LAUSR

Metropolitan planning is a fairly new practice that refers, amongst other topics, to open spaces. The objective of this research is to determine the changing role and treatment given to open spaces in successive metropolitan plans through an evolutionary analysis of Barcelona. The paper begins by providing the conceptual foundations of open space planning in metropolitan contexts and by briefly contextualising the study-area. The methodology is based on a guided analysis of 26 supra-municipal plans. In addition, other research methods are also used to obtain the results, consisting of the systematic overview of the analysed plans. The discussion examines the trajectory of the Barcelona case study with regard to international developments, showing that there is an overall consistency between them. The text concludes by recommending improvements for guaranteeing proper metropolitan open space planning, such as the need to go beyond zoning procedures and to take into account civil society and local political circumstances.