Black Sea City Burgas Set to Become Barcelona of the Balkans

Bulgaria's Black Sea city Burgas is going to have a new urban development plan that will make it look similar to the Catalan city of Barcelona.

The plan is authored by a group of architects from the Geostrich civil organization, and includes extensive forestry and greenery projects.

It provides for moving the industrial zones to the north and west of the city, and turning the Southern Industrial Zone into a huge park similar to the sea garden in the other Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna.

Several more new parks, bicycle alleys, and green zones are also planned, as is a new pedestrian and administrative zone called Super Burgas.

The oil depositions of the nearby huge oil refinery Lukoil Neftohim are to covered with soil and plants, and also turned into a new park.

The project provides for the construction of a new golf course and tourist zones, as well as of three beltway roads to divert the heavy traffic from the central parts of the city. A city railway is going to connect the downtown to the Burgas Airport.

The urban development plan also envisages spots for photovoltaic energy parks, and extending the natural gas distribution network in Burgas.