Creator: Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM).
Location: Madrid (España).
Beyond Madrid.
Beyond Madrid Rio: connecting Acacias-Comillas neighbourhoods
The need for the socio-environmental connection of neighbourhoods
The Madrid-Rio project has been one of the most significant social and environmental actions of the city of Madrid in decades. The psychological and social gap between the two banks of the river is very significant and the answers are necessarily to seek a new socio-environmental connection between the neighbourhoods, which is the main objective of this proposal.
Health as a project strategy
The urban environment influences the health and well-being of the people who live there. On the one hand, the environmental conditions resulting from atmospheric pollution and the scarcity of green areas increase the possibility of respiratory diseases; on the other hand, the contemporary urban lifestyle, sedentary and individualistic, favours the appearance of cardiovascular and mental illnesses (Land Use Consultants & Centre for Research into Environment and Health, 2007). Thus, various international organisations, including the WHO and the London Healthy Urban Development Unit (HUDU), are working on a new concept of health, conceived as a complete state of well-being (WHO, 2013), from the physical to the psychological, from the individual to the collective.
Public spaces and green spaces as a basis for urban regeneration in neighbourhood health
Public spaces in the traditional city were the essence of the idea of urbanity; today they must continue to play a significant role as an element of relationships between people and activities. The project proposes 4 complementary actions to address this objective:
- Reconnect with nature, by transforming the streets along the Manzanares River and spreading awareness of nature and biodiversity in the city.
- To recover the sense of belonging, by a plan for the renovation and ornamentation of the buildings, and the generation of cultural activities of intergenerational and intercultural integration, complemented by the creation of superblocks free of internal vehicular traffic.
- Prioritise the places and people who need it most, thanks to the renovation of housing in areas with energy inefficiency, articulation of social services that help people and implementation of a plan to clean up the streets of the Comillas neighbourhood.
- Finally, promote a long-term vision through the design and strategic location of a neighbourhood meeting centre, stop gentrification, and establish a green connection with the water structure of the river and the Manzanares basin.
