Citizen Science «Pas a pas» is a project led by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), with the support of the Barcelona City Council, aimed at exploring pedestrian mobility dynamics in traffic-calmed areas of Barcelona.
Barcelona has become a reference for revitalizing public spaces, shifting from car-centric infrastructure to pedestrian-oriented environments, widely recognized for its Superblocks and green axes. While significant efforts have been made to demonstrate their benefits and contradictions, there remains a lack of citizen-based research on how people use these urban spaces. This study addresses that gap by focusing on citizens’ experiences while walking through the city.
The project was developed between September 2024 and July 2025 as a pilot initiative applied in the Sant Antoni and Poblenou neighborhoods of Barcelona, where a Superblock has been established and further pedestrianization is underway. Citizen science workshops were organized in both neighborhoods to investigate the tangible and perceptual factors that shape walking behaviors in traffic-calmed zones.
Through public calls supported by two neighborhood associations -The Federació d’Entitats Calàbria 66 and the Observatori dels Barris de Poblenou – adult residents, shopkeepers, students, and frequent visitors were invited to participate.
During the workshops, participants were asked to walk a route with a predetermined starting and ending point while carrying GPS devices to record their journey. At the end of the walk, they completed a post-walk survey to capture their motivations for route selection and to evaluate the objective and subjective factors influencing their choices. Finally, a group discussion was held to reflect collectively on the pacification process in the neighborhood.
By taking part, participants became co-producers of knowledge, contributing empirical data on everyday navigation strategies in public space.
The project’s findings will highlight the importance of combining quantitative data with personal experiences to better understand pedestrian behavior in urban environments. Citizen science emerges as a valuable approach to bridging urban planning decisions with the everyday practices of neighborhood users.