Imatge
Imatge
The new B:SM Ciutadella del Coneixement car park, work on whose construction is to start towards the end of this year, will be the first originally conceived as a mobility services hub, not just at the service-offer level but also in architecture and image
The new model involves going beyond vehicle parking, redefining spaces and integrating new urban-mobility services and solutions, with users always at the centre
What's more, Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (B:SM) will be studying the integration of new innovative services and solutions in the B:SM Plaça Navas car park, which is to become an urban-mobility laboratory in the coming year
B:SM Car Parks, the most extensive network of its kind in the city, with 45 car parks distributed throughout every neighbourhood and district, are making progress in their transformation as mobility service centres. Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (B:SM) is promoting a gradual redefinition of its car parks to take a step forward towards a new concept of space that goes beyond vehicle parking.
The development of this new car park model will range from reformulations of interior structures and layout to the types of services offered. It will ultimately enable the design of a new space that will put users at the centre and integrate new urban-mobility solutions and added-value services that respond to new habits and social needs: from electric-charging points and safe spaces for leaving bicycles to lockers for collecting e-commerce parcels. This new approach means car parks will need to be turned into friendlier and, above all, more functional environments for individuals accessing them not just by car or motorbike but also on foot.
B:SM Car Parks will also continue to put digitalisation and new technologies at the service of city residents, improving user comfort and speeding up vehicle entrance and exit times. Processes such as payment through the SMOU app and 4G and 5G provision are already a reality. Work is now being carried out to extend other improvements to the entire network, such as automated access through number plate reading, already in operation for cars and motorbikes of car park subscribers, which will start being applied to all shorter-stay car park users.
According to the Councillor for Mobility, Laia Bonet, “the change that B:SM car parks are undergoing shows the city’s aim to contribute to the new mobility challenges, habits and needs of Barcelona's residents, making the services more efficient, organised and healthy. Car parks in the cities of the future will play a key role in aspects such as freeing up public space and organising surface-level traffic. In addition, there will be nearby spaces for local residents to charge their electric vehicles or go and collect their online purchases.
Ciutadella del Coneixement, the first B:SM car park to be built under these new criteria
The transformation of B:SM Car Parks is now in progress. Building work is to start before the end of the year on the new B:SM Ciutadella del Coneixement car park, located on a plot of land bounded by C/ Wellington, C/ Villena, Ramon Trias Fargas and Av Icària, and which will be operational by the second quarter of 2025.
Boasting an area of 7,000 m2 and a total budget of €10.7 million, it will be the first car park originally conceived as an authentic mobility hub, both in terms of the services it will offer and its architecture and image. At the construction level, this new conceptualisation involves a much more open definition of space, without columns, with flexible-use areas, and higher-ceilings that enable every type of vehicle to enter.
As for the range of services on offer, as can now be seen in B:SM Car Parks, the mobility service hubs will have, in addition to parking places, safe spaces for parking bicycles and personal mobility vehicles, a larger number of electric-charging points from the Endolla Barcelona network and spaces reserved for shared car and motorcycle service operators.
In addition, these new car parks will make a considerable contribution towards reducing cruising for parking and the pollutant emissions generated by the urban distribution of goods thanks to the installation of Click&Collect spaces, where citizens will be able to collect and return parcels 24 hours a day. They will also have micro-distribution points, that is, small storage spaces for operators to distribute goods to surrounding neighbourhoods using sustainable vehicles.
This inter-modality coexists with the need to make car parks friendlier and more functional city environments. Which is why this change in physical layout and services will be accompanied by the launch of a new image, still in development, with lighting as its central feature. The new design will strengthen the sense of breadth and comfort, making stays in car parks much more pleasant.
The new image of B:SM Car Parks will become progressively more visible from the coming year. The first to open will be the B:SM Litoral Port car park, in the summer of 2023; and the second, the B:SM Avinguda Gaudí, by the end of the coming year.
Plaça Navas, a trends laboratory for integrating mobility services
While the new B:SM Ciutadella del Coneixement car park is being built, B:SM will be thoroughly integrating urban-mobility services into its car parks through renovation work on the B:SM Plaça Navas car park in the Poble-sec neighbourhood. From 2023 on, the space will become a flagship in preparation for the introduction of new mobility services in the rest of the B:SM Car Parks Network.
Now at the development stage, the project is a further example of B:SM’s commitment to the continuous improvement of its activities and will enable new trends to be tested out in the area of mobility and the urban distribution of goods, including added-value services, before they are implemented.