The growing number of activities in the neighbourhood itself is of increasing value in a society where time has become a scarce and limited good.


The characteristics of individuals and the circumstances of their lives condition the social uses of time. One can say there are as many ways of expressing time as there are persons.

Therefore, the use of time in the city is not homogeneous: there are clear differences depending on what the activity is, sex and age. Social uses of time in Barcelona can be distinguished too by social groups and depend to a great extent on the organisation of the urban landscape and the use made of it.

The city becomes a stage that has to be interpreted through the space/time vector, through the relationship between citizens’ time and the city, as a space for daily life.