Barrio de Ametzola

Ametzola Auzoa

Ametzola neighborhood

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The Ametzola neighborhood is an urban area located on land that belonged to the Abando parish until the year 1890, when it became part of the township of Bilbao. At that time what is now the Ametzola neighborhood was formed of the Plaza de la República (with the town hall and the Abando fronton); Zugastinovia, with workers’ housing; Autonomía and the Vista Alegre bullring

The occupation of the zone as an extension of the Bilbao Expansion area, on the one hand, and of the Ametzola neighborhood itself on the other, took place slowly during the first half of the XX century. During the Francoist period new streets were built that completed the western area of the neighborhood at the start of the 1970s.

The fundamental change in the urban configuration of Ametzola began in the 1990s, when the Bilbao Ría 2000 Society, formed in 1992, programmed one of its first interventions in this zone. This freed up a large area of land occupied by the National Railway Company (RENFE) goods station in order to carry out an urban regeneration project. Similarly, the construction of the Southern Railway Variant, built from 1995 onwards, also contributed to this process of regeneration. In brief, installations that had separated Ametzola from neighboring districts were eliminated and spaces were made available. Urban and architectural interventions were carried out in those areas which transformed the urban fabric of Ametzola in a period of ten years. There was an integration of architectural, environmental and urbanistic activities, generating a new habitable space of 110,000 m2, which includes: the Ametzola Lift in 2010, connecting this neighborhood with the Irala neighborhood; the Ametzola Towers, a residential project consisting of 900 apartments, of which 150 are social housing; Ametzola Station, where several railway lines meet up; Ametzola Park, built in several phases. The latter is a green area of 36,000 m2 with two big walkways, squares and a pond (989 m2), stands, a pergola, illumination using natural light in Ametzola Station (2000), a tree covered slope and pneumatic rubbish collection (placed underground). It forms a new green area with a natural layout around the new residential buildings. 

This final process of regeneration has transformed Ametzola from an industrial and service area into a residential neighborhood, provided with broad open spaces and better connections to the rest of the city. 

The Vista Alegre bullring is another building of interest in the district. It was built in 1962 on the site of an earlier bullring that was destroyed by a fire.


Francisco J. García de la Torre y Bernardo I. García de la Torre

Bibliography

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