Barcelona could save hundreds of lives and cut air pollution by a quarter if it fully implements its radical superblocks scheme to reduce traffic, a n

Barcelona's car-free 'superblocks' could save hundreds of lives

submited by

Style Pass

2021-06-12 22:30:04

Barcelona could save hundreds of lives and cut air pollution by a quarter if it fully implements its radical superblocks scheme to reduce traffic, a new report claims.

A study carried out by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health calculates that the city could prevent 667 premature deaths every year if it created all 503 superblocks envisaged in its initial plan – up from the current six schemes.

The superblocks are groups of streets where traffic is reduced to close to zero, with the space formerly occupied by cars given over to pedestrians and play areas.

The concept is the brainchild of BCNecologia, an agency led by Salvador Rueda. The six schemes introduced so far have been generally welcomed by residents of a city whose air quality regularly exceeds the World Health Organization’s legal limits for pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

Air pollution has been described as the ‘new tobacco’ by the head of the World Health Organization. Over 90% of the world’s population suffers toxic air and research is increasingly revealing the profound impacts on the health of people, especially children.