Written by Dennis Martínez
In the face of climate change and urbanisation pressures, cities worldwide are rethinking their relationship with nature and wellbeing. However, this is no easy path, as they must tackle the complex challenge of redistributing limited public space to prioritise nature and healthy lifestyles. One urban planning instrument gaining traction is the green axis – a continuous corridor of green spaces and pedestrian-prioritised areas that meaningfully reconnect urban environments with nature. Bax revisited the concept through a collaboration with Sant Andreu de la Barca’s upcoming urban planning ambition – here are our insights.
The potential of green axes in modern urban planning
Concepts bringing nature and city dynamics closer together have existed for centuries, like Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities or Ildefons Cerdà’s Barcelona expansion plans. In recent years, the green axis concept has channeled this ethos in cities like Barcelona and Paris, in an effort to accelerate the transition towards climate-neutral, healthy urban areas. But what sets green axes apart from other greening initiatives?
A pragmatic approach to greening: A green axis does not seek to reshape cities; it adapts to the existing fabric of streets, squares, and roads, and reconfigures the available public space. This allows for more agile transformations compared to traditional urban parks and green space projects.
Linear, scalable, and modular: Green axes are composed of a set of infrastructure measures that can be repeatedly implemented. This linear design significantly enhances citizens’ access to green spaces and offers flexibility in scale, making it suitable for application across entire cities if desired, as well as for municipalities and districts of all sizes.
Combining mobility, green, and public health: Through their linear design, green axes reallocate street space to prioritise pedestrian and cyclist movement, while integrating high-quality green infrastructure. This approach promotes more active lifestyles and delivers broader health benefits to the surrounding population.
Providing multiple ecosystem services: Green axes elevate the concept of urban green by recognising high-quality green infrastructure as a provider of multiple ecosystem services, including the regeneration of urban biodiversity, rainwater filtration, pollution filtration, and heat reduction. Each type of vegetation is therefore selected with a carefully considered functional purpose, extending beyond mere urban aesthetics.
Regenerating local communities: Green axes complement and enhance the existing functions of streets. A green, pedestrian-focused corridor attracts more pedestrians (the ultimate consumers), which supports local commerce and promotes social activities.
Insights from Sant Andreu de la Barca’s green axis ambition
Sant Andreu de la Barca is a municipality within the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, situated in the Llobregat River valley between the Litoral and Collserola mountain ranges. Historically, this valley served as a vital natural corridor, linking coastal, mountainous, and inland ecosystems. Nowadays, industrial expansion and railway and highway connections have fragmented the municipality’s access to nature.
In response to these challenges, the municipality has developed a plan to reconnect its urban fabric with the surrounding natural capital — namely, the nearby mountain areas and the Llobregat River — through the implementation of a green axis running from the eastern to the western edge of the municipality. This green axis will enhance ecological connectivity for local vegetation and wildlife, reinforce the links between river and mountain ecosystems, and contribute to biodiversity regeneration.
Sant Andreu de la Barca understands that, although it’s a small municipality, it’s a dense and heavily paved one. The implementation of a green axis thus integrates quality green infrastructure into the urban grid to mitigate the effects of climate events, helping to reduce heat stress in summer and filter rainwater more effectively.
From a citizen perspective, the green axis will navigate through Sant Andreu de la Barca’s main streets, connecting socially relevant buildings like the town theatre, the sports centre, two schools, and the city hall. This transformation is expected to have a positive impact on the vibrancy and liveability of the town centre, encouraging walking, improving access to services, and creating a more pleasant, greener public realm.
The municipality is involving all the necessary stakeholders in the planning phase, mainly partnering up with the Barcelona Metropolitan Authority to support the technical planning of the green axis. Bax also supported the municipality in framing the green axis intervention as part of a city-wide strategy to boost health and biodiversity, aligning its impact with national-level targets. These collaborations have equipped the small municipality with the planning capacity needed to pursue an ambitious urban greening project.
Additionally, the municipality hopes to track the success of the green axis via a rigorous monitoring strategy to evaluate the success of the green axis in terms of climate adaptation, air quality, biodiversity, and public health. Positive results could unlock further funding and enable the replication of green axes in other parts of the municipality.
Project implementation is expected to begin in 2026.
Getting the most out of your green city plans
At Bax, we support cities in achieving their climate neutrality goals every step of the way. From securing funding and developing urban strategies to conducting impact assessments and translating action into policy, we help public and private actors navigate the complexities of building more liveable, healthy cities.
For additional information or requests, please get in touch.
Header photo: © Curro Palacios/barcelona.cat, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
