ;0)

[@LifeSizedCity]

Merci is thank you in Catalan - and I was in Catalonia. :-) /Mikael

[@thinkplanetearth2946]

@@LifeSizedCity oh wow. I am a Spanish speaker and I did not know that. Thank you.

[@alanfrost75]

They should hire that kid!

[@camdenb3348]

As a Barcelona resident and cyclist, I thought it was strange that you called out the center-of-the-road bike lanes on Passeig de Sant Joan. I've always felt it was one of the better designs, since it's separated from the cars by a curbs and grass medians and is also separated from the pedestrian area (people walking in the bike lanes is a common issue in Barcelona, and this design all but eliminates it).

[@bburago9]

The guy from the video doesn't know shit about urban planning and transportation infrastructure

[@mr_wrongway]

Awesome episode!

[@davidcumpston3063]

Such great videos.... please come to Birmingham and knock some heads together!

[@QuentinWatt]

The girl at 4:15 really wants to be famous. Not that you'll ever know, I'm waving back at you!

[@sfhie]

I cycled down via laietana the other day and it was easy, I actually think the infrastructure with the cycling, particularly along passage sant joan is actually pretty good!

[@philiphart6688]

Another excellent mind-opening episode.

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

Nil, would you kindly consider running for mayor in my town or prime minister of my country? We need you!!!!! When I was in Barcelona I thought it had nice infrastructures and good public transports but now that you point it out, these mistakes are serious and you don't get them here and I think we have it bad! I think I see why they refuse to put the bike lanes on the side: cars turning right or pulling right to drop someone. Here we tend to put those lanes on the side walk. I don't like that solution either

[@ElectricityTaster]

I'm not going to lie, I like the tram line/dog poo strip concept.

[@shift-happens]

I lived in Barcelona in 2018 and my main means of locomotion were my bike, bike sharing (Bicing) and my electric longboard. First, I was excited - Barcelona seemed to be this dynamic city, that welcomes bikes and any form of electrified vehicle. And while it does, you realize pretty quickly that the infrastructure sucks, or lacks at least. 3 lanes of automotive traffic with 1 minuscule bike lane on the side barely protected, no right-turn protection, lines ending into traffic, busses getting stuck, it's not ideal... I saw many tourists trying to take a bike to discover the city but considering it being too dangerous/stressful in many areas. And even if there are nice open areas for pedestrians/bikes/etc they normally end in a bottleneck, at a narrow street light or something, because how dare you interrupt our highway trough the city (e.g. coming down Las Ramblas direction harbor, it's a death trap...). Barcelona had 9.5 million tourists visiting in 2019, bikes are the only sensible way of managing those amounts of people imho. Btw, the air pollution in summer is one of the worst in Europe, every year. Only less cars will solve this. My hopes were/are high for the super blocks (Superilles) which will connect 9 blocks of the current grid into one, creating more livable spaces with reduced traffic. Barcelona would be so much better without cars. Well, like nearly every city on this planet! :)

[@Angel-wo8gv]

You should visit Valencia, the city has VASTLY revamped the bike lanes recently and now is a joy to ride here!

[@falconlover5430]

I'd love to see you in Zagreb, Croatia. It will make you cry. The lanes aren't connected to anything, only one bike fits in a lane, bikes coming in the wrong direction, high curbs to climb. We have one shared road in the centre and it isn't doing well, the cars treat it as their own. It is very inconvenient to get to the city centre with a bike but still faster than driving a car if you know the roads and lights. I have to drive full suspension, or a hard tail at least, to make it more convenient. The roads here cannot handle city bikes (even though most of the city is flat as a pancake) Oh and also, we have 3 car bridges. One has a sidewalk and a lane for bikes (they share the space, nothing between them), the other you have to climb stairs to get on or down from the sidewalk (the other side of the bridge only has one step to climb but it's tedious when you carry the speed and it's not marked in any way), and the third bridge only allows cars but there is one bridge next to it only for pedestrians and cyclists which has a bike lane in center and sidewalks on the side separated by lines on the ground and when you get off the bridge there is a tram and bus turnstile and cobblestone. Not very good for road bikes and city bikes. If you do decide, hmu for a bike ride and I'll show you what I mean. There is a Bicycle Union called "sindikat biciklista" you should check their facebook for more photos and you'll see what we're dealing with in 2020.

[@ainabexell8685]

Lisbon also, unfortunately, loves their centre bike lanes, flanked by cars and then public transportation around the outer layer. It's already terrifying enough driving in Lisbon, but they made it even worse by making us cross huge intersections where cars hardly touch the brake as they fly by. I'd love to see you roasting Lisbon infrastructure!

[@1ndle]

I also live in Lisbon and I would love this guy to roast my city. While the city has a complex topography, it's still no excuse to poor urban bike/pedestrian design. No to mention how the car infrastructure completely blocks the citizens from the river. Embarrassing.

[@GrantSimons2]

2022, stayed at the H10 right in the background here. This road still fucking SUCKS! Motorcycles were flying past at around 80 kph sometimes and taxis were constantly running red lights. They did add some temporary widening, but it was literally around like 1m or less lol. Barcelona, you're cool, but man I don't really want to go back after experiencing that craziness. Maybe I need to stay further out of the center of city, but I did want to be close to El Born so, who knows.

[@Wildbillhitchcock]

I think you should try Valencia. Madrid and Barcelona have massive slopes everywhere, so I'm guessing they don't really care about bikes all that much.

[@hectorquinones5579]

What? Barcelona is mostly flat. I bike almost everywhere.

[@Wildbillhitchcock]

@@hectorquinones5579 Yeah, it's flat enough if you live near the beach, but Guinardó, Gràcia, Nou Barris, etc., can be very steep. It's not like you can't bike there, but most urban bikers will probably think twice. You just don't have that problem in Valencia.

[@pepbobmc]

@@Wildbillhitchcock We have a lot of slopes here in Madrid that's for sure, but with the presence of BiciMad (public electric bikes) it's not that bad

[@Wildbillhitchcock]

@@pepbobmc Yeah, I guess. Never ridden one of those before, though.

[@neltec]

Could you upload this video to IGTV ??? 🙏

[@Ahmed-N]

The car-centric nature of this street has always surprised me. Walking down the street at just about any time will more than likely mean you’ll be crammed on the lousy excuse of a sidewalk. Biking here was also just never an option. I’ve always tried biking on the road whenever a bike lane/bike road just wasn’t available, but Barcelona drivers are hostile towards that, especially cab drivers (might just be a frowned upon thing in the city?). Anyway, I’m hoping that the city does something about it because this would be one of the most beautiful streets in Barcelona to walk along if actually built for walking.

[@peterpeter8325]

Please come and do some research in Athens. We are going through the same questions and construction lately.

[@rickaredough]

how would bus stops work in your plan? As a wheelchair user, the ramps need to go all the way to the curb but how do you do that without disrupting the bike lane?

[@daaaaaaaaaaavid]

Go to Google maps and look up Utrecht Vredenburg 21 and look at the busstop there. You wil see a very easy and cheap solution.

[@dorianleakey]

Wait, its one way? 5 lanes one way?

[@DrewLSsix]

Yeah, then the alternating roads have traffic going the other direction. My home city is the same way.

[@Derek-lz8cg]

Nice Brompton 👍, is that yours❓

[@user-ke7uq4cs9s]

This kid 😍

[@ezequielcattalin7402]

2:36 "haiga" jaj cute

[@christill]

I have to say I would never want a two way bike lane on one side unless there was no other choice. But I like the child’s idea for a tramway. You could also do electric buses these days which would be much quicker to implement. But trams make cities feel nice in a way buses don’t.

[@pepbobmc]

They aren't a lot greener than electric buses when you factor for the emissions and such, but people forget that you can put grass along the whole length of the tram tracks!

[@ragglock]

Want to go urban Barcelona, this shakira video for "loca" was shot in her hometown, Barcelona, there was an hole shoot planed but sharkira didn't like the thing they where setting up, The music video was filmed near the beaches in Barcelona, Spain in August 2010 The music video was shot in "guerrilla-style", utilizing hand-held cameras to shoot many of the scenes. Shakira talked about the video, saying "I decided to just do something more spontaneous, and be myself and be free and feel free about it because that is what this song is about" Behind the scenes part 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oanNnKqPitCte5Y Shakira roller-skating with many fans surrounding her. After roaming about the city, including numerous scenes of dancing, she publicly changes her wardrobe and hitches a ride on a motorbike. Further on, she dances and jumps into a fountain. During the next verse, she is seen belly dancing with a man by the beach and, near the end of the video, she dives into the sea along with many fans and celebrates. Bts part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/joXJfqavg9psd80 Bts part 3 kzbin.info/www/bejne/apS7gZJoab1pqLM Barcelona local authorities fined Shakira after they saw video footage of her dancing in the Pla de Palau fountain, without permits And driving on motorcycle without helmet. Resulting video Spanish version kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnLLhadsZbxqp9E

[@Danirio96]

Shakira's hometown is definetely not Barcelona, she may live here but i think her actual hometown is Barranquilla, Colombia. She usually says that in her songs

[@neltec]

Ese niño debe ser hijo de un arquitecto urbanista!! 😍

[@MajorKlanga]

What's wrong with streets for pedestrians where you can walk without jumping out of the way of cyclists and constantly having to check over your shoulder?

[@muhilan8540]

Why merci? Why not gracias?

[@pepbobmc]

Some people use merci in Barcelona, but mostly when speaking Catalan

[@davidforer9122]

Thank you in Catalan is "mercé", pronounced almost the same as French "merci"

[@muhilan8540]

@@davidforer9122 ah I see I didn't realize that was catalan

[@cdamian]

I like the tram and grass idea. Currently it really is a mess for cyclists. If you ride up the hill you are not allowed to ride in the bus/taxi lane, with the result of cars passing and buzzing you left and right.

[@kacperwoch4368]

5:24 Like that's ever gonna happen

[@BagelsnOj]

was he speaking french to a kid in Barcelona haha

[@shift-happens]

It's Catalan. 3 versions of 'Thank you' in Catalunia: Mercès: very formal, not for everyday use. Gràcies: the most neutral form Merci: very informal Merci is very often used by the local population. It sounds a bit different than the french Merci.

[@BagelsnOj]

@@shift-happens intersting, didn't know that. Thanks man

[@maartenkeyen3162]

Come to Brussels, you'll have a heart attack :-)

[@Leonum1860]

Well that Covid-19 joke was a bit premature wasn't it ? :'D

[@giancarlomartini2133]

You tell them! Smack down all their excuses and make them eat it. Lovely bromptons

[@thomasspotzl4240]

That expert was bought off with a chocolate bar or something.

[@ignasiorta130]

Hi Mikael! Did you see the new cycle lane in Gran Via - Passeig de Gracia? It's ridicously narrow and the intersections so sharp. THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE ARE A FUCKIN DISASTER!

[@PP-sj7pl]

Consequences of not following any technical plan...

[@skyearthocean5815]

Smart kid! I see no masks, are people wearing masks indoors? If not I'm green with envy!

[@dorianleakey]

The childs solution was best.

[@ABCantonese]

This is a wide street in Barcelona? Oh God... I'd hate to have a parade in Barcelona. 😂 I don't care that this is an old built in city, this is not a wide street. Oh boy, just take everything out, have transit lanes, bike lanes, widen the sidewalks, that's it. Forget the cars. You don't have the space, you just don't. Shopping street my arse with that kind of a sidewalk. Let the trucks have an adjacent street.

[@AnarchistMetalhead]

trams polluting less is a myth, their gravel braking causes large amounts of fine dust if you want something electric without needing batteries, just put the overhead cables there and use electric busses

[@SamuelHauptmannvanDam]

I have to disagree with the expert. Trams are fucking awful. Odense where I live is trying to build one. And it is fucking retarded. It's the daily reminder of complete government incompetence. They run over budget, they take longer to build and they can't be moved. Meanwhile in Aalborg, they are testing self driving electric mini busses. The only way I can excuse the project in Odense, is because it was approved at a time, where we didn't know how far away, self driving busses would be and that our "federal" government said: Let's improve infrastructure, we'll pay half. So it wasn't crazy at the time. But building a tram today, would be moronic. Or: If I'm completely wrong about trams, I'd love a video on it or in the general a video on the topic and your opinion.

[@dusanmal]

Positive, idealistic Utopianism. Local culture and mindset must be taken in account, one might wish to change those as jealous girlfriend ... just to find that change is extremely unlikely and attempts at it very unwelcome. Your and many modern urbanists view is that of very few cultures that have established particular urban usage and cycling infrastructure. It works there, not everywhere. What happens in most other places is that this process of separating "normal" traffic and bicycles ends up alienating drivers and cyclists. I cycled 100s of thousands of miles Worldwide, worst treatment received was EXACTLY where there were plentiful cycle lanes/track/paths... nearby. Because drivers are NOT used to cycle traffic alongside and take approach that cycles are NOT allowed anywhere else but in bike lanes, actively harassing them. Worse, most cyclists in those areas are painfully incapable (and hence frightened) of driving in normal traffic! This does not lead to wider cycling acceptance but limits on it, some voluntary due to alienation and lack of skill, some legal squashing the freedom of biking on (almost) any road. I'd gladly ride on that Barcelona street as is, alongside with all other EQUAL traffic and without any "special" lanes that are more equal than others. Simple traffic lanes for all participants to use together and develop understanding of each other and coexist without coercing by meddling planners. My cultural background? - It was mandatory where I grew up in 1st grade for all kids to learn to cycle (not even helmet rules at those times) and to learn traffic rules and to have regular practice with the teachers driving as a group on NORMAL local roads and streets. I grew up in very busy, 2mil+ pop city with dense traffic, in 1st grade I drove with my teachers in that traffic every week, later cycled on my own all around on normal, non-specialized streets and roads, developing appreciation for it both as sport and transportation and way of life. Possible, easy, no bike lanes needed.

[@LifeSizedCity]

Ah yes. That wacky theory. Mikael has written about it before: www.copenhagenize.com/2010/07/vehicular-cyclists-secret-sect.html

[@estufados1]

I live in barcelona and usually move with my bike around and let me tell you, it's fucking trash. I just don't know how they manage to fuck it up every single time they add a line bike. They should hire and expert and stop doing stupid things now there are more bikes, electric scooters and skates than ever

[@bazoo513]

Using kids this way is not cool. Probably not legal, either. But, everything for a religion, right? Of course putting bike lanes in between car and bus lanes is idiotic. But, if you have bike lanes as the outermost ones, next to sidewalks (the most logical position), how do you make bus stops? I can't think of a practical solution, but you surely have several up your sleeve. Can you share some? Tram is indeed superior to buses in many ways, but for very crowded streets electric buses (either battery-powered or with catenary - trolleybuses) are probably more suitable, and almost certainly cheaper. Trams are ideal for slightly longer distances and higher speeds, on reserved rights of way. then comes subway, and finally surface light rail for suburbs.

[@terilyte3152]

As for the bus stops, this is how kzbin.info/www/bejne/aIHZmZ6uZZZoac0

[@bazoo513]

@@terilyte3152 Thanks! I noticed there are no marked pedestrian crossings over the bike path. What are the traffic rules here - who has to yield? Pedestrians, I guess. And, given the way kamikaze cyclists ride in my Zagreb, I would certainly let them pass before attempting the suicide mission of crossing their path... (Only electric scooters and an occasional nutcase on a monowheel are more dangerous to pedestrians.)

[@333husky]

​@@bazoo513 I guess there is something even more dangerous to pedestrians than "kamikaze cyclists" and electric scooters, its motorized traffic, especially cars. The example given by @terilyte works so effortlessly all over the netherlands, i really have a hard time thinking why this isnt done in every major city, especially in europe.

[@VoidUnderTheSun]

@@bazoo513 Basically everything yields to bikes in the Netherlands.

[@woutervanr]

@@bazoo513 "who has to yield?" Depends. If there is a zebra crossing then pedestrians have priority, if there isn't pedestrians have to wait till there is a gap.