Developing a river park to boost urban resilience
North Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, Spain
The metropolitan area of Barcelona, with a surface of 636 square kilometres, is amongst the most populated in Europe: 48 percent of its territory is urbanised land. It includes 36 municipalities, with approximately 3.2 million inhabitants.
Together with the Ter and the Llobregat, the Besós River is one of the main watercourses in the Barcelona area. With a basin of 1,039 square kilometres, it serves a population of more than 2 million and crosses 11 municipalities. Its water is used mainly for urban and industrial purposes. Although the region’s drinking water is sourced primarily from the Llobregat and Ter basins, a small subterannean aquifer in the Besós acts as an auxiliary catchment area.
The Besós has undergone a process of ecological restoration over the last two decades. Main nature-based solutions include wetlands constructed to support water sanitation and a river park in the last section of the Besós featuring restored grasslands, pluvial meadows, recreational areas, and artificial ponds. Thanks to these measures, water quality of the river has drastically improved over the years. Nowadays, the River Park contributes to improved water quality and has increased the share of municipal green areas, offering a variety of recreational opportunities for citizens and acting as a refuge for local and migratory flora and fauna. However, it is still not suitable for recreational uses such as swimming and fishing.
Challenges: The Besós River experienced serious environmental deterioration during the second half of the 20th century as a consequence of intense industrial activity, rapid population growth, and accelerating urbanisation in Barcelona’s metropolitan area. By the 1980s, it had become one of the most polluted rivers in Europe. Additionally, its torrential character (has caused fatal hazards, such as extreme flooding in 1962. During dry periods, the region’s hydrological needs require water transfers from nearby rivers, such as the Ter and the Llobregat— whereas in rainy periods, the river swells drastically, posing a serious flood risk. Measures taken to tackle this in the past have included the canalization of the riverbed (including retention walls). However, these steps have restricted the ability to try other solutions, including nature-based ones. Another significant challenge: the river flows through an urban area comprising many municipalities, so different governance levels, supra-municipal bodies, and other collectives need to work in a coordinated manner to manage it.
Financing: In 1999, the environmental recovery of the final stretch of the Besós River was assigned an initial budget of EUR 36 million from public sources (80 percent from the European Regional Development Fund/Cohesion Fund and 20 percent from municipal funds). In 2007 it received EUR 1 million from the AMB to finalise the ecological restoration of the last 450 metres, corresponding to the river mouth. Since the completion of the river park, Barcelona City Council assigns approximately EUR 750,000 per year to cover maintenance costs, such as gardening, watering, paving, and infrastructure repair and improvement), communication, and evaluation and monitoring. The results of regular monitoring are captured in periodic reports. Barcelona City Council is in charge of the flora and fauna monitoring programmes (fish, birds, invertebrates) and the wetlands’ chemical composition programme (in collaboration with the University of Barcelona), and the Catalonian Water Agency monitors water quality. They work together to determine where and when to do more substantial monitoring.
Governance: The Consortium for the Defense of the Besós River Basin has been a key player in the restoration. Twenty-five municipalities and the Metropolitan Entity of Hydraulic Services and Waste Treatment formed the consortium to improve the river’s environmental quality. The consortium defined an integrative management system of the river, working with the Catalonian Water Agency and Barcelona’s City Council. The consortium, which is still active, changed its name in 2016 to Consortium Besós-Tordera, and currently includes 64 municipalities, the Barcelona City Council, the AMB (Metropolitan Area of Barcelona administrative body), the Comarcal Council of Vallés, and the Consortium for East Vallés Waste Management.
Although the Catalonian Water Agency is responsible for the Besós River as a whole, the management of the river park has been delegated to the Barcelona City Council, which must follow the instructions stated in three regional plans (River Use Plan, Exploitation and Maintenance Plan, and Emergency Plan) and in the Agreement for the Conservation of the Besós River. Barcelona City Council has a specific body in charge of this task, the Technical Office for Territorial Action in Natural Protected Areas—which subcontracts external parties for specific services (such as gardening, maintenance, and monitoring). Additionally, Barcelona City Council is open to support initiatives proposed by municipalities and external entities such as schools as long as they align with the park regulation.
Actions and impacts: The Besós River restoration efforts, instigated by citizen pressure, began in the late 1980s with the adoption of the Sanitation Plan of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the creation of the Consortium for the Defense of the Besós River Basin. An institutional agreement signed by the Consortium and the municipalities of Barcelona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Sant Adriá de Besós, and Montcada i Reixac set the basis for focused action and crystallized in a common project, the Environmental Recovery of the final stretch of the Besós River. Starting in 1999, it aimed to restore a nine-kilometres river stretch in three phases (2000, 2004, and 2007) and concluded with the creation of 1.15-kilometres river park.
The measures include the following elements:
References
- American Society of Landscape Architects. (2016). ASLA Professional Awards.
C40. (2016). C40 Good Practice Guides: Copenhagen - Cloudburst Management Plan. - City of Copenhagen. (2019). Climate Adaptation: The Changing Climate and Weather Faces Copenhagen with a Number of Challenges.
- Climate Adapt. (2016). The Economics of Managing Heavy Rains and Stormwater in Copenhagen – The Cloudburst Management Plan 2016.
- Oppla. (2018). Cloudburst Management Plan, Copenhagen.
- Area Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB) website.
©Serge Melesan/TNC Photo Contest 2023
