Barcelona as many other cities, struggles with air pollution. Construction work, car traffic, industrial sector, transit of ships and port activities are key elements of Barcelona’s air quality.

In 2015, mayor ada colau, came up with a great plan called “Super blocks” with the main purpose of reducing the air pollution.

Superblocks consist of 9 blocks which form a green neighborhood where pedestrians and cyclists can spend their time with ease of mind while all the traffic and pollution is restricted to the major roads.

in a new report which was published by Barcelona’s Public Health Agency (ASPB) , statistics shows that the plan worked and it reduced 25% of NO2 levels inside the super blocks. Super blocks also caused the value of properties inside the blocks increase while people complained that they should stay rational so that they can continue living in them.

However, scientists also believe that super blocks can not reduce the total air pollution of the city and it may result in an increase of emissions in major roads.

Sources:

Barcelona.cat

Bloomberg

Cities today

Live Barcelona.cat

Photo: katerina zhang