The interviewees are clear: the current urbanism is based on an economicist vision. For example, Miren Vives and Patxi Galarraga of the Projekta group have warned that the Land Law guarantees the rights of owners but does not equip the needs of users. “Infrastructure and equipment planning has also adapted to the needs of the productive world.”

“Spatial planning is conceived as an element of economic momentum,” says Unai Fernández de Betoño, “and it is also recognized without complexes. But Spatial Planning should also take into account other criteria, the environment, culture in the broad sense and from a social perspective, should seek smart city growth, not just revive the economy.” He explains that the current model has realized what was at first a metaphor: Euskal Hiria. “In the Basque Country, it is intended to connect the three capitals with a large lake that allows sufficient strength to compete at European level, to put the queue in the global market and attract investment. On the coast, a linear city between Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián is being created and colonized, in the vicinity of AP-8 (which extends to Lapurdi), and the interior is being emptied. On the coast, 60% of the population lives, although their area is much smaller. For the sake of territorial cohesion, Spatial Planning should seek to balance this imbalance; if demography is focusing on one point, we need a strategy to limit it and promote growth elsewhere.”

Basque Country, following the Guggenheim effect

We have asked Gasteiztarra Betoño about the main problems of urban planning today and he has explained that, as in Regional Planning, in cities the trend is the same: “Bilbao has been immersed in the game of internationalization and other cities are behind, we all want to create our own Guggenheim effect to attract tourists and investment. Globalisation, in general in Europe, is leading to urban banalisation and all cities are very similar, but we should be able to maintain and promote the peculiarities of each city, including language, local food, local knowledge… That is the tension that is occurring”.

After the Guggenheim effect, our rulers have been fascinated by the great auditoriums, hotels, museums and infrastructures in times of prosperity. However, the economic crisis has slowed the pace in the 1998-2008 decade, when it was built a lot with the heat of brick bubbles. “We must transform the territory, let us not be naïve – says Betoño – we cannot be against all infrastructures, but the key is to achieve balance. The Basque Government and the Government of Navarra have for many years followed the pattern of developmentalism and what is now up to us is to realize that some of the major infrastructures we have built do not use them 100% and that at least it is the first step we do not build until we use them”. In other words, before urbanizing another square meter, analyze well what happens in the one that is already urbanized. Before we foresee another trade, house, industrial estate, leisure area, infrastructure… that we have rethought and reused. “The current model, building and building, building a new variant when the variant has been completed, is a long-term short-sighted leak, is not sustainable.”

The same with housing, because construction is one of the favorite activities of municipalities, and not in vain the main sources of financing of municipalities are taxes (especially property tax, linked to housing) and the building itself. But “to the extent that we have empty houses (in Euskal Herria about 10%), what are we planning to build new homes?”

The Vitorian architect has observed a change in the center of the cities: we have realized the uniqueness of the old areas and have begun to beautify them, to beautify them, to pamper them, to put them architecturally beautiful and to turn their decadence around. However, this has also led to staggered gentrification, i.e. the price of rents, shops, etc. It's going up in these spaces, and a lot of people have been forced to leave.

Urban regeneration criteria have not always been the most appropriate. “On many occasions, instead of earmarking money for the improvement of their centers or libraries, they have been spent in spectacular buildings, or escalators have been put in place to connect museums and not in places more necessary from the point of view of accessibility, claim graffiti has been removed and murals promoted by the City Hall have been preferred…”. The importance of tourism has a great deal to do with the fact that, in the name of a modern and beautiful aesthetic, sometimes an artificial and homogeneous tone has prevailed in urbanism, to the detriment of its own identity.

The public space, the common space?

Does the Administration manage the street, the space of all, but does it seek the well-being of the majority or for the benefit of the interests of some? Often, the administration makes decisions to take special care of the private sector, Betoño replies: “And it’s not bad, but it’s to the detriment of everyone else. In the ordinance of the public space of Bilbao it is seen that it is forbidden to drink in the street if this drink has not been bought in a bar, where there is a clear intention to capitalize what is done on the street and relate it to the private sector, the hospitality industry. In Vitoria-Gasteiz, Patxi Lazcoz proposed, when he was mayor, to cover the Plaza Nueva, one of the summits of the Basque neoclassical, so that it functioned as a shopping center. Hospitality is given an overprotection, as demonstrated by the phenomenon of terraces. And why are some occupations banned, but tourists are allowed to use the street to their liking? The privatization of public space is increasing and should be limited.” However, the architect is in favor of the public space being managed by the administrations, otherwise economic power would favor the street even more. For example, the metro stop of Plaza Sol in Madrid has been until recently Vodafone Sol or there have been incidents in a Plaza de Vitoria when a giant Heinek cartel was definitely attempted.

On the other hand, we cannot fail to mention the preponderance of cars and commercial centres in our urban model. Betoño says that we know that instead of urbanizations that force us to move by car from one side to the other, we need continuous, compact cities, but the other way around: Taking advantage of the strategic situation of the Basque Country geographically, we are building and building roads, thinking of variants, in the economy. “We have to reclaim cities of proximity, able to walk to work. That is what is now being promoted in the United States and called it New Urbanism, but it basically consists of recovering the old European urbanism.”

In the case of department stores, the architect has stressed that the legal idea of free trade is dangerous. For example, the Basque Government drafted a plan to limit these spaces and concluded that Garbera de Donostia-San Sebastián could not exceed 25,000 square meters, but Garbera lodged a complaint and the Madrid Hearing gave it the right to understand that trade freedom cannot be restricted. “To the extent that we liberalize everything in the economy, it will also affect urbanism.”

Asked if the current urban model generates ghettos, he clarified that in Euskal Herria the ghettos were created mainly in the 1970s, when residential polygons were born in the periphery linked to the migration of industrialization (Otxarkoaga, Bidebieta, Zaramaga, the giant ZUP blocks of the Santa Cruz de Norte de Baiona…). “Over the years, these neighborhoods have improved, although sociologically they remain a ghetto; this is demonstrated by linguistic data.”

Take part: What do you want, red or green streetlights?

The issue of fashion is citizen participation, and the 2006 CAPV Land Law, for example, gathers the concept, but says that the result is not binding, does not have a direct effect, “and we should delve into it so that the consultation is effective”. Even interrogations are often a farce: “Concrete results ask the public what do you prefer, the red or the green streetlights? But maybe you don't need a lantern! Or the consultation is only done when the administration is interested, making a partisan use of participation: Why a referendum on this and not on the other?”

For whom and according to what to remodel cities? And how?

“The city model we have built is the working city, the city of production and capital, and we need to build a city for society and life, which takes into account lives and care,” says Koldo Telleria, of the Hiria collective. See Vives and Patxi Galarraga, from the Projekta group, have added that in urban planning many people are invisible and what chance, it is always the same people who stay out: “A ‘neutral’ standard has been created, which works outside the home, moves by car from one place to another, and an urbanism is made accordingly, without taking into account the care needs, of children and the elderly, of people with disabilities…”.

The solution, for Vives and Galarraga, is an urbanism that includes others: “The more criteria and data are collected, the more general the approach will be and the more people we will have on the table the needs of the people; the answer will always be more complete and thought out to be able to make more livable and fair plans.” Collaboration on urban planning is therefore essential: “We often ask those in the Welfare Area to enter Urbanism, ‘do not stay in your area’, and those of Urbanism, ‘open doors to the Equality Area, to the Migration Area… Otherwise, the same people would always stay in the corner.” The Project itself seeks to achieve “inclusive, active and healthy cities”, and they are not the only ones. As a sign of this, metropolitan observatories with a critical view of urbanism, composed of multidisciplinary professionals. A good orientation of community participation in urban planning would ensure stronger real participation.

Criteria for the planting of reasonable housing

What guidelines does a territorial plan require? The proposals of Unai Fernández de Betoño consist in properly connecting protected spaces of ecological value, protecting spaces of cultural value, not forgetting the geographical areas of the Basque Country; protecting the most appropriate lands for agriculture, livestock and forestry; reforming the old areas of towns and restoring neighbourhoods; valuing the need for large infrastructures based on social profitability; shielding public property from the remaining communal lands;

From theory to practice

ENVIRONMENT

Instead of isolated green areas, the interviewees have claimed ecological corridors that will give continuity to nature. For example, the branches of the Vitoria-Gasteiz green ring, creating an inner green ring in the city. That animals, trees -- they're not in separate areas, surrounded by concrete -- instead of loose parks, clustering parks. “Cities have been conceived as elements outside nature: cities are not nature, rural land is nature. You have to break that scheme and take it as a living element that is part of the ecosystem, that embraces the city and the countryside,” says Koldo Telleria. The Biosphere Reserves, at least conceptually, also seem interesting to Unai Fernández de Betoño, because in addition to the environment they also take into account human activity.

With regard to energy consumption, it is necessary that a percentage of the energy used in infrastructure should be of renewable origin, and the more this percentage increases, the better. They are also “smart” buildings that take advantage of rain water, wind, wood, sun… that use dry toilets to not waste so much water… Telleria is committed to collective heating and cleaning systems: “Why not a washing machine for the whole block, rather than the house itself?”

MOBILITY

In nine blocks of Barcelona the project “Super-Islands” has been launched: in the interior space of these neighborhoods you cannot introduce cars (if it is not for loading and unloading, you can only surround the neighborhood) and the pedestrians can move quietly through the block. The idea would be that what is usually done in our old areas would extend to other apples or neighborhoods, and in Vitoria-Gasteiz, for example, is already under study. Ander Gortazar tells us an experience of this kind: In the Vauban district, in the German city of Freiburg, cars are not prohibited, but on the street you cannot park and the homes have no garage; there are two parking buildings next to the neighborhood and public transport, which passes through the main street of the neighborhood, is always more accessible than the car. Conclusion: it is the neighborhood with the least car owners in the city and the one with the most partners in the car sharing program. He has also told us that Oslo has in place a project for the disappearance of cars in three years through the city center; that in Hamburg a city plan is being developed that can live and move without a car for twenty years; that the bus network is being revised and reinvented in more than one place, “as many times they continue to respond to the shape of the city 100 years ago”; and that it is expanding in the US (Highways).

Telleria tells us about the villages that promote hybridization: sidewalks and roads, putting everything on the same level, removing traffic signals and limiting speed in all the town to a maximum of 20-30 km/h, have achieved coexistence, respect and understanding between pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, rather than the separation of spaces depending on transport. Not only in small towns, but also within the inner city neighborhoods.

Projects are being extended to promote urban and urban itineraries (Projekta mentioned the Hiribili initiative). “In many villages they have had a football field, a swimming pool, a gym… but you can’t walk! It is necessary to structure decent places of passage, that the village be the installation of physical activity, since not all go to the gym”. In any case, by transforming the roads and streets into pedestrian roads, it is important to have clear objectives, as “it is often a matter of commodifying the street, filling these areas of commerce and terrace”, said Telleria.

The surveyed architects understand accessibility linked to mobility. They all agree: the key is the city of proximity, a city that requires that we all move as little as possible, that has close proximity to their place of residence, their work, their leisure, their shops… In short, all citizens have and will have different levels of accessibility throughout our lives.

GENDER

Black spot maps have been made in many places, to ensure safe streets where everyone can move freely, bearing in mind that we are not all adult men. Purple maps have also been made in different places, in which the urbanism of women will be analyzed. Telleria, of the Hiria collective, makes it clear: “Current urbanism adapts to male roles: rapid and high mobility, a city where care has no place… and we need cities that promote mutual knowledge and mutual care. Productive work and reproductive work, the key is to take into account both”. Along this road, the Projekta Group has included several ordinances in the Irun General Plan: among other issues, the housing block that is built from now on must be a place for strollers and scooters for the elderly, as well as a balcony of at least 5 square meters, as the house is a place of work for many people, also for the care of children and the elderly, and the balconies are. The work of the Catalan collective Punt 6 is also worth following closely to integrate the feminist perspective in urbanism.

SOCIAL VISION

Betoño says that neighborhood associations can be very powerful tools: they were created on the periphery, because they were the ones with the most problems, and what has been achieved with the demands has been little. However, Betoño and Telleria have emphasized that the way to avoid ghettos is mixing: Official Protected Housing and Social Housing are all made together, and often in the most unfavorable places, and in the same block, for example, a plant can be a social housing and the next one a private one. Housing cooperatives can also be an interesting solution for coexistence (Brutopia de Brussels and La Borda de Barcelona). Not only with housing, the greater the mix in all buildings and infrastructure, but also in the approach of the neighborhood/city itself, the more varied and intense the street will be. Instead, today everything is divided into zones: industrial working sites, shopping mall, closed leisure areas…

On the other hand, through the communal gardens and gardens – and around them, through the organization of cultural and educational spaces – Projekta’s partner highlighted the Landahiri project, which has reinforced the coexistence between the neighbors, in the French city of Colombes.

URBAN LIFE

We have to ensure safe streets for all, live streets, routes and areas that confront neighbors of all ages and types, prioritizing banks and so on, meeting points of the community of the area. Compared to the large shopping centers, the interviewees consider it essential to boost the neighborhood's small trade and emphasize the work being done by the consumption groups and the communal gardens, which are increasingly multiplying in more localities. There are also outstanding initiatives related to collaborative urbanism or self-management, promoted and implemented by the neighbors themselves, as is the case in the Errekaleor neighborhood.

CULTURE

Most cultural halls look inwards and close outward, “they are closed and isolated boxes that offer nothing to the street,” says Telleria. Libraries, sports centers, cultural centers, outpatient clinics… public facilities should have continuity in the street, open, for example, guaranteeing the sense of coexistence and security between those outside and those inside through a glass, or connecting the street through a patio and somehow expanding the cultural offer to the street”. For its part, Betoño has reminded us of the importance of preserving the heritage and has given us an example of the industrial heritage: In Donostia-San Sebastián, instead of taking to Tabakalera, the tobacco factory has become a cultural centre. “Another debate would be what art model is promoted in it…”.

EDUCATION

A safe and planned route is a project that is being developed in more and more towns, with signs: that children go to school with their peers and colleagues, walking and in group, discovering the village, living and enjoying the environment, making the way autonomously together with the smallest and oldest, assuming the street and the obstacles and pleasures of the street.

On the other hand, the Oinherri Network of Educational Peoples is made up of a number of villages whose objective is to build among all a people based on the needs of children and organized according to them (a people good for children, which is good for everyone): parks and playgrounds transformed in collaboration with children are the reflection of this philosophy. The Txikiark collective also incorporates the perspective of boys and girls in the spaces, promoting their participation.

LANGUAGE

In these years, the relationship between urbanism and language has been particularly worked out. Proof of this is the project they want to carry out in Lekaroz: Baztan City Hall has assessed the linguistic consequences of the construction of a golf course, a hotel and 228 dwellings in a municipality of 341 inhabitants and predicts that the Basque community will be severely affected. To know where to look, Wales is an interesting mirror: the Englishmen massively buy the first and second housing, and when they realize that this is closely related to the loss of the Welsh, they are very aware of the language factor in urban projects. A couple of new neighborhoods have been evicted by linguistic damage: “It is an extreme solution – says Betoño – but corrective measures can also be used: to build more slowly, to better organise reception plans, to promote language schools…”.