ABSTRACT
The city of Barcelona has undergone profound transformations over the last three decades. To some extent, these transformations are but the mere refl ection in the city of global changes, such as the shift to a tertiary economy, the labour market becoming more fl exible or the migratory movements from poor to rich countries. Also, these transformations are related to the national political and social circumstances, like the establishment and consolidation of a democratic political system, the incorporation to the European Union, the adoption of health and education welfare or the progressive secularisation of society. Finally, however, we cannot fully understand the transformations that Barcelona has gone through over the last thirty years without analysing the urban public policies, their focus, their management and their impact upon the socio-spatial confi guration of the city.
