Planning's Response to diversity in the City: the case of Barcelona

                 

 

 

 

Jordi Plana,

Director for Social Planning, Research and Development

City council of Barcelona

 

Rotterdam, 29 of November

 

 

Spain is a West European country that has a small foreign population compared to others. But presently there is a high increase in immigrant people arrival. Since some years ago immigration has had an outstanding increment and it has become clearly visible in some towns as in Barcelona.

 

It is a new multicultural and multiethnic event. Immigrant people are heterogeneous and have a diversity of origin and also a financial condition that is changing the social structure of the city of Barcelona.

 

Since few years ago the demographical weight of foreign population has increased in Barcelona. In March 1996 the rate of foreign population was only 1,9 %, around 29.000 people over the whole city population. In 1999 there was a strong increase and it reached 2,7%. In 2000 and the first months of 2001 numbers doubled, going from 53.000 in March 2.000 (3.9%) to 91.550 in June, meaning 6,1% of the overall population.

 

Presently immigration groups are very diverse, the biggest being those coming from North Africa (mostly from Morocco), sub-Sahara Africa and Asia (Pakistan); but also from Latin America (Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru,...). Ecuatorians are the main community (14.000 members presently) followed by Moroccan people.

 

We are always speaking of migrant workers and the most important for Barcelona is their quick increase. In less than a year the increase has been of 23.000 individuals (1,5%) including only those migrants registered in the census. Obviously, there are more in the town. We can estimate that around 20.000 foreign people are unregistered.

 

Another important factor is that the distribution of immigrant people in the town, is unequal. There are important settlements in the old town - 23% live in Ciutat Vella, the old neighborhood in the city.

 

The impact of cultural diversity is more visible in areas with a greater settlement. This means a change in the population structure, social dynamics and features. This can be seen in public spaces, in the use of services, in new specialist shops being established and in new community spaces, that is in the neighbourhoods' daily life.

 

The visibility of immigration and the cultural and ethnic diversity has meant some social alarm for some groups and there is also a risk of stereotypes and prejudices coming up that could lead to discrimination and exclusion.

 

Anyway in the last poll on the town condition, Barcelona population appears open and tolerant to immigrant people. There are isolated samples of repulse and also some solidarity trends towards immigrant people and also town associations that fight for foreigners' rights.

 

A fact we should have in mind is the presence of a quite a lot of people with no residence permit. The new Immigration Act has left a lot of people in the streets with no chances to get a job and with clear social needs. Also asylum petitions have been highly rejected.

 

Given this picture we are meeting a high demand on services, especially in health, education and social services. Most demands in last months are related to getting papers (information and procedures) and accommodation.

 

Barcelona city council social services care has highly increased lately. In 1996 foreign immigrants were 6,7% of social work area cases and in 2000 they reached a 14%.

 

The city council has an important role, because local authorities and towns get the immigration impact and it is in cities where integration processes of new residents can be dealt with more effectively.

 

Barcelona City Council met the challenge through designing and implementing a "City Council plan for Interculturality", understanding that immigration from other countries and cultures means a challenge and also an opportunity for XXI century Barcelona.

 

The City Council Plan for Interculturality was approved in 1997 and showed a political will to face with a positive mood the increase of migration. Also to have a global strategy to meet the challenge of immigration from an intercultural approach, having in mind a comprehensive perspective and a sharing strategy for city council departments.

 

The principle of interculturality sustained by Barcelona is settled in five basic ideas:

 

·        Acknowledgement and appreciation of cultural diversity

·        Equality of rights and equality of opportunities

·        Establishment of intercultural services

·        Citizens involvement to lead changes

·        Co-ordination, partnership and co-operation among agencies and associations.

 

Barcelona bets to strive to guarantee people rights and duties and also basic principles.

·        The right to political participation through voting and associating

·        The right to a proper home

·        The right to a job and to papers

·        The right to health, education and social services.

 

·        To promote a full normalisation of immigrant people in city life

·        To guarantee the normal access to services network without excluding the host community

·        To fight against stereotypes and prejudices to prevent immigration becoming the new poverty

·        To defend the role of the host community

 

If we agree to these principles and we come back to Barcelona scenery we meet:

 

·        Immigrant people are concentrated in the areas being in the centre of the city. Barcelona rate of immigration is 6% but in Ciutat Vella is 21%, reaching over 50% in some places of this district.

 

·        Immigrants' concentration has meant an obvious social change in this district, a new use of public space, new cultural patterns in Barcelona and the establishment of new shops. These events sometimes are a source of conflicts with the host community.

 

·        Places with a greatest concentration of immigrants in this district are those in a poorer condition, but areas that have been rehabilitated surround them. Ciutat Vella is being renewed since 10 years ago and has also the highest rate of social conflicts. These conflicts are not always related to immigration.

 

·        These areas have the poorest housing in town, so in spite of urban renewal and a new middle class in the area, immigrants live overcrowded and have social and financial needs and cultural misunderstandings.

 

·        In suburbs, immigrants also get the poorest housing. There is very little rented accommodation in Barcelona and in many cases real estate agencies don't accept immigrant people.

 

·        City areas where immigrants concentrate are also tourist areas. In city we find together around 2.000.000 tourists per year, immigrants living in poor housing, social trouble, offending and prostitution.

 

·        All this is aggravated by so many immigrants with no papers, without residence and work permit, probably around 20.000 people with no possibility of social insertion. Spanish Immigration Act restricts rights and we are meeting immigrant people living in the street, mostly coming from sub-Sahara countries.

 

Given this picture, sprouts of racism and xenophobia become easy. Barcelona must work along several lines at the same time:

 

·        To enhance social care

·        Security control

·        To encourage social cohesion

·        To give accommodation to people with papers. And also to find a solution to people with no papers, having in mind that first of all political solutions are needed.

 

Finding accommodation is no means easy for so many people with no papers and no legal possibilities, with such a small rented housing market. People who have no working permission must come back to their country of origin, but they remain in Spain because the government don't deport them and Consulates do not acknowledge them.

 

Barcelona has a twice challenge:

 

·        How to integrate new citizens -with work permit- while guaranteeing social rights?

·        How to meet needs of people with no papers and without possibility of integration?

 

We are sure these problems are common to other countries. This is a new event in Spain and we are trying to work in different ways.

 

Concerning this workshop I should say that for us is essential to prevent ghettos and concentrations and to achieve an even distribution of immigrants in the entire city.

 

Spanish Constitution states that everybody has right to a suitable home. The autonomous Government (Catalonia) has responsibility for housing, urban planning and land planning strategy. But local authorities meet

 

·        Lack of a social housing policy for disadvantaged people

·        Lack of rented housing and of cheap housing

·        Discrimination in housing market access

·        Abuse of immigrant people: illegal overcrowding and houses in very bad condition for people with no papers.

 

Urban renewal in town centre started in order to improve urban decay and deprived people life. The area has greatly improved and urban renewal has been adapted to area social changes. Improvement of host community came first and presently is immigrant people turn.

 

An example is Rambla del Raval, a new street in the very centre of the old deprived town. Time ago there was offending and deprivation and now is a urban space with cultural diversity and with new shops run by immigrant people.

 

That's why we have to work to achieve immigrants' social integration and awareness of the host community. It is by no means easy but processes of mediation and sensitisation are made with immigrants' associations' co-operation.

 

It is essential to work along immigrant people. We encourage immigrants' associations involvement in the entire town in urban planning. Most important is the Municipal Immigration Council where local policy strategies are discussed with immigrants' associations. There is also the Municipal Social Welfare Council with a group dealing with housing and another one dealing with refugees and foreigners.

 

There are also two important projects:

 

·        The Access to housing service that helps immigrant people to get a home. It is an attempt to support the access to private and statutory rented accommodation, through financial help and endorsements, housing repairs, mediation and no discrimination strategies aimed to awareness and co-operation of real estate agencies.

 

·        The  Atention of foreign immigrants and refugees service that meets immigrant peoples needs concerning accommodation, papers, job, social care, legal advice and information. It is a very effective comprehensive service managed through a public and a private joint project involving local authority and several social agencies.

 

This service has had an increase of 80% in demand in the last two years. Analysis of demands has allowed us to establish some basic principles for services.

 

·        To insure a full access to services, using mainstream town services.

·        To intervene through promotion of good community relations and to prevent trouble before having to solve conflicts.

·        To inform new residents on existing services, those aimed to welcome people and also those aimed to social insertion.

·        A better co-ordination among different services: education, health, social services, jobs, housing and between local authority and voluntary agencies.

 

Schemes to improve welcome and insertion from a cultural diversity perspective, through mediation and information on resources in more languages have started.

 

We have promoted census registration of immigrants, informing on procedures and giving a chart of basic services.

 

All these examples are attempts to achieve integration of immigrants with a due respect to the cultural diversity of the new citizens. These are real achievements, but we know we must learn a lot and to start new initiatives in order to build up a culturally diverse community.