Urban Development, Housing Access, and Public Policy Debates
Less bureaucratic hurdles for land release and construction, stronger legal protections, and more social rental housing are among the proposals voiced by university experts and business leaders at the Mediterranean Forum on Economic and Social Challenges held in Valencia on Wednesday and Thursday, June 26 and 27. This initiative is organized by Prensa Ibérica in collaboration with the Fundacion la Caixa and brings together researchers and industry professionals to discuss housing and urban planning challenges in southern Europe.
During the roundtable, moderated by the Information Director, theEconomics Professor at Pompeu Fabra University noted that the real issue setting Spain apart from other OECD members lies in the share of low-income families spending more than 40 percent of their income on rent. This, he argues, signals the direction public policy should take to improve affordability. [Source: Mediterranean Forum discussions]
He also stressed that the housing access problem is highly localized, concentrated mainly along the Mediterranean coast and in Madrid, rather than being uniform across the country. [Source: forum remarks]
According to him, the public investment in housing is lacking. He pointed out that social housing currently represents 1.9 percent of the housing stock, versus a 9 percent OECD average. He rejected claims that large landlords are able to control prices and opposed actions aimed at capping rents charged by major holders. [Source: policy commentary]
On the other hand, he called for higher public allocations to address accessibility and urged for a durable, sustained policy that remains in effect over time. He cited Vienna, which has maintained the same housing policy for 115 years and now boasts one of Europe’s largest public housing stock. In Spain, he highlighted the Basque Country where public financing keeps housing affordable and publicly funded units are kept in the rental market by government budgets. [Source: comparative housing policy]
Urbanism and Real Estate Challenges
At another point, Alicante University’s Paloma Taltavull presented key findings from the think tank’s report prepared for the Mediterranean Forum. The document underscores that the current housing deficit is partly due to years of underdevelopment in the construction sector. [Source: expert briefing]
The TM Group Inmobiliario’s Urbanism Director, Cristóbal Ruiz, emphasized the shortage of land. He warned that planning reforms take years and that it is almost impossible to revise a general plan or approve a new one without significant difficulty. He argued that legal certainty is lacking and called for a reform of land-use law to streamline approvals that were halted before the European elections. [Source: industry interview]
The discussion also explored new residential formats such as senior living, designed for aging populations yet remaining active. Sergio Vidal, CEO of Goya Real Estate, described a project developed with CSIC to monitor residents in a discreet way and anticipate health issues before they arise. The promoter also pressed for incentives to create sustainable buildings, including greater building rights for green projects, a policy already used by Benidorm to renew its hotel stock. He stressed the need for municipal initiatives to promote interior renovations that increase energy efficiency in areas facing water and resource challenges. [Source: project overview]
In another segment, the Urbanism Director of TM Group Inmobiliario defended the importance of residential tourism as a growth engine for the Mediterranean arc. He noted shifts in purchaser profiles, with the average age of second-home buyers dropping from 65 to 55 and usage spreading throughout the year, effectively importing wealth from buyers’ home countries. [Source: market analysis]
Conclusions
The Alicante University professor shared the five action paths proposed by the think tank. These include accelerating urban management through digitalization, strengthening property rights to prevent conflicts over land boundaries, boosting energy efficiency of the housing stock to reach zero emissions by 2050, and promoting social rental housing in the near term through agreements with owners. [Source: expert recommendations]
The discussion underscores the need for a stable, long-term policy framework that can deliver affordable homes while enabling sustainable urban growth across Spain and the broader Mediterranean region. [Source: forum synthesis]