Barcelona is now widely recognised as one of the most successful cities in the world, internationally acclaimed for its innovative urban planning. It has survived the economic, environmental and social changes of the last decades through focusing upon the provision of knowledge-based and information services to place itself in the forefront of a new urban wave, in which city planning provides high-quality opportunities for people to live and work. In short, Barcelona has been transformed into a city that provides a highly impressive urban environment to all who visit it.

The foundation for Barcelona's transformation has been the city's Eixample district, a garden city expansion of 520 street blocks planned as long ago as 1859. Its high quality architecture, egalitarian design and ease of access have stood the test of time and it provides the model for modern city developments today.

The modern transformation of Barcelona began with preparations for the 1992 Olympics. Faced with serious problems of urban decay in both inner and peripheral districts, planners took a holistic approach and used the Games as a vehicle for city-wide reforms. Olympic facilities were spread over four neglected urban areas, with the Olympic Village, developed on abandoned industrial land close to the coast, the best known feature of this period. The construction of six artificial beaches either side of the Olympic Port has had the most impact and for the first time in its history, Barcelona has been able to turn and face the sea with pride.

At the same time, a radical transformation of inner city districts began, with a policy of improving the social capital and mopping-up the marginal inhabitants who had given the city a reputation for serious crime.

Barcelona is now undergoing a third wave of transformation. A high technology zone (22@), hyper-community (Diagonal Mar), the Universal Forum of Cultures 2004 and a new container port and logistics park are the key developments, all constructed on coastal brownfield and reclaimed land. Inner city and peripheral reforms are continuing and attention, a century on, is being refocused on the Eixample. Many of the residential blocks which have lost their interior open space to industrial development are seeing a gradual return of communal gardens.