In an age in which big cities have bypassed the creation of any formal coherence, the occupation of territory is subject to no criteria other than the decisions of individual investors. This leads to a loss of spatial quality but, above all, it introduces an irrationality and added cost to infrastructure in the mid-term. The results are occasionally very serious and always untenable. Large-scale design is essential to ensure the coherent development of the landscape and the creation of spaces that are more interesting and more just. Joan Busquets is an architect and urban planner. Founder of Barcelona's Laboratorio de Urbanismo, he has extensive experience of large-scale planning. As head of Barcelona's Urban Planning Department from 1983 to 1989 he was instrumental in planning for the 1992 Olympics. During that time he was also responsible for improvements to existing neighbourhoods and for the creation of urban sub-centres.