El Raval

 

          Located just off La Rambla is the area of Barcelona known as El Raval.  Nowadays it is a bustling public area full of cafes, restaurants, and benches for people to eat and relax.  But in the past El Raval was not as beautified as it is now.  A few decades ago El Raval was home to the poorer citizens of Barcelona.  They houses there were crammed into small areas making the streets extremely narrow and the quality of life ultimately sub par.  When the Barcelona Model was introduced it drastically changed El Raval and the lives of its inhabitants

            Although many people were living in El Raval expansion continued.  Houses were knocked down in order to revive the area into a classier looking one.  The Barcelona Model aimed to create social infrastructure, new open public spaces, appealing architecture, and monumental public sculpture, but it also had detrimental effects such as gentrification. Today this result can be seen in La Rambla del Raval.  La Rambla del Raval is in itself new social infrastructure created by the Barcelona Model.  Where La Rambla is today, there were houses in the past that sheltered poor citizens of Barcelona.  Although a new public space was opened up, many people lost their homes due to gentrification.  Monumental sculpture and new architecture also decorate La Rambla del Raval and this can be seen through the giant aluminum looking building as well as El gat del Raval, a giant cat sculpture residing in the area.  The Barcelona Model created all these things in order to improve the standard of living in El Raval.  One of the most famous and important buildings located in El Raval is the hospital where many sick and injured people were sent to recover.  This hospital is an example of the social infrastructure that was added by the Model in order to improve the standard of living and quality of life.  Thanks to this hospital many poor, sick, injured people could recuperate and be back at their normal lives.

            The Barcelona Model had its pros and its cons.  Gentrification was main detrimental effect of the model, because it displaced many people and left them homeless.  Still, sacrifices had to be made in order to benefit the majority of the population and the Model did this with the addition of social infrastructure, new public open spaces, new architecture, and monumental sculpture.