In Depth Experiences Journal on Social Knowledge and Analysis

Journal on social knowledge and analysis In depth The city a battlefield. Privatisation dynamics of urban spaces in one of Barcelona’s neighbourhoods Ten years of civility “by law”. A study on the application of the byelaw on coexistence in Barcelona’s public spaces Public places and the criminalisation of homelessness from a human rights perspective Approaching safety from a gender perspective in urban planning: more than Forty years of feminist struggle Social needs of informal street vendors in Barcelona Experiences Public spaces, in the plural: ESFORSA’T. CASBA. “Vincular x educar” project A project for homeless women in Nou Barris The experience of rehousing the carrer d’àlaba settlement Summary Presentation Foreword Albert Sales In depth The city, a battlefield. Privatization dynamics of urban spaces in one of Barcelona’s neighbourhoods José A. Mansilla López Ten years of civility “by law”: A study on the application of the byelaw on coexistence in Barcelona’s public spaces Cristina Fernández Bessa i Andrés Di Masso Tarditti Public places and the criminalization of homelessness from a human rights perspective Sonia Olea Ferreras i Guillem Fernàndez Evangelista Approaching safety from a gender perspective in urban planning: more than forty years of feminist struggle Sara Ortiz Escalante Social needs of informal street vendors in Barcelona Carlos Delclós Experiences Public spaces, in the plural: ESFORSA’T: professional APC & Franja Besós Social Services Centre CASBA: ETSAB-UPC & Sants-Montjuïc District & IMPD “Vincular X educar” project: professional Cotxeres de Sants & Numància Socials Services Centres A project for homeless women in Nou Barris Clara Naya Ponce The experience of rehousing the carrer d’àlaba settlement Gemma Izquierdo Barcelona Societat Journal on social knowledge and analysis Issue 22 - September 2018 Editorial board Laia Ortiz, Second Deputy Mayor and Councillor of Social Rights Josep Maria Montaner, Councillor of Housing Miquel Àngel Essomba, Commissioner for Education and Universities Lola López, Commissioner for Immigration Gemma Tarafa, Commissioner for Health Research advisor Albert Sales Drafting and coordination Pep Gómez, Txus Molar, Paola Rodríguez & Ramón Pablo, Knowledge and Research Department Drafting committee Dolors Cortina, Technical Programming Office Marta Cruells, Feminisms and LGTBI Pep Gómez, Management and Coordination Team Davide Malmusi, Commissioner for Health Albert Pérez, Municipal Institute of Education Maika Rodríguez, Public Health Agency Albert Sales, Management and Coordination Team Laura Trujillo, Municipal Institute for Persons with Disabilities Maria Truñó, Institute of Childhood Vanessa Valiño, Councillor’s Office of Housing Language consulting Linguaserve I.S, S.A. Original design Croma Studio Design Jordi Salvany Photography Istockphoto.Some images have been ceded by the authors of the articles Print Vanguard Gràfic SA Edition Social Observatory of Barcelona Research and knowledge Department Manager’s Office for Social Rights Barcelona City Council Diagonal, 233 - 08013 Barcelona Telephone: 934132669 ISSN: 1133-635 Legal license: B-21.686-1993 © Ayuntamiento de Barcelona Barcelona Societat is issued biannually Data and information are allowed to be reproduced if sources are mentioned. The articles included in this publication are of exclusive responsibility of their authors. September 2018 Presentation Laia Ortiz Deputy Mayor of Social Rights, Barcelona City Council Saskia Sassen says that ‘the sociability and physical contact the city offers is irreplaceable’. The city provides places where people of different social and geographical origins can meet. Places of coexistence and conflict where part of people's everyday activities and human relationships take place. This issue of Barcelona Societat magazine is dedicated to tackling the social problems that are expressed on the streets, in squares, in parks, in stations, on beaches, etc. Most of these problems have a hidden background and they are ignored until they are manifested in areas we call public places. In Barcelona, realities such as homelessness, illegal settlements, unauthorised street hawking and begging attract the interest of public opinion when they become visible. Poverty, exclusion from the job market, the lack of housing or the perpetual administrative exclusion of many migrants are problems with structural causes, which are treated as conflicts concerning the use of public places when they emerge onto the streets. These problems leave no one indifferent and they lead to discussions on the limits of coexistence and freedom, on the role of the administrations or on their ability to transform reality. Which players define the use of public places? What should the role of the municipal administration be? What activities put people at risk? What are the limits of social intervention? Barcelona, a destination city as well as a city for passing through, with an economic activity that creates opportunities for living and for surviving, where it is increasingly difficult to gain access to housing, and with one of the highest population densities in the world – around 16,000 inhabitants per square kilometre – has extremely dynamic public places that are subject to a number of tensions. We have asked various authors to reflect on and provide evidence of conflicts caused by the privatisation of urban areas, on the dynamics of criminalisation and stigmatisation of poverty, on how gender inequality is expressed in public places, on successful social intervention experiences in realities such as settlements and caring for homeless women. Reflections which are added to what has been learnt by social intervention services in public places under Barcelona City Council's Area of Social Rights, which after two decades of experience, has become a benchmark in Europe. An inclusive urban area is where people are not penalised because they are in an economically and socially vulnerable situation, and where it is easy for everyone to continue with their daily lives, with self-sufficiency and freedom. For this reason, this issue includes experiences and reflections concerning the role of the Administration and neighbourhoods in the transformation of public places, in avoiding commercialisation and making them friendlier for functional diversity, and making it easier for neighbours to meet and look after one another. September 2018 Foreword Albert Sales Peter spent the afternoon sitting in his wheelchair, with his back to the supermarket door and a carton of wine in his lap. On the crowded pavement, a little over four metres from a well-known Barcelona shopping street, it was an uncomfortable sight for the pedestrians going in and out of the supermarket, carrying plastic bags or taking their trolleys to do the shopping. His untidy, dirty appearance when he arrived at around 2 pm was compounded by the stench of urine from mid-afternoon onwards. Apart from his visual impact and the smell, the large, bearded man didn't interact with passers-by at all. The new, strange presence of Peter caused local residents returning from work or going shopping to express two different reactions by making comments out loud: there were those who were clearly worried about the man in the wheelchair's state and there were others who expressed their annoyance at what they believed was incivility and the improper use of a public place. And of course, most people just continued on their way trying to absorb a combination of both feelings in silence. During the afternoon, a patrol from the Guàrdia Urbana city police force came and talked to him on three occasions. All three times, the officers just talked to him for a few minutes and then walked away. By closing time for most of the shops on the street, the officers had informed the specialised Social Services teams about the case and were watching developments from a distance, driving by in their patrol car every now and then. Sometime after 10 pm, the man fell from his wheelchair onto the ground unconscious, due to the alcohol he had imbibed. Some local residents called the Medical Emergencies Services (SEM), but by the time the ambulance arrived, Peter had recovered consciousness and, with a little help, was back into his wheelchair, singing a song in his native language. The SEM specialists left, after asking him if he needed help and seeing that he refused any offer of a medical check-up. From that moment onwards, some local residents and retailers, who had been following the situation all afternoon, began to show their anger. Some expressed their indignation because the Guàrdia Urbana 'hadn't done anything'. 'They came here three times and they didn't take him away', said a woman, seeking agreement from two people who were observing the man lying on the ground. Others focused their anger on the homeless man himself, considering him to be an example of incivility and the neighbourhood's decline. 'If they allow people to hang around here, without doing anything… what's going to happen? [...] there are more and more people like this on the street'. Sometime after 11 pm, without the pressure from local residents and after a long conversation, two educators from municipal social services convinced Peter to let them take him to the Social Emergency Centre, to minimise the risks of spending the night outdoors after consuming a large quantity of alcohol and because of his obvious inability to protect himself from the cold. The aim of the intervention was not to get the man off the street, but to

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