La actividad física que se realiza en los espacios públicos de las ciudades: el caso del waterfront de Barcelona

The way in which sports and physical activities are done has changed considerably in recent years, and this transformation has led to public space within cities being considered a major sports facility. Such practices within urban envi-ronments are being studied from the health perspective (promotion of a more active lifestyle among citizens) and from the social perspective (abil-ity to generate social capital). There is also a need to consider the poten-tial conflict generated between sports activities and other traditional activi-ties in public spaces. In order to per-form an in-depth examination of the activities in public spaces, this re-search focuses on the study of sports and physical activities done on Barcelona’s waterfront. A greater knowledge of these activities will provide the data and information re-quired to foster their potential and resolve any conflicts that may arise from them.An observational methodology was applied to a defined area in or-der to identify and record sports ac-tivities. In addition, the researchers interacted with the people doing sports and physical activities to gath-er more data about them and what they did.The results show that the most popular activities are those for getting around the city (running, cy-cling and skateboarding) and that such activities are done individually, mostly by young men and adults. The majority are city dwellers who access the waterfront on foot and do regular or intense activities for either recreational or health reasons.