Circular Barcelona: A New Urban Model

Barcelona is subject to rapid urban growth. Its number of inhabitants, and thus its use of resources, is increasing by the day. While adding to the prosperity of the city, it also comes with certain risks and challenges. Circularity is crucial for maintaining and increasing quality of life and creating a more sustainable urban environment for future generations.

Based on SDG goals and municipal plans, Barcelona intends to increase the circularity of its districts. For the municipality of Barcelona to progress on this commitment, insight on its current state is needed. By analyzing circularity factors of each district, the municipality of Barcelona will be able to use this information to reach its goals.

Tackling Circularity in Barcelona’s Diverse Districts

Barcelona is a city of striking diversity, with its 10 districts presenting a diverse mix of cultures, landscapes, and urban layouts. From the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter to the orderly grid of Eixample and the wide beachfront of Barceloneta, each district faces distinct social, economic, and environmental challenges.

This variety makes implementing a circular economy in Barcelona a complex task, requiring tailored strategies that respect the city's vibrant differences while pursuing the common goal of circularity.

Focusing on districts within Barcelona, the circularity must be measured.
This is done using the Circular City Index (CCI).

What is the Circular City Index?

The Circular City Index (CCI) is a tool designed to evaluate how well a city is prepared for circularity and the green transition. It focuses on four main areas: Digitalization, Energy, Climate and Resources, Mobility and Waste.

A distinction can be made in the way that factors are scored. Firstly, some factors are scored based on walking distance. By focusing on proximity, we assess how easily people can access essential services, which aligns with goals of improving urban mobility and inclusivity.

Hover and click on the index to show the names of factors and their corresponding weights!

Secondly, certain metrics are used to score an entire district. These reflect broader, systemic challenges that affect the district as a whole, rather than individual accessibility. This mix of methods helps us capture both local-level impacts and city-wide challenges.​

So how is the Circular City Index analyzed and calculated?

Lets dive into the visualizations for each district!

Use the drop-down menu to view individual area scores or the overall CCI score for each district! It is clear that all districts have a rather good CCI score. However, for in-depth comparison, hover over each district's chart to see detailed scores for each area or each factor.

This map shows the factor 'Charging Stations', part of the 'Mobility' area. This factor has been calculated using walking distance. The teal areas are households that have a charging point within 5 minutes walking distance. Grey areas are households per district that don't have this facility within this walking distance.

This map shows the factor 'Water Efficiency', part of the 'Energy, Climate and Resources' area. This has been calculated using the metric L/inhabitant/day. The darker districts have a higher water use than the brighter district. To see what intervals are used, you can check the legend in the right bottom corner.

Now try interacting with the map yourself!

Since the city of Barcelona as a whole is performing well on the CCI, the performance of all districts is compared relative to one another. This is done to see which districts perform best on each factor and which districts need more help to attain city goals.

Use this map to inspect different interactions between factors and to see how each district performs! Hover over each district to see how each factor is measured.

How Can the Municipality of Barcelona Improve its Circularity?

Do you want to continue the analysis?

Go to the full screen interactive map.

Or have a look at the research report.