In Barcelona, the Maritime Museum is hosting The Construction of the Metropolis, an exhibition running until 6 September 2026. It looks at how the city and its wider area have changed over the past 150 years through the urban plans that shaped them.
The show is part of the Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture programme and marks the 50th anniversary of the Metropolitan General Plan (PGM). It is curated by Antonio Font, Carles Llop, Miquel Corominas and Joaquim Sabaté, with work led by the Urbanism Research Group (GRU) at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC).
The exhibition asks a simple question for the public, how was the city we live in built, and who shaped it? It links that history to current issues in Barcelona and Catalonia, including housing access, mobility, the protection of natural spaces, the relationship between the city and its port, and the need for shared services and infrastructure.
It brings together historical maps, original plans, archive and current photographs, audiovisual material, films and large-format graphics. The plans on display range from the Cerdà Plan of 1859 to the Metropolitan Urbanistic Master Plan (PDUM), alongside the Jaussely Plan, Rubió i Tudurí's Regional Planning, the Macià Plan promoted by GATCPAC and Le Corbusier, the Comarcal Plan of 1953, the Provincial Plan of 1959, the Metropolitan General Plan of 1976 and the Metropolitan Territorial Plan of 2010.
The exhibition also shows how different periods imagined the link between Barcelona and its territory, from the growth of the Eixample and port-linked industrialisation to a more polycentric and ecologically structured metropolis. It gives particular attention to the city-port relationship, which has developed together since the 19th century and continues to shape Barcelona's urban and economic life.
Other themes include industrial decentralisation, the impact of the Olympic Games, the growth of metropolitan networks, road and rail infrastructure, and new pressures from climate change and territorial inequalities. The exhibition also features specific cartography prepared by the ETSAV Urbanism Chair at the Vallès School of Architecture, UPC. For more Catalonia-wide reporting on public policy and city life, see news.
