Superblocks in Vancouver

[Aroundtheworld]

Superblocks to the rescue: Barcelona’s plan to give streets back to residents

From the Guardian

The Catalan capital’s radical new strategy will restrict traffic to a number of big roads, drastically reducing pollution and turning secondary streets into ‘citizen spaces’ for culture, leisure and the community

Nine blocks in Barcelona’s Eixample district will make up a ‘superblock’, the city’s new strategy for sustainability. Photograph: Alamy
In the latest attempt from a big city to move away from car hegemony, Barcelona has ambitious plans. Currently faced with excessive pollution and noise levels, the city has come up with a new mobility plan to reduce traffic by 21%. And it comes with something extra: freeing up nearly 60% of streets currently used by cars to turn them into so-called “citizen spaces”. The plan is based around the idea of superilles (superblocks) – mini neighbourhoods around which traffic will flow, and in which spaces will be repurposed to “fill our city with life”, as its tagline says.

I think this is an idea that could certainly work in the urban core of Vancouver and possibly some of the Metro Cores. Where would you guys like to see superblocks in the region?