Evaluation of the Barcelona Superblocks 'Green Corridor' project on the quality of public space from a health determinants perspective.

Urban design has a direct impact on health and health inequalities. The Barcelona City Council implemented the Green Corridor project in 2022 in several streets of the Eixample district. The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of this project on the quality of public space from a health perspective approach. A quasi-experimental study was performed. The intervention group consisted of a sample of street sections of the intervened streets, and the comparison group consisted of a sample of street sections of a nearby street. The quality of public space was assessed in both groups before (2022) and after (2024) the intervention was implemented using an instrument designed ad hoc, which assessed eight different dimensions and several subdimensions. A difference-in-differences analysis was performed to compare pre-post differences between the intervention and comparison streets. In the intervention streets, significant improvements were observed in all the dimensions assessed. Greatest differences between the intervention and comparison groups were observed in the natural areas dimension (4.94 points difference), followed by the maintenance and cleanliness dimension (2.55 points), architectonic characteristics (2.28 points), safety (1.61 points), and environmental characteristics (1.00 points). Urban design transformations such as the Green Corridor project can improve living conditions in neighbourhoods by increasing urban green spaces and facilities, reducing motorized traffic, improving walkability, enhancing air and noise quality, and promoting social interaction, all of which can have a beneficial impact on residents' physical and mental health.