The transformation towards sustainable mobility has become a strategic action of local governments, and Barcelona is no exception. The city has established itself internationally as a model of sustainable urbanism, faithful to a long urban tradition –which elevates public space as a fundamental substrate of the social fabric– and to the 2030 United Nations agenda. Fixing these principles in the Urban Mobility Plan and the Neighborhood Plan, the City Council has proposed and implemented urban reforms, often in a participatory way, aimed at redesigning public space towards a model of decarbonized and fair mobility.

Barcelona currently has on average one of the most equitable distribution of urban space, but with room for improvement (e.g., Trinitat Vella). Beyond the fundamental pillar of Superblocks (PMU 2013-18), the City Council puts on the horizon 2024 the pacification of 32 kilometers of streets. Not only for sustainable mobility and a more equitable redistribution of space: but also for the development of new social spaces; revitalization of local commerce, entrepreneurship; and new activities in the urban fabric. However, what data support each performance? Which streets need to be pacified? Which areas have abnormal pedestrian flows?

In this context, LIKE-BCN addresses the analysis of public space to detect shortcomings by exploiting GIS information on walkable space and real data on pedestrian dynamics of TC Group, participant of the project, to: (a) construct detailed origin-destination matrices for pedestrian mobility and (b) estimate sidewalk level pedestrian flows to (c) be able to measure the efficiency of the sidewalk network considering pedestrian demand and (d) quantify the socio-economic interaction potential at the local level.

Thus, LIKE-BCN is presented as a tool for accurate measurement and based on data to guide processes of urban transformation, towards the achievement of the challenges of Barcelona posed in the PMU 2019-24 and beyond.