In Barcelona there is an area that has become the technological and creative hotbed of the city in recent years, it is in Poblenou and it is called District 22 at or District 22@ of Barcelona.

In this article we will talk quietly about this area of ​​Barcelona and the possibilities it offers to all those who are thinking of a place to live in the city of Barcelona.

What is the 22@ district?

The origins of 22@ district – a bit of history

The current neighborhood of Poblenou corresponds to the old neighborhood of Taulat – a piece of farmland – and is located in front of the sea and in the lower part of the district of the current district of Sant Martí de Provençals.

For a long time it was the perfect place for the industrial growth of the city, steamboats arrived there, then electricity came and countless companies located there because the conditions were excellent for success, to give you an idea at the end in the 19th century it was the place with the highest industrial concentration in the country and was known as the Catalan Manchester.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the first urban nucleus was built there and it was consolidated as a residential, working-class and industrial neighbourhood, to the point that the demographic population grew a lot and the first ultra-known barracks in the history of Barcelona appeared: el Somorrostro, Pequín and Transcementiri, some of them endured until the middle of the 20th century.

But things were going to change radically from the 1970s, little by little a process of deindustrialization began to take shape and large lots were left empty, to the point where, for the year of the 1992 Barcelona Super Olympics, the transformation of the neighborhood was a reality developing a project on both sides of Poblenou.

The transformation to 22@ district – the present

For a few years the neighborhood has undergone one of the most interesting and impressive transformations in all of Europe, it has become a perfect place to live and to start a successful career.

This area has been designed to encourage the economic growth of the city, it has opted to promote businesses related to technology, but without losing sight of the people who come to live here.

If this district is an example to be followed by neighborhoods around the world, it is because, in a very intelligent way, it has opted to combine both worlds from a holistic and respectful point of view, not only with people, nor with companies, but also with the environment and the surroundings.

The most outstanding cultural and architectural places are:

1. Design Hub Barcelona

2. Mercat dels Encants, by B720

3. Media-TIC architecture and interior design

4. The Cuatrecasas Tower, by GCA Architects

5. Simon’s Space 100

6. The Beckett Room

7. Montoya. Coworking and creative center

8. WeWork Glories

9. Where to eat: at Sopa

10. Acid House Barcelona

11. Tierra del Fuego Restaurant

12. Badajoz Street

13. Media Pro

14. RBA

This district is the place where such interesting and at the same time controversial ideas were born, such as the super-illas, totally independent and pedestrian spaces, which offer the Barcelonan at street level a new way of relating to the environment.

A district with a lot of projection – the future of district 22 at

So that the future of 22@ would not only focus on technology companies and on being the engine of a new industry in Barcelona, ​​after 17 years since its approval, the Barcelona City Council decided to transform the area and take more into account the citizenship initiating a participatory process to rethink the urbanization strategy of the urban district of 22@ and Poblenou.

Its objective was to define a new strategy for the modification of the General Metropolitan Plan so that all the actors interested in promoting economic activity and promoting truly municipal programs and services that also represented the ordinary population, developing publicly owned spaces.

In addition to that, it is an excellent place if you want to invest money buying homes to rent or, why not, to live in, since, as I have already mentioned, it is an excellent place to choose as a residence.

The district is completely thought out so as not to miss anything.

It has an impressive cultural offer and all the services and a few more at your disposal.

One of the things that I most admire about this neighborhood and district is that people of the most diverse origins converge here.

We will find lifelong residents – with their characteristic neighborhood behavior – new residents of the neighborhood and people from all over the world. All of them form a social group that fits perfectly and feeds off the best of the other to create a new neighborhood character. The one that has good things from the three aforementioned sociocultural sectors.

Closing

Now that I have arrived here, I realize that with a single article dedicated to the 22@ district.

I will not have enough space to tell you about it so you’ll going to learn more in our futures posts.