Xavier Matilla is an Architect, Urbanist advisor and Professor based in Barcelona.
His academic and professional career is characterized by his interest and work in urban models interscalars, and how to reconcile global and metropolitan scales with the human scale, to make the city a true place of collective life, based on proximity and naturalization, that is thriving but also fairer, healthier and kinder.
Professor at the Department of Urbanism, Territory and Landscape at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), at the Master Metropoli at Metropoli Institute of Barcelona (IMB) and guest lecturer in several universities.
As an urbanist his work has been recognised with different national and regional planning awards in Spain. He is Co-founder of Territoris XLM, an office based in Barcelona, dedicated to urban planning and public space design.
Chief Architect of the city of Barcelona (2019 – 2023). During this period, he led and oversaw the Barcelona Superblock program, internationally recognised as an urban strategy to transform city streets into greener, healthier and with stronger social and economic relations spaces. He also implemented Barcelona’s School Streets program, which has improved the environmental quality and safety of more than 200 school environments, as well as public space transformations on Meridiana Avenue, Parc de Glňries and Via Laietana, among others.