Barcelona’s Clínic Hospital is set to move, reshaping the city’s western edge through a €1.7 billion redevelopment spanning 70 hectares across Barcelona, Esplugues, and L’Hospitalet. Approved by the Consorcio Porta Diagonal-Campus Clínic, the plan includes up to 1,125 new homes, most in L’Hospitalet, with half reserved as protected housing. Esplugues will be home to the new Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences.
Under the project breakdown, 63% of the new development will go to healthcare, education, and research; 23% to economic activity; 10% to housing; and 4% to local facilities. The basic hospital campus will cover nearly 400,000 square meters, with another 120,000 set aside for uses such as residences for researchers and medical staff. Housing will take up to 90,000 square meters, with about 800 units in L’Hospitalet and the rest in Barcelona.
The Generalitat of Catalonia has approved a direct subsidy of up to €17.5 million to support construction of the new Pharmacy faculty in Esplugues.
For L’Hospitalet, the Clínic’s arrival brings a new hospital and broader changes. The city will gain a second university hospital serving densely populated neighborhoods such as La Florida. Plans also include a new park near Collblanc road, an extension of the Finestrelles promenade toward Collserola, and an expanded Can Rigal park. Mayor David Quirós called the increase in protected housing “historic,” noting that its share has doubled from earlier plans. He said local residents should see direct benefits from hosting such a major facility.
Esplugues will host the new Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences of the Universitat de Barcelona, replacing facilities that date from the 1950s. The new site on Sant Mateu street will connect with the Clínic-UB Health Campus, the Faculty of Medicine, the Barcelona Science Park, and hospitals such as Sant Joan de Déu. The move will raise the faculty’s capacity by 30%, to up to 3,000 students. Funding will partly come from the Generalitat’s purchase of university sports land, with a budget of €152 million.
Information from official planning documents, the general council of the Porta Diagonal - Campus Clínic consortium approved the preliminary version of the urban development plan (PDU). The documents set out a timeline for public procedures through December, with preliminary approval expected in the first half of 2027 and final approval in early 2028.
Transport will also change significantly. The L3 metro line will extend beyond Zona Universitaria, adding two stations: one at the new Clínic and another in central Esplugues. The extension is designed to break the current barrier between Diagonal and Ronda de Dalt, reconnecting city zones and improving access for residents and students.
Officials from all three cities have called the project a rare chance. The Generalitat sees the Clínic’s move as a driver of innovation and urban cohesion, while the rector of the Universitat de Barcelona highlighted the strategic value of bringing pharmacy education into the metropolitan health cluster. The new campus is expected to open by 2035, though the project’s scale and complexity make that an ambitious timeline.
As with other large urban projects in the region, including the redevelopment of Tres Chimeneas, the Clínic plan will require existing electrical infrastructure to be moved and buried. Housing will be integrated into the hospital campus to keep the area active beyond working hours instead of leaving it as an institutional zone. The approach responds to concerns raised in other city projects, including the recent closure of the García Márquez Library during staff strikes, when the balance between public service and local benefit came into question.
The project aligns municipal and regional interests: L’Hospitalet gains affordable housing and better healthcare, Esplugues strengthens its role as a university center, while Barcelona reconnects neighborhoods long divided by major roads. The scale of public investment and focus on integrated urban life set a new standard for metropolitan planning in Catalonia.
