Promoting Pedestrianization for Human-centric City Centers. Case Study: The Restoration of Barcelona’s ‘Plaça de les Glòries’, Spain.

Pedestrianization implies a total displacement of vehicles. It promotes walking and cycling as active mobility means giving potentials to urban public spaces in terms of functional, social, environmental, and economical efficiency. On the other hand, city centers commonly feature high dense activities, mixed-use facilities, etc., they attract a wide range of users causing intense mobility not only for pedestrians, but also for logistics, services, emergencies, and in some cases considered the only choice. Thus, vehicular existence in urban centers remains a necessity responding to city de-mands. The research is motivated by how large-scaled projects within dense urban contexts deal with the challenge of planning for the efficiency of two opposing net-works while enhancing urban livability. The study aims to explore an integrated balanced approach for mobility priorities. It seeks to promote a set of quantitative guidelines for acquiring balanced human-centric approaches. An approach that prioritizes pedes-trianization, at the same time manages traffic flow efficiently.The study presents one of the most globally significant experiences for urban devel-opment transformation, the Glories Plaza in Barcelona, known as ‘Plaça de les Glòries’. The plaza that was historically dominated with heavy traffic highways, re-sulting in spatial fragmentation and environmental degradation, has been trans-formed to a multi-functional vibrant urban core, acting as a valuable model for city centers when planning for a balanced mobility, ecology, and social life.