superblock

English

Etymology

From super- +‎ block.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

superblock (plural superblocks)

1. (architecture, urban studies) A very large block of buildings.
   • 2008 March 21, Nicolai Ouroussoff, “What Will Be Left of Gehry’s Vision for Brooklyn?”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     All are blots on the urban environment, as blandly homogenous in their own way as the Modernist superblocks they were intended to improve on.

   • 2009 February 20, Nicolai Ouroussoff, “Boxy to Bold: A Concert Hall Busts Out”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     Conceived as part of a 1950s-era slum-clearance program, the immense superblock required the demolition of an entire neighborhood of dilapidated tenements and brownstones.

   • 2022 March 8, Sarah DeWeerdt, “Barcelona-style “superblocks” could make a surprising number of cities greener and less car-centric”, in Anthropocene Magazine‎^[3]:

     Superblocks are a relatively new urban planning concept that has been pioneered in Barcelona, Spain. The basic idea is to identify a 3 x 3 grid of 9 city blocks and restrict vehicle traffic to the streets on the perimeter. The interior streets then become available for walking, biking, and expanded green space.

   • 2022 July 29, Rory Carroll, Stephen Burgen, “Fare deal: Ireland joins Europe-wide efforts to coax people out of cars”, in The Guardian‎^[4], →ISSN:

     Barcelona’s flagship policy, which has attracted interest from around the world, is its superblocks, where groups of nine city blocks are transformed into people-friendly spaces, with benches, play areas and gardens. Cars may enter but cannot transit the superblock.

2. (computing) A segment of metadata describing the file system on a block device.

Translations

large block of buildings

• Catalan: superilla (ca) f

Further reading

• superblock on Wikipedia.Wikipedia