Redefining the Relation between the City and the Sea: Tensions and Conflicts in the Transformation of Barcelona’s Coastal Neighbourhoods

Over the past five years, in line with the growing efforts of the United Nations and the European Union, the city of Barcelona has developed an overall economic strategy based on the “Blue economy”. This strategy aims to foster new economic sectors and redefine the existing ones, aligning them with sustainable development goals. This strategy is framed in a long-term attempt to reconnect the city with the sea, including the reshaping of its seafront, which started in the 1980s with the opening and integration of beach areas to the rest of the city, creating new public space for citizens. This paper explores the crucial role that remaining coastal communities play in this transformation and how coastal neighbourhoods are shaping their relationship with the sea. To do so, the paper analyses two coastal neighbourhoods: the traditional fishermen’s neighbourhood of Barceloneta, which in the last 10 years has developed a community-based economic development plan based on social and solidarity economy around marine-related activities, and the recently created neighbourhood of Front Marítim del Poblenou, which is proposing new connections with the sea.

Drawing on empirical research based on in-depth interviews to representatives of city adminsitration and coastal neighbourhood communities, as well as observation, this paper examines the contrasting narratives and practices between the blue economy strategy of the city council and the initiatives of coastal communities. While the city’s strategy focuses on economic development and competitiveness based on the green economy and resilience against climate change, urban coastal communities rely on other narratives and practices. Despite existing governance mechanisms, tensions between different approaches are far from being solved and are the result of long-term conflict on the regeneration of Barcelona’s seafront.