#4: Barcelona, Spain
Engineer Ildefonso Cerdà designed the famous Eixample grid back in 1859, featuring chamfered block corners to bring light and air into every apartment. In recent years, Barcelona took that classic grid a step further by creating “superblocks”—three-by-three grids where non-local cars cannot cut through. Children now play soccer in former street intersections, and neighbors chat at outdoor café tables.
