Castellana Tram

PROJECT: Citizens' Platform for the Recovery of the Paseo de la Castellana

The north-south corridor of La Castellana is an iconic public space in the city center, which, having been transformed into a thoroughfare, no longer fulfills its function as a space for strolling, relaxing, and meeting between the two sides of the city, instead becoming a dividing element. The Platform for the Recovery of Paseo de la Castellana proposes an intervention in this public space, centered on the addition of a tram line.

The main objective of the proposal is to honor the names of this urban thoroughfare (Paseo de La Castellana and Paseo de Recoletos and Salón del Prado) by improving the environmental, acoustic, and air quality of the space and recovering surface area for uses such as walking and relaxing, with an expansion of the areas designated for pedestrians and gardens at the expense of the area designated for private vehicles (moving and parked).

This central objective is achieved without compromising the overall urban mobility of the corridor, through the introduction of a powerful public transport system, the tram, while maintaining bus lines with routes tangential to the axis.
The revitalization is threefold:
• Physical: transforming what is currently a mere transit corridor, an obstacle and a dividing element in the city, into an axis for urban interaction and connection.
• Functional: reclaiming spaces for walking, relaxing, playing, and socializing.
• Environmental: drastically reducing CO2 and GHG emissions, nitrogen oxides, fossil fuel consumption, and noise pollution.