Winding down my top ten New Year’s Eve and Post-NYE destinations, I’m formerly inviting you to my house in Bilbao, Spain. Bilbao was never designed to be a sustainable city and it still remains a far cry from it, but it is an interesting case study considering it’s noxious beginnings. In reality, Bilbao has come a long way in being green.
In the 19th century, Bilbao served as the center of industry, ship-building, and mining in Northern Spain. The River Nervion was laden with toxic waste and the surrounding slums were severely overcrowded and in decrepit condition. Nobody chose to live there unless they absolutely had to. So what happened? The Guggenheim. In 1997, Frank Gehry unveiled his stylish modern art museum on the banks of a significantly cleaner River Nervion and this single tourist attraction now garners over 80,000 tourists a year. It is widely considered the driving force behind what caused Bilbao to clean up its act and undergo a major urban renewal.
The eye-sore of a port that characterized Bilbao was moved farther out to the Bay of Biscay and the river banks were revitalized with green space, snazzy, modern bridges, and a pedestrian-friendly river promenade. The river itself, though I would voluntarily off myself before ever jumping in, is apparently less disgusting than it used to be now that is serviced by a sewage plant. The locals tell me it used to smell every day and now it only smells on Tuesdays and every other Sunday. I suppose this is success.
Further improvements include the installation of an easy-to-use light rail in 2002 that circulates to all of the major tourist attractions. The airport is just a fifteen minute bus ride out of town for less than two euros and the metro system is simple, well-designed, and heavily used. Neighborhood revitalization has also occurred in the form of art. Below are some murals now located in the former Bilbao slum of San Francisco.
Overall, I like to call Bilbao a sustainability spectacle. It’s excessive-of-pollution beginnings means it’s probably never going to be a Portland, Oregon, but the fact that it’s trying, regardless of its former deficiencies, is worth noting. Its urban design is sometimes awkward (see photo: giant flower puppies -wha?), but it’s helter-skelter city landscape is likely what keeps the tourists coming. As for myself, living in Bilbao makes me appreciate just how good we have it every place else.
