Specialty: City Science | Humanizing Madrid Nuevo Norte

Specialty City Science

Specialty leaders Julia Landaburu, Susana Isabel

Project location Madrid, Spain

Team Gabriel Barba (Peru), Fernando González (Mexico), Isabel Monsalve (Ecuador), Brittany Siegert (United States), Alejandro Yañez (Mexico)

Duration Two weeks

About the Specialty

City science, a compelling frontier in urban development, serves as the application of science and research to confront the complex challenges embedded in modern cities. This innovative approach hinges on evidence-based methodologies, driving a dynamic process that can be dissected into three key phases: research diagnosis, analyzing science/research, and responding.

1. Research Diagnosis: The foundation of city science lies in the meticulous collection of urban data, constituting a comprehensive research diagnosis. This phase involves gathering evidence that paints a vivid picture of the city’s dynamics, from demographic trends to environmental indicators.

2. Analyzing Science/Research: The amassed data is then subjected to a meticulous analysis, transforming raw information into actionable knowledge. This critical step prompts the question, “So what?” The findings and conclusions derived from this analysis become the bedrock upon which informed decisions and strategies are built.

3. Responding: Armed with key findings, the city science approach moves into the responding phase. This involves the implementation of design and policy measures tailored to address specific urban challenges. The fundamental question guiding this phase is, “Why? What challenge are you trying to solve?”

City science, as a strategic approach, takes aim at the multifaceted challenges prevalent in modern urban landscapes. These challenges span resiliency and climate change, decarbonization, evolving mobility paradigms, social inequalities, an aging population, affordable housing, urban health, clean water accessibility, and green urban development. This intricate tapestry of issues necessitates innovative and evidence-driven solutions. By adopting the principles of city science, urban planners and policymakers can chart a course towards the creation of sustainable, resilient, and inclusive cities that effectively cater to the diverse needs of their residents.

Project

Our exploration of city science focused on Madrid Nuevo Norte, manifested as an “implementation lab.” Our final submission featured a visionary masterplan for the site and a detailed district plan, showcasing the practical application of the city science approach. Guided by a thorough methodology, we conducted a diagnostic phase analyzing territorial and real estate aspects, followed by envisioning sustainability scenarios. The subsequent phases involved crafting a detailed masterplan integrating layout specifics, feasibility considerations, and urban design elements. The narrative culminated in the implementation phase, where our vision translated into reality through territorial, social, and real estate strategies. This hands-on journey transformed Madrid Nuevo Norte into a living testament to the transformative power of city science.

Madrid Nuevo Norte

The route of Madrid follows a historical axis that starts in Atocha, to the south and reaches the Plaza de Castilla, to the north. It is its route full of historical buildings, first, and towers and offices, later. But as we move beyond the Puerta de Europa -these iconic twin-sloping skyscrapers- the urban fabric blurs. There is the station of Chamartín, the beginning of a large unused area in which a beach of tracks and several empty lots extend 5.6 kilometres in a northerly direction, until the link with the M-40. The neighbourhoods on either side are seen but not touched. An urban wound that Madrid Nuevo Norte intends to close, becoming one of the most important urban regeneration projects in Madrid.

Paseo de La Castellana