THE URBAN RENEWAL PLAN FOR GARELLANO
With regard to Garellano, this project is being promoted by Bilbao City Hall and BILBAO RĂa 2000, responsible for the urban regeneration of the city. The project will involve the transfer of the municipal services of Public Security and Civil Protection, culminating in the creation of a new area of the city surrounded by green spaces, housing and new commercial areas.
Until now, the process of general improvement for the Basurto district has materialised in works like the underground relocation of the FEVE railway tracks, over which a new boulevard is being built. These works will intensify in the coming years with the demolition of the Sabino Arana viaduct, the underground relocation of a portion of the A-8 motorway, the new Basque Public University (UPV-EHU) technological campus, the new San Mames stadium and the urban renewal of the Garellano area.
The architecture firm, “Rogers, Stirk, Harbour + Partners”, headed by Richard ROGERS, have already presented a Master Plan for Garellano. This document incorporates the general outline of the zoning and urban planning of this tract. Upon approval by Bilbao City Council, the next step in the bureaucratic process will commence with the drawing up of a Specially Designated Plan. While steps are being taken toward implementing the Specially Designated Plan, a parallel project will be drafted for the demolition plan of the buildings presently occupied by the municipal police, the fire department and the Basurtu-Zorrotza Civic Centre.
However, no demolition will take place until the services currently housed in these buildings have been transferred to the new buildings in Miribilla, for the police and fire departments, and in Zankoeta for the new Civic Centre, all under the auspices of BILBAO Ría 2000. The Master Plan for Garellano stipulates that on the eastern side of the area, opposite Luis Briñas Street, the buildings will be of the same height as those presently standing on that street. In the central part of the new area, buildings will not surpass nine storeys in height, with the tallest buildings to be constructed on the western side.
As the San Mames area is lacking in a neighbourhood park, the creation of a large green space is planned to make up for this deficiency. Triangular shaped, the planned park will be situated in and around the present blocks of flats and the new residential buildings, serving as a nexus between the existing buildings and the newly built area, truly becoming the heart of this renewed quarter of the city.