Urban movements and defence of the common heritage in the Barcelona metropolitan region

Abstract

This paper studies the links between urban social movements and the collective heritage
in the Barcelona metropolitan region. Based on various inventories and statistics on mobilisations
and conflicts in this regard since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the paper shows the
permanent nature of urban conflicts, which have been one of the hallmarks of the city’s history. This
permanence has not posed any obstacle to the existence of changes in the orientation of the
majority of movements, which have changed from having a clearly offensive approach, focused on
demanding urban equipment and quality during the period of the political transition following the
Franco dictatorship, to greater concern for environmental issues and defending the territory during
the years of economic expansion (1996–2007). Finally, coinciding with the beginning of the economic
crisis, its focus seems to have shifted to the population’s living conditions and promoting alternative
means of production and circulation for goods and services. Over the course of these changes,
topics related to the collective heritage — natural, historical and social — and the associated rights
have been of capital importance for the motivation and evolution of urban movements, which in
many cases have been determining factors in its preservation and management.