Is Barcelona a 24-Hour City?

Whilst we were exhibiting in Barcelona at UITP in early June 2023, we spoke about whether Barcelona can be considered a 20-Minute City. We monitored Barcelona’s access level across 5, 15, 20, 30 and 45-minute catchments to get to; Public Transport Stops, the City Centre, Places of Interest, Social Areas and Wellbeing.

Which Areas Can You Get To in 5 Minutes?

Within 5-minute walking access from Metro Stations the access is low to get to key services such as;

• Social Sites
• Health/Wellbeing Centres

• Retail Sites
• Education Facilities

Fact: 43% of people live within a 5-minute walk of a Metro Station.

5 Minute Walk Access to Education Institutions in Barcelona

Most people in Barcelona can get to an education site within a 5 minute walk from a Metro Station. Most of the gaps in access from our analysis are in the Western and North Western parts of the city.

5 Minute Walk Access From Metro Stations to Social Sites in Barcelona

Most people in Barcelona can get to a Social Site within a 5 minute walk from a Metro Station. Similar to the map above, the only areas where walking access to a social site from a metro station is lower can be found in the Western and North Western parts of the city.

5 Minute Walk Access From Metro Stations to Health Sites in Barcelona

There is medium to high access to places of Health & Wellbeing in Barcelona from Metro Stations, however, there are pockets where access is lower in the Western, Northern, and Eastern parts of the city.

15 Minute Walk to any Places of Interest

Within 15 minutes, there is an exceedingly high level of accessibility to places of interest.

Fact: 99% of the population can access Places of Interest within 15 Minutes.

20 Minute Access to Metro Stops

Up to 20 Minutes of Travel Time to Metro Stops has a high access score, showing Barcelona as having an accessible transport network.

Fact: 97% of the population can access Metro Stops within 20 Minutes.

Access to Hospitals within 30 Minutes: Wednesday vs Sunday

Access to Hospitals within 30 Minutes using Public Transport by comparing a Wednesday to a Sunday.

1. Wednesday 10am – 11am (left)

2. Sunday 10am – 11am (right)

Observation: In our analysis, we used imported Census Data to highlight the population attached to where people live and this concluded that 6598 people have better access on a Sunday.

Comparing Access To and From Schools

Access to and from schools within 20 Minutes on Public Transport comparison between different directions.

1. Direction TO Schools (left)

2. Direction FROM Schools (right)

Observation:

200 more pupils can access the direction TO schools rather than FROM schools.

97% of the population can access these locations.

What Does Access to Barcelona Look Like on a Saturday Using Public Transport Between 12-1pm?

An overwhelming majority of the general districts and towns within Barcelona can access the central part of the city within 45 minutes.

Fact: 97.79% of the population can access Central Barcelona between 12pm-1pm on a Saturday.

What Does Access to Barcelona Look Like on a Saturday Using Public Transport Between 10pm-11pm?

It is quite surprising to see the access level of Central Barcelona increase in the later part of the evening compared to Midday.

Fact: 97.82% of the population can access Central Barcelona between 10pm-11pm on a Saturday.

What Does Access to Central Barcelona Look Like on a Saturday between 3am-4am?

As services for the metro network start to reduce after 2 am, there is little surprise that the size of the access level deflates as a consequence. Despite this, night buses continue to operate in the city hence the small circular glow on this map showing travel time to Central Barcelona can be achieved within 30 minutes by only 17.3% of the population.

Through our research, we have concluded that as a city Barcelona’s access has:•Great walking access throughout the city
•Improvements with superblocks (turning junctions into multi-purpose pedestrianised zones)
•High percentage of access on different days
•Similar inbound/Outbound journeys
•Great Access with High PTAL Scores especially during core hours