I was lucky enough to have the privilege to take part in a two week long, multidisciplinary design charrette that took place in Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain. Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital of the Basque Autonomous Region, located in Northern Spain. The city is known for its devotion to sustainable and environmental practices, winning the European Green Capital Award in 2012. The city is a pioneer of sustainable development thanks to the Centro de Estudios Ambientales (CEA) and the Municipality. CEA is an organization that oversees the sustainable development of Vitoria-Gasteiz and the surrounding bio-region, the Alava Plains. Along with physical improvements to the city’s landscape, CEA seeks to provide urban and sustainability education for all socio-economic backgrounds. A distinct aspect of the city is its Green Belt, which is a series of green corridors that surround the city. The Green Belt acts as an ecological sanctuary for both wildlife and people. Meandering through the lush landscape are 79 kilometers of trails that encourage biking, walking, and running, among other activities. Since 1993 when the project was first initiated, CEA along with the collaboration of the city’s administration have continued to develop initiatives to further the city’s model of environmentalism. The Green Belt is currently comprised of six parks with an aggregate area of 727 hectares. CEA’s current initiatives include expanding agriculture as another form of ecological and landscape diversity, flood prevention, and habitat preservation. The project site proposed for development is located between the villages of Yurre and Abetxuko. Its location between both rural and urban settings makes it optimal for Green Belt expansion. The site also features a promontory that could be developed into an overlook of the surrounding areas. Additionally, the areas surrounding Abetxuko are prone to flooding, especially after the Urrunaga Dam releases. During these events, water can inundate the land for multiple days with depths up to hip height. The area is dominated by the Foronda Kalea (N-622) highway which bisects the space, limiting accessibility and fracturing the ecosystem. A few social paths have been developed in the site, but remains largely unavailable for community engagement. A large portion of the land is currently leased to farmers to grow cereals, and offers little to the city’s food diversity. Flowing perpendicular to the highway, the Zadorra River acts as a natural border between agriculture and forest land within the site. The challenges that the project site currently face are: flooding due to poor river rerouting, unproductive land use, and disconnection between the adjacent parks and the city. With the use of various tools and resources, the team was able to design solutions for the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz. The team visited the site for development on two occasions. Notable plant species were recorded that existed within the two sides of the highway, as well as the site’s physical condition and land characteristics. To measure distances within our site, Google Earth was used. The initial base maps were developed using QGIS and the Euskadi geographical database. Other information obtained from the database was the Basque Region river system data. A huge thank you to my colleagues and teammates Kimberly Herman, Margaret Collins, and Alicia Bateman.
