Barcelona Metropolis

Revealing what lies beneath the visible surface of cities – those elements that often go unnoticed and threaten liveability and social cohesion – could help shape an urban political agenda that balances the physical space of the city (urbs) with the community that inhabits it (civitas). It is crucial to move towards a governance that encompasses the peripheries, often neglected due to administrative boundaries, and to pursue urban planning that goes beyond the mere profits of private enterprises.

The 57th Annale of the Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation¹ is dedicated to the city. In this piece, I would like to share the reflections and the journey that led to its realisation. The Annals are the primary publication of the Feltrinelli Foundation, which aims to identify a key theme in the public debate each year. It is an edited book, with the selected editor appointed almost three years before the release date.

After considering several ideas, I proposed the title it “The invisible city” to explore the different dimensions that, beneath the surface of the city’s daily functioning, are changing it. This was quite an explicit reference to the famous book by Italo Calvino and the publication in 2023 coincided with the centenary of the great writer. The term “invisible” refers not only to what we do not see because it is difficult to perceive, but also to what is deliberately unseen or concealed because addressing it would require difficult and radical choices.

Cities are changing rapidly and profoundly, and perhaps, after the unquestionable success they have experienced over the past 50 years, beginning with overcoming the urban crisis of the 1970s related to deindustrialisation, they are again facing an uncertain future. Many of the phenomena transforming them are invisible. To understand these changes, it is necessary to delve deeply and examine the co-evolution of urban dimensions that are typically analysed separately, often without considering their mutual influences and impacts on space and society. I then aimed to identify the most relevant issues for this approach by selecting the various contributions that make up the Annale. Within the realm of the invisible, two major issues stand out: climate change and health.

Cities are responsible for producing 70 percent of climate-altering emissions, which significantly contribute to climate change. In 2023, this resulted in the hottest summer on record, extreme precipitation, floods and prolonged droughts. Beyond these obvious emergencies, climate change often remains invisible, continuously undermining the health of cities and life on the planet. The effects are highly unequal across different population groups, and we see that the measures cities are taking for mitigation or adaptation are excessively timid.

Health is another major concern. Cities exhibit the highest concentration of most diseases, due to pollution and lifestyle factors, yet they also provide the best access to healthcare services. Income and educational attainment closely correlate with health, as evidenced by numerous studies. Residents who move from more affluent urban areas to poorer, marginalised areas experience a decrease in life expectancy. The recent pandemic served as a critical test that underscored the detrimental impact of the silent, gradual shift from preventive care to treatment, and from community-based healthcare to hospitals. This shift exposed the inadequacies of a healthcare system ill-prepared for the rapid spread of COVID-19.

A second area concerns another dimension that is not very visible: digitisation, which permeates all activities from production to consumption and entertainment. Digitalisation has triggered profound transformations in the economy of cities, unleashing an unprecedented volume of data. This wealth of information has in turn enabled the development of algorithms that have driven the emergence of the platform economy. These new business models have the capacity to reshape private services from within and exert influence on public policy. The transformations brought about by digitalisation are characterised by significant ambiguity: while they open up new opportunities, they also lead to the displacement of others, such as Airbnb’s impact on the rental market or the effect of online commerce on local stores. Many regard this inconspicuous game changer as more profound than the industrial revolution, yet its full impact remains to be fully understood.

A third aspect of invisibility concerns populations. Medical advancements have brought about changes in life expectancy, resulting in a rise in the number of elderly individuals over 85 who, previously cared for by their families, now live in isolation at home, becoming unseen by a city and a service system that must undergo profound changes to accommodate them. Conversely, at the other end of the spectrum, young people, especially children from migrant families, are rendered invisible due to their often-denied citizenship rights. This stems from shortsighted policies aimed at hindering the inclusion of a generation that could otherwise inject dynamism into both the city and society.

However, the issue of exclusion also extends to broader dimensions in the processes of polarisation reshaping relationships between social groups within the city. This transformation differs significantly from the past, marked by the erosion of the middle class and the emergence of an almost invisible population comprising riders, caregivers, domestic helpers, cleaners, maintenance and logistics workers. This contrasts with a small circle of high-income populations linked to finance and global networks.

Significant changes in infrastructure

A fourth dimension concerns the transformation of space. The city has expanded across the territory, becoming a vast urban region. However, the real city is in fact invisible to politics. Governance bodies still adhere to 19th-century administrative boundaries and are incapable of dealing with new issues as they arise on different and evolving scales.

Significant energies can therefore be harnessed to support the growth of medium-sized cities that are well connected to the central hub and to re-inhabit the metropolitan suburbs in a different way. Currently, only a few large companies perceive this as an opportunity individually, but it has the potential to evolve into a territorial strategy.

Developing new policies for the elderly population involves addressing the issue of older individuals becoming trapped in their homes. This can be achieved through initiatives aimed at providing suitable housing, barrier-free buildings and neighbourhoods that offer essential services within walking distance.

Engaging young people should begin by acknowledging their aspirations and rights as key players in urban life. This includes creating spaces where they can participate in designing urban space.

We must also address the social group comprising essential service workers who played crucial roles during the pandemic, such as riders, caregivers, logistics and healthcare workers and infrastructure personnel. Many of these workers face challenges accessing affordable housing, resulting in lengthy commutes or reliance on a service infrastructure ill-suited to their needs.

Innovative forms of governance

There is a clear connection here to the need for innovative forms of governance for the real city, which encompasses large urban regions often disregarded by administrative boundaries. Crucial issues such as air quality, housing and mobility policies must be addressed effectively at this level.

The issue of excessive housing costs in city centres could be alleviated on a broader scale if regional transportation were more comfortable and efficient. Just beyond the areas of greatest housing stress, prices drop significantly, but inadequate transport services prevent people from capitalising on this price difference, forcing them to endure long commutes that drain both time and financial resources.

We need an urban planning strategy that transcends mere extraction of benefits from private ventures. Instead, it should identify and address the fundamental issues and major questions that cities must confront, starting with the increasingly critical issue of “affordable” housing.