Eu r o p a n 6 – Ba r a k a l d o – Es p a ñ a

Location: , Desembocadura del río Galindo Population: 100,000 inhab. Study area: 29 ha

CONURBATION SITE Barakaldo, second most populated town in , is situated between the On an area totalling 500 000 m2, previously occupied by an iron and steel of the Nervion estuary, just downstream of . Of Barakaldo’s works, BR2000 is developing an ambitious urban, social, and economic rege- 100 000 inhabitants, 70% live in the centre. Historically it is an important in- neration project. The site is at the centre of the area, in the confluence of the dustrial centre (chemicals, iron and steel). It is the disappearance of one the Nervion and Galindo rivers, and adjoins a former EUROPAN 5 site; a location biggest of these companies, Altos Hornos of Bilbao, that has opened up the with the potential to give Barakaldo and the estuary on which it stands, a new possibility for urban regeneration of large tracts of land. image.

FUNCTIONAL ISSUES The main issue is, with the help of a complete urban project to be built in the Galindo river sector, the extension of the town centre on the riverfront formed by the Nervion and Galindo. The proposed site constitutes the cornerstone. Eu r o p a n 6 – Ba r a k a l d o – Es p a ñ a

SOCIAL ISSUES PROGRAMME Although the project for the site chiefly concerns a residential scheme, it is The programme calls for management through to completion of a scheme nonetheless necessary to place it in a much wider context, envisaging busi- that provides 19 000 m2 of housing. There are no preliminary conditions in ness activity, transport and other networks, public spaces, pedestrian spaces, terms of construction typology, implantation, or outline. and green spaces.

THEME PERCEPTUAL ISSUES On land that is in part reclaimed from the estuary, shape is to be given to a Full consideration must be given to ecological balance in this operation. Effi- first plan for the regeneration of Barakaldo; in a densely built up area, which cient use of energy sources and suitable materials, recycling, respect of the is in the throes of a process of re-dynamisation. The construction of a large environment and related issues must be considered. leisure centre is planned in the Portu docks. Intervention is therefore on a consolidated fabric in which there still remains areas of building land, made available by the demolition of the Vizcaya Altos Hornos works.