Crisis and reorganization in urban dynamics: the Barcelona, Spain, case study

Abstract

We use adaptive cycle theory to improve the understanding of cycles of urban change in the city of Barcelona, Spain, from 1953 to 2016. More specifically, we explore the vulnerabilities and windows of opportunity these cycles of change introduced in the release (Ω) and reorganization (α) phases. In the two recurring cycles of urban change analyzed (before and after 1979), we observe two complementary loops. During the front loop, financial and natural resources are efficiently exploited by homogenous dominant groups (private developers, the bourgeoisie, politicians, technocrats) with the objective of promoting capital accumulation based on private (or private-public partnership) investments. During the back loop, change is catalyzed by heterogeneous urban social networks (neighborhood associations, activists, squatters, cooperatives, nongovernmental organizations) whose objectives are diverse but converge in their discontent with the status quo and their desire for a "common good" that includes social justice, social cohesion, participatory governance, and well-being for all. The heterogeneity of these social networks (shadow groups) fosters learning, experimentation, and social innovation and gives them the flexibility that the front loop's dominant groups lack to trigger growing pressures for transformation, not only within, but also across spatial and temporal dimensions, promoting panarchy. At the end, the reorganization phase (α) becomes a competition or negotiation between potential directions and outcomes (including conservative leanings and intentional bottom-up change) to restore the former system.

Mind the Gap: The Potential Transformative Capacity of Social Innovation

“…Other authors look at transformation in ecosystem management using SI as a framework [80,[87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94]. This line of research is consistent with SES and resilience thinking approaches [95], the main argument being the need for fundamental transformation of largely sectoral and expert centred ecosystem management institutions [87].…”

What Can We Learn from Urban Crisis?

“…The agglomeration effects in cities may enable new forms of action to emerge from "community interventions that are characterized by a desire to challenge the dominant norms and values of society and to experiment with different relationships and networks" [78] (p. 9). Explicitly noted by De Balanzó and Rodríguez-Planas, for instance, crisis was central to urban reorganization in Barcelona [79], where new interests and social movements came to challenge and negotiate prevailing or dominant urban practices in the 'back-loop phase' of the city's recent historical trajectories. Such perspectives, thus, often frame crisis as an opportunity [77].…”

Resilience and Urban Regeneration Policies. Lessons from Community-Led Initiatives. The Case Study of CanFugarolas in Mataro (Barcelona)

“…Changes in lower-order cycles can create the circumstances for change (Revolt) in a higher-order cycle. Further, Marcus [28] and de Balanzo [29] highlight the role of social movements during the backloop as a trigger for urban dynamization at the city scale. Self-organized social momentum during the release (Ω)-reorganization (α) phases within the social subsystem scale-up to the urban scale overflowing the boundaries of the social dimension and impacting the city system.…”