CREAF

As a major city, Barcelona has repercussions on the environment and the city’s urban structure. An understanding of the structure of Barcelona and how it has changed over time is very useful from the point of view of both our knowledge and the management of the city. The Ecological Map of Barcelona (MEB), commissioned by Barcelona City Council, is a tool that provides useful information for the management of the city. It provides a basis for characterizing the various ecological zones which make up the urban system, permitting an analysis of the city’s structure. The map basically distinguishes between natural, semi-natural and built-up areas, which may be further subdivided into various categories.

 

Three editions of the map exist, the first two being available on the website of the Barcelona City Council. It is a highly detailed cartographic resource, particularly in the case of the third edition, thanks to the basic photointerpretation material consisting of 1:5000 (resolution 0.5 m) natural colour ortophotos in digital format taken by the Cartographic Institute of Catalonia (flying period 2004). The working scale is 1:1800, and the minimum digitization surface is 500 m². All linear elements (parterres, roadside vegetation, etc.) measuring more than 10 m wide and 50 m long are digitized, except for principal urban roads, which are digitized if they measure 10 m wide from pavement to pavement and are more than 25 m long.