270 The Barcelona Region’s land mosaic
(15) Amajoropening of Barcelona and neighboring municipalities to a
magnificent Great Park in the impressive Llobregat River floodplain is
established.The Solid Plan, Most-promising Plan, and Minimal Plan all provide numerous
benefits to natural systems and people, and are considered likely to achieve the
stated objectives (Forman 2004a). Yet major differences exist (Table 10.1).
Overall, compared with the Solid Plan, the Most-promising Plan adds a range
of major benefits for the GBRegion, especially: a stronger emerald network; reten-
tion of more agriculture and nature in the Valles; stronger protection of natural
systems and nature in the Tordera River watershed; enhanced flood control;
greater protection of the Foix and the Ter reservoirs; and enhancement of the
Llobregat River. The Minimal Plan may attain the objectives stated at the outset
of the report, but relative to the Solid Plan, the primary losses are: eliminates two
of the ten emeralds; weakens several of the connections between emeralds; leaves
thesouthwestern portion of the GBRegion poorly served for natural systems;
essentially loses the Vic Valley (and slightly weakens the Penedes) as a scarce
valuable large agricultural landscape; loses the green nets that provide nature
in rapidly growing areas, and prevent coalescence of municipalities with loss
of identity; and reduces the magnificence and quality of the Great Park for
Barcelona and neighboring municipalities.
A64-page portion of the report maps and discusses planning solutions for
each of 16 Sections within the Greater Barcelona Region (Forman 2004a). Sections
were selected for convenience and clarity of presentation: Calaf Valley; Manresa
Valley; Cardona-Sallent Area; Serralada Transversal--Llucanes Area; Vic Valley;
Igualada-Miralles Area; Montserrat-Sant Llorenc-Montseny; Foix-Penedes; Garraf-
l’Ordal; Valles-Collserola; Granollers-Sant Celoni Valley; Lower Tordera Valley;
Maresma; Lower Llobregat Floodplain; Llobregat Delta; Barcelona. These do not
represent additional plans for each section, but rather portray more clearly the
details and combined solutions for the three regional plans.Flexibility and adaptability for regional stability
Flexibilityto ‘‘roll with thepunches”andadaptabilitytogradually change
over time remained as an underlying planning goal. Adaptability in this case
is, to a certain extent, a function of people and their institutions. However
providing flexibility on the land may increase the options for adapting to change.
Atageneral level,systems,asnetworks with components connected by flows,
are a useful way to provide flexibility. Many systems, especially those dominated
byliving organisms, provide adaptability. Nature’s system (the emerald network),