This volume, the fifth in the collection Metropolitan Spaces, is published with the intention of marking a turning point as it broadens its sights and moves away from the concept of catalogue. Its objective, beyond incorporating a historical reflection of the vital role that the AMB has played in the design, the construction of public space, and the transformation and structuring of the metropolitan territory, is to blaze new paths for the future.

In order to do so, the volume offers three types of concepts: data, texts and projects. The data explains the context and offers the reader an objective idea of the territory. Then, the texts and their authors help to explain the complexity of the territory, its past and its future potential. Visiting public space, the way of understanding it and acting in it contributed by guest practices, is complemented by re-visiting the work carried out in the last 30 years, contributed by the team of the AMB. Finally, the projects included confirm the diversity and the quality of the works developed by the institution. The content is divided into six chapters: park space, river space, coastal space, covered space, urban space and mobility space. These are, in short, spaces that characterise the metropolitan area of Barcelona, and which, in the course of these 30 years, have acquired an entity of their own.