The city of Barcelona, along with its metropolitan area, will become a research laboratory as the main venue for the World Congress of Architecture of the International Union of Architects (UIA), scheduled to take place from June 28th to July 2nd, 2026. Its objective is not only for the Congress to be of maximum relevance and interest to the global community of architects but also for real-impact knowledge and practices to emerge in the everyday lives of people and the future of the planet.
Los Angeles officials have voted on a motion to implement the first Park Block, a pilot project that creates a car-free grid of city streets to open up public space for pedestrians and cyclists, as reported by NBC Los Angeles. The plan takes inspiration from Barcelona’s Superblock program, which creates groups of nine blocks in the district of Eixample and restricts the traffic to the outside streets, freeing up the rest of the streets for pedestrian and local transit only. Implemented in 2016, the plan has led to reduced levels of air pollution, urban noise, and traffic fatalities. A similar program is now planned for Los Angeles, United States.