ABSTRACT
By the mid-nineteenth century, Barcelona’s population was almost entirely within the Barri Gòtic making it one of the most densely populated cities in Europe. As a result, it suffered from unsanitary conditions, disease and a degree of social unrest. Anticipating controlled growth, Barcelona’s city council sponsored an 1859 competition and ultimately, though not immediately, selected Cerdá’s proposal. His gridiron plan of 550 uniform square blocks with chamfered corners – angled to ease the flow of traffic through the intersections – would extend Barcelona around the old district and across the alluvial plain between the hillsides to the north and the sea to the south. Overlaid on this grid were several diagonal avenues that would link the Gothic Quarter through the new town to smaller settlements on Barcelona’s outskirts (Hughes 1992: 272-275; Bosselman 1988: 30-34).
