Barcelona Metropolis

It’s not a secret that Barcelona has an increasingly ageing population. But what impact does the declining birth rate have on the planning of infrastructure like schools and parks? How does this reality affect the vulnerability of children?

By mid-2024, the population of Barcelona reached its highest level since 1991, with 1,702,814 residents registered. Of these, just over 11,000 were newborns – the lowest figure since 1900, excluding the year 1939. Another noteworthy statistic is that 78% of households in Barcelona had no children. The decline in the city’s child population is clearly illustrated by data from Barcelona City Council’s Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination: in 1981, children under 16 made up 21.8% of the population, whereas in 2024, this had dropped to just 12.2%. Another striking contrast emerged in the summer of 2023, when figures from the Official College of Veterinarians of Barcelona and the Institute of Statistics revealed that, for the first time in the city’s history, there were more registered dogs (172,971) than children aged between 0 and 12 years (165,482).

Child population vs. ageing population

The city’s census also reveals that, in 2024, Barcelona had more centenarians than ever before – a total of 1,007, marking a 10.4% increase from 2023. However, what stands out is the distribution of the child population across different areas. According to the Municipal Data Office, the lowest numbers are found in Ciutat Vella, parts of the Eixample and Gràcia, while the highest concentrations are primarily in the northern neighbourhoods (Ciutat Meridiana, Vallbona and Trinitat Vella) and the western districts of the city (Vallvidrera, Tibidabo, Les Planes and Sarrià). At the same time, some areas have a higher proportion of elderly residents, especially in Horta-Guinardó, Nou Barris, the lower part of Les Corts, and Sant Martí.

Should Barcelona plan its urban and territorial development to address the growing generational divide in the city? For Laia Pineda, director of the Institut Infància i Adolescència de Barcelona [Barcelona Institute for Childhood and Adolescence], designing a city based on the relative size of each population group would be a huge mistake. In her view, this approach would give undue power to adult and elderly groups, which represent the largest segments of the population. Instead, a balanced city is one that listens to and responds to the diverse needs of all its residents. To do otherwise, Pineda argues, “would mean ignoring the fact that society is plural and diverse – an interconnected, interdependent system – and that policy should be made for all citizens”.

However, when looking at the age-based segregation within the city’s population pyramid, it’s clear that public services must cater to the needs of each group. But the reality is that many services and facilities for children have been “historically underfunded”, according to Pineda. Good examples of this are the shortage of paediatricians and the long waiting lists at nursery schools, early childhood development and early intervention services [known as CDIAP in Catalan], mental health services, children’s playgroups and activity centres in the city.

As for other public spaces, such as libraries, museums and theatres, the director of the Institut Infància i Adolescència de Barcelona emphasises that these are not spaces specifically designed for children but are instead conceived “as public amenities for the whole city”, aimed at the entire population. Nevertheless, in keeping with the principles of an inclusive city, targeted efforts have been made to ensure they also cater to young audiences. In fact, failing to prioritise children and adolescents in the political agenda, as Pineda highlights, “is to miss the point that supporting their full development is not only about securing the present that every human being deserves, but also the best investment we can make to build a cohesive society for the future”. As Italian educational psychologist Francesco Tonucci always advocated, designing cities with children in mind is a way of creating cities that work for everyone: seeing children play in the streets is one of the best indicators of a healthy population. “We are wrong if we believe that a Child-Friendly City is just a city for children because it is a model designed to benefit all citizens”, concludes Pineda.

A city designed for everyone

In recent years, as a Child-Friendly City, Barcelona has focused on reclaiming and renovating spaces for children, such as parks (currently, 19 play areas are being renovated and upgraded under the public space improvement scheme Pla Endreça), libraries, activity centres, school playgrounds, cultural spaces, municipal family support hubs (27 across the city), as well as children’s festivals and events. Yet, some of these facilities are facing challenges due to the ongoing decline in birth rates.

One of the hardest-hit sectors is the education system, which, for the first time, will see a widespread decrease in student numbers in the upcoming school year. Since 2008, birth rates have dropped by 37%, and the number of migrant students is not offsetting this decline. According to the Bofill Foundation, this trend could have serious consequences: a rise in the number of semi-private schools at the expense of public ones, failure to meet student-teacher ratios, an increase in single-stream schools (which now account for 58% of schools in Catalonia) and more overcrowding in secondary schools. Moreover, schools with low demand may find themselves stuck in a downward spiral.

Against this backdrop, María Segurola, Head of Projects at the Bofill Foundation, points out that changes in the number and composition of students have been a constant throughout history. For instance, in the early 2000s, a demographic boom led to overcrowded classrooms. The problem, Segurola explains, “is not the number of students, but the lack of measures to adapt the system properly”. According to the Foundation, the Department’s failure to plan effectively has meant that the drop in birth rates is resulting in risks such as the weakening of under-utilised schools, the diminishing role of the public education network in favour of semi-private schools and an increase in school segregation. To address this, the Foundation advocates for decisive action to plan educational provision in a structural way, as well as making the most of resources freed up by declining student numbers. As Segurola puts it, this is “to strengthen key stages, such as early childhood education (0-3) and post-compulsory education, and to improve resources and support for the most vulnerable schools”. The Bofill Foundation predicts that 116 schools in Catalonia are at risk of closure due to the anticipated decline in student numbers for the next academic year.

Limited social protection policies

It is striking that while the child population continues to shrink, the same cannot be said for another of the city’s major scourges: poverty affecting children. This is highlighted by the 0-17 BCN Observatory, part of the Institut Infància i Adolescència: in 2021-2022, 32.3% of Barcelona’s population aged 0 to 17 was at risk of poverty and social exclusion. As the UNICEF Catalonia Committee points out, child vulnerability is structural – meaning that when socio-economic conditions and economic indicators worsen, it has a significant impact on this sector of the population. However, even when the situation improves and some economic recovery is seen, vulnerability doesn’t decrease, as might be expected; in fact, it continues to rise. According to Roger García, head of Children’s Policies at the NGO, “in Barcelona and Catalonia, having children is a situation that leads to impoverishment”.

Currently, vulnerability affects four in every ten children in Barcelona, which is higher than the historical figure for Catalonia (three in every ten). One of the particularities of the Catalan capital is that children from migrant families, who make up a significant proportion of the population, are also the ones most severely affected by poverty: they account for eight in every ten children in this situation. “The rate is five times higher than that of children from Catalan families, creating an ever-widening inequality”, says García.

According to the 0-17 BCN Observatory, the highest vulnerability rates are concentrated in neighbourhoods within the districts of Ciutat Vella, Sants-Montjuïc, Horta-Guinardó, Nou Barris, Sant Andreu and Sant Martí. This reality is driven by multiple factors, but García is clear that “housing, by itself, is growing to such an extent that it is pushing many families, and therefore many children, into poverty and social exclusion”.

The need to allocate so many resources to housing leaves less available for essential services for young children, such as access to culture and leisure. It also affects costs related to education, like school trips; services not covered by the public health system, such as dental care or eye exams; and food. At present, more than 40% of Barcelona’s population spends over 40% of their income on housing costs.