Perhaps in contradiction with the previous analysis of the urban renewal of Barcelona and its correlation with postmodern phenomena such as the shopping mall, Disneyworld, or Las Vegas’ theme hotels, this chapter explores whether Barcelona can represent an exemplary model for contemporary cities, and even for the city of the future. My main question is: Does this urban model contain any transformative contents worth retrieving? If so, can this model be applied to other cities? To what extent was this transformation an irreproduc-ible case determined by specific historical circumstances; and to what extent is it transposable and exemplary? In short, what are the model components (if there are any) of the Barcelona model?

The renewal of Barcelona soon became internationally praised. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, in 1990 the city was awarded the Prince of Wales Prize in Urban Design of Harvard's Department of Architecture and, in 1998, the city hall received the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). As sociologist Patrick Le Galès asserts, Barcelona unquestionably became a model for European cities: “The example of Barcelona has been used innumerable times by Europe's entire stock of urban elites and consultants. The joint activity of urban restructuring and organizing of the 1992 Olympic Games has led to a view of the city as a model of success to be copied and envied” (210).

Also, Barcelona plays an exemplary role in the collective proposal Towards an Urban Renaissance, in which the architectural team Urban Task Force discusses various guidelines for the regeneration of British cities. In the introduction to the book, after a foreword written by mayor Pasqual Maragall, Richard Rogers, chairman of the group, states that “[i]n the quality of our urban design and strategic planning, we are probably 20 years behind places like Amsterdam and Barcelona” (7). Or, to mention one last example, Charles Landry's The Art of City-Making also praises Barcelona's renewal and presents it as an exemplary model (361-8).

It seems evident that the values of the Barcelona model-urban compactness, good readability, mixture of uses, and the promotion of public spaces – can effortlessly be embraced by other European cities, which share similar urban structures and face similar challenges regarding their new functions as global cities.