Creating public parks in central areas of a city is often impossible or, at least, very difficult to achieve, given the shortage of available space and the pressure for residential and infrastructure construction. However, there are times when it is possible to coordinate projects of a very diverse nature so that, with a cooperative effort involving entities and administrations with independent interests and areas of responsibility, such a project can be realised, integrating goals that seemed incompatible at first glance. This paper describes the example of an action, carried out in 2006 and 2007 in the centre of Pamplona, Spain, in an area particularly sensitive from the historic and artistic point of view, that made possible the construction of important infrastructure (a bus terminal) and the recovery of a walled area of the city, while also creating a green space of more than 35 000 m 2 .
Major construction works in consolidated urban areas can seriously affect existing services and public facilities. This reality worsens when infrastructure projects are in the old parts of towns. Whether archaeological remains have high or low historical significance, a substantial effort is needed in respecting, consolidating and even, in many instances, incorporating them into the final project being developed. From this perspective, civil engineering, far from being an ‘earthquake’ that destroys culture and dismantles history, turns out to be an important ally that makes archaeological research, the study and inventory of findings and ultimately their conservation possible. It is obvious that making goals—sometimes even contradictory ones—compatible does not allow for single and unequivocal solutions, and certain external circumstances can condition to a large extent the actions finally executed. This paper describes two major construction projects carried out in close proximity to existing historical structures of archaeological significance.
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