Previous state
This was an extensive zone located between the Plaça Catalunya and the farmhouse Can Rull, and consisted of small woods and fields which had been preserved over the years. Just after the end of Franco's regime, the site was the focus of public demonstrations seeking to preserve it as a green space and against any attempts at property speculation. The "Sector Catalunya" Partial Plan came into existence in 1977 and envisaged the building of 3,200 flats. In 1979 the residents' association of La Creu Alta, with the support of a hundred other public associations, staged a demonstration and a tree-planting session which was suppressed by the forces of public order. The democratic municipal council decided to embark on a policy involving the purchase of land for the future park at market prices. By 1984, 90% of the total current surface area had been purchased. In 1986, another tree-planting session was held, this time to celebrate the recovery of a new large-scale space for public use. Up until that time, the park area had been a deserted space with a stream, suburban allotments and a series of random pathways which were completely undefined.Aim of the intervention
At the end of the eighties, the decision was taken to develop the Macià thoroughfare, a new service centre located along the avenue of the same name. This would allow the start of a general process whereby the town's economy would be boosted and it would be provided with services.Since the mid-nineteenth century, Sabadell had been associated with textile production. The crisis in this sector, together with the danger of the town becoming suburbanised and an industrial and dormitory suburb of Barcelona, gave rise to the idea of the Macià thoroughfare.
An agreement between Sabadell Municipal Council and the Catalan Land Institute (INCASOL) allowed the avenue to be developed and land to be sold to private companies, thus funding the building of the park. As far as the zone of the park itself is concerned, it was a question of reclaiming a vast expanse of urban wasteland as a natural space, with all its existing landscape values (meadows and woods) and its topographical peculiarities (hills and hollows).
Description
The intervention involved the preservation of the topographical features of the land to which a plantation of Mediterranean woodland was added (pines, ilexes, etc.). A paved walk, known as the Camí de la Ciutat, laid out in a zig-zag pattern and well-equipped with street furniture, crosses the park lengthways, providing access to the sides and outside as far as the fields of Can Rull. The woodland area is integrated into the urban weave and, in front of the avenue of the Macià thoroughfare, we find a frontage of almost 6 Ha. with a large artificial lake (six million litres which are taken from a well and not the drinking water supply network), a linking bridge and the landscaped area. The lake is populated by fish and birds, and has a boat hire service. The water surface in the park is divided into three different levels resulting in three waterfalls. The architectural intervention is completed with an astronomical observatory, a refuse-conversion bank, the natural amphitheatre, a theme garden and a maze. The entrance on the Carrer Lluís Companys leads to the children's play area, and the front of the thoroughfare features bars and restaurants. In 1997, a dual-gauge railway line, built to scale, was installed. It is 3 km long.Assessment
We can categorically state that the park came about as the result of public mobilisation and has become a clear example of the strength which protests staged by residents can have. Today, the 45 Ha of park are the town's most important green "lung". Furthermore, the timely project of the Macià thoroughfare has led to the creation of an avenue measuring 1 km in length and 60 m wide running from the Plaça d'Espanya to the Plaça de Catalunya: the core of the service sector in the whole of the Vallès and a major focus attracting visitors and services from throughout the county.[Last update: 02/05/2018]
