URBAN STUDIES FOR THE PORTA DIAGONAL – CAMPUS CLÍNIC AREA

The agreement for the location of the Clínic-UB Health Campus on the courts of the University of Barcelona, located on Avinguda Diagonal, signed in January 2024, represents the formal initiation of one of the largest projects planned for the coming years, both at the metropolitan and national level. This project, together with other key facilities such as Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and the campuses of the UB and UPC, promotes the consolidation of this area as a strategic hub of knowledge in science and health.

The construction of the Clínic-UB Campus constitutes a highly complex urban project that requires a broad and integrated vision. It is an area where three municipalities converge — Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat — as well as high-capacity road infrastructures and supra-municipal facilities, with significant potential to become a leading node in the development of the health and life sciences sector. The arrival of the Clínic-UB will strengthen the ecosystem linked to healthcare, teaching, research, and economic activities in the health sector, consolidating the Porta Diagonal–Campus Clínic area as a new urban centrality, with the opportunities and challenges this entails.

Since April 2024, preliminary studies have been underway for the drafting of the urban planning instrument that will transform 70 hectares around the new campus into a new metropolitan centrality. This territory, located across the municipalities of Esplugues de Llobregat, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, and Barcelona, is the subject of strategic reflection aimed at defining design criteria and urban planning foundations to generate a sustainable, inclusive, and dynamic city around one of Catalonia’s most important Health Campuses, with clear national and international projection.

This event provides an opportunity to present the work carried out so far and to open the debate on the future metropolitan centrality that will develop around the new Clínic-UB Health Campus. Representatives from the Department of Urbanism, Territory and Landscape and the Landscape Master of ETSAB, as well as the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and Barcelona Regional, will participate in a discussion panel to analyze the challenges and opportunities posed by this ambitious urban project.

The event will feature: Carles Crosas, PhD Architect, Director of the Department of Urbanism, Territory and Landscape, ETSAB-UPC; Enric Batlle, PhD Architect, Director of the Master of Landscape, MBLandArch, ETSAB-UPC; Ioanna Spanou, PhD Architect, Director of the Architecture, Urbanism and Public Space Area, Barcelona Regional; Isabel Tomé, Architect, Office of the Metropolitan Urban Master Plan, AMB; and Bàrbara Pons, PhD Architect, Director General of Barcelona Regional, as moderator.