A doctoral thesis analyses a century of urban planning in the Vega de Deusto, from Ricardo Bastida’s Urban Connections Plan to the Zorrotzaurre Project

The Doctor in Architecture, Arantxa Kintana has dedicated her doctoral thesis “De la Ribera de Deusto a Zorrotzaurre. Un siglo de planeamiento urbanístico en la Vega de Deusto” to an analysis of the different proposals for urban transformation in the Vega de Deusto over the last century (1923 – 2012), from the Plan for urban connections between Bilbao and the surrounding towns by Ricardo Bastida up to the Zorrotzaurre Urban Renewal Project.

The author of the thesis, directed by the Doctor in Architecture, Luis Ramón Sesé Madrazo, and which was awarded a Distinction, centred her work on this zone as she understood that it is a privileged area which sits at the centre of Bilbao, its hinterland and the right and left banks of the river and which already in 1924, when the parish was included in Bilbao was seen as a key area for the city’s expansion.

Arantxa Kintana, who works from her architecture and design studio (HIKA Arkitektura), considers the current Zorrotzaurre Project, the last great opportunity for expansion and urban renewal in metropolitan Bilbao. In her opinion, ‘to take on an absolutely abandoned infrastructure and create an attractive area, whilst reducing the risk of flooding, should be seen as an opportunity. I consider that the uniting of the past and the future where the plan assumes the conservation of some existing housing and 19 industrial buildings, is a success”.