More than a Museum

The development of the city

1300
Diego López V of Haro, Lord of Biscay, founds Bilbao

1511
The consulate of Bilbao was granted to the city by the Spanish crown

1602
Bilbao becomes the capital of biscay, title previously held by Bermeo

1857
The Spanish board of trade sponsors the creation of Banco de Bilbao

1876
Ensanche plan by Severino Achúcarro, Pablo Alzola, and Ernesto Hoffmeyer

1886
The University of Deusto is founded. It is the first university in the basque country

1890
The Stock Exchange is founded. The first trading operation will happen a year later

1902
Altos Hornos de Vizcaya is formed after merging three iron and steel businesses

1904
Federico Ugalde wins the competition for the extension of the ensanche

1948
The first commercial flight takes off from the airport located in Sondika

1975
The global industrial crisis starts directly affecting Bilbao

1983
Bilbao suffers the worst flooding in its history

EFFECTS OF THE INDUSTRIAL CRISIS ON THE CITY

1. Decay of an industrial system
2. High unemployment (about 30%, reaching 35% in certain areas)
3. Degradation of the environment and the general city framework
4. Emigration and stagnation of population
5. Social exclusion

FOUR MAIN CONCEPTUAL AXES FOR THE NEW METROPOLITAN BILBAO

1. External accessibility and internal mobility for the metropolis
2. Environmental and urban regeneration
3. Investment in human resources and technological transformation
4. Cultural centrality

The critical situation of Bilbao during the 1980s required a determined and comprehensive approach to the issues that the metropolitan area was facing. The urban proposal for Bilbao is above all an infrastructure project, with the recovery of the river banks and freeing them from the industrial uses as the main element. In 1985, the port started to plan its strategy for growth within the framework of urban regeneration of the metropolitan area. Work on the Norman Foster-designed subway started in 1988 and, in 1995, it became the first project of the new Bilbao. It still is the most appreciated project by the citizens of Bilbao. The Guggenheim Museum started construction in 1993 and initially faced strong opposition, predominantly due to the public investment in culture instead of industry and unemployment, and the investment in foreign culture instead of local culture. The total cost of the museum, 132.22 million euros, was recovered by the public institutions who paid for it in four years. And that doesn’t take into account the profit from the amount of articles and news about Bilbao published internationally since the opening of the museum or the improvement in the perception of the city by its residents. Fourteen years after the opening of the museum, the city and other towns of the metropolitan area continue this incredible transformation.

Abandoibarra is the most emblematic of all the projects carried out by BILBAO Ría 2000 in its regeneration of the city of Bilbao. This area at the heart of the city covers 348,500 square meters, of which 115,714 square meters are areas of greenery. Due to its former industrial uses, the general public was denied access to it for many years. When the La Ribera promenade was opened over the Evaristo Churruca quays, the people of Bilbao and visitors to the city were able to walk around this area to discover it for the first time.

Bilbao in Numbers

From top to bottom: number of visitors, trading fairs, aerial passengers, cruise ships and cruise passengers, from 1994 until 2008.

Sources

• bilbao.net
• bilbaointernational.com
  
• bilbaoria2000.org
• “Bilbao – la transformación” (Arketypo, 2006)
• “Bilbao – La cultura como proyecto de ciudad”, Projet Urbain 23, September 2001 (Direction Générale de l’Urbanisme de l’Habitat et de la Construction, 2001)
• “Bilbao’s strategic evolution. From the industrial to the post-industrial city” presentation by Ibon Areso, Deputy Mayor of the City of Bilbao.