The neighborhood of Pilar, one of the most popular neighborhoods of the municipality of Ciudad Real has been for several years, studied in order to solve the many problems it presents, because is a place of remarkable interest and opportunity for the city. In addition, it is included in the seventh line of action of the EDUSI “Ciudad Real 2022 ECO-Integrador”, a project up to 2022 that aims to increase the quality of life of the inhabitants of the city by modernizing it and making it more environmentally sustainable.

The neighborhood is located in the eastern part of the city, outside of Ronda and bordered by the streets Avenida de Europa to the east, Avenida de Valdepeñas and Ronda de la Mata to the west and Carretera de Carrión to the north. In addition, it is located between the neighborhoods of Torreón, Galiana, Los Ángeles and Nuevo Parque.

One of the most outstanding studies of the neighborhood, was carried out last year by the fourth-year students of the University of Ciudad Real, which are part of the Strategy of Integrated Sustainable Urban Development “Ciudad Real 2022 Eco-Integrador” elaborated a series of strategies and alternatives that contribute to the improvement of said neighborhood.

In order to carry out the project, the students made an exhaustive analysis in it, detecting the problems and strengths that the study area possesses. In Visión del Barrio del Pilar de Ciudad Real, video published by the former director of the school, José María Coronado, you can see part of the analysis that was carried out by the students.

In this study, the young engineers came to a series of conclusions that allowed them to reach the starting point to establish a wide variety of strategies and alternatives, starting from the most realistic to more unusual and extravagant. Among these conclusions, the following stand out:

– The good location within the city that the neighborhood has that is close to many equipment, like educational and leisure centers, the University of Ciudad Real, university residences, shopping centers or the AVE station of Ciudad Real among others.

– In the neighborhood we can find three very differentiated population groups. The first group consists of the first inhabitants of the neighborhood, characterized by being an aging population and using public space for their day-to-day organizing in neighborhood associations and getting to know each other. The second group corresponds to the youngest population, who live in houses of recent construction and of better quality, but this does not show a great interaction with the neighborhood, unlike the previous group. Finally, the last group is identified as one who lives in the neighborhood of Esperanza, being mostly of gypsy ethnicity and considered to be the most excluded from the neighborhood’s own life and the one that has the most conflicts and problems with the rest of the population.

 

– Regarding the economic characteristics, it is worth mentioning the existence of a single bar and a couple of local shops within the neighborhood, although in its periphery there are numerous shops oriented to a clientele outside the neighborhood, that is, that the neighborhood lacks of internal activity unlike the periphery. It is necessary to mention that this district was created for that most humble population that was grouped in small houses in the proximity of the Torreon and this characteristic throughout the years has continued being maintained, for example many of the new blocks that have been built they have been carried out under the social protection housing regime. Therefore, it can be said that a population of humble class has been preserved since its origins.

 

On the other hand, the main strategies they established can be grouped into three main groups:

-Urbanistic: the creation of a more emblematic place within the municipality of Ciudad Real was proposed, breaking down those urban barriers that isolated the neighborhood and promoting its integration with the rest of the city. It was also intended to carry out the rehabilitation of those public spaces degraded or in disuse, the strengthening of the main axes of the road to improve the internal and external connections of the neighborhood and the installation of new equipment to meet the needs of the inhabitants of the area. neighborhood and pedestrians.

-Social: by improving the security of the neighborhood by creating more open spaces and with better lighting, as well as an improvement of social integration among the different inhabitants of the neighborhood. They also aimed to facilitate the mobility of the inhabitants of the neighborhood, as well as the users of the AVE and university students, and to create and improve living spaces, that is, to recover the heritage value and the identity of the area.

-Economic: enhancing the commercial and economic activity of the neighborhood with the creation of new hotel and leisure facilities.

With this study the future engineers have responded to the demands that the neighbors have been demanding for decades and have demonstrated once again their training for the development of the profession for which they are being trained.

 

Cristina Vera Pavón