Valencia has begun a pilot program to study today how a four‑day work week would affect the daily lives of residents. Municipal officials say the aim is to design a month-long study that will feed into a broader assessment, looking at how shorter workweeks might influence leisure time, city mobility, economic activity, and overall wellbeing. The project stands as a deliberate step by local government to understand real-world implications before considering longer-term policy changes. The data gathered during this four‑week evaluation will be analyzed to draw informed conclusions about whether fewer working days can coexist with sustained productivity and healthier urban living, a topic that has attracted interest across Europe and beyond. This initiative is presented as a careful inquiry into whether a compressed work schedule could help create a more balanced city life, rather than a radical shift with uncertain outcomes, and it is framed as an evidence-driven effort rather than a mere experiment. The City Council emphasizes that the results will be published in July to ensure transparency and accountability, and the public will be able to review the findings in a clear, accessible format. The mayor, Joan Ribó, explains that the city seeks to become a more friendly and healthier place that genuinely cares for its residents. His message is straightforward: the objective is for people to work to live, not live to work, and to explore whether a four-day structure can maintain productivity while enriching daily life. The city’s leadership frames the undertaking as a pragmatic test, one that could eventually inform broader urban planning decisions if the evidence supports it, rather than a dogmatic policy shift with fixed outcomes. Citizens are encouraged to view this period as an actual learning opportunity, with observations that could shape how work, transit, and leisure intersect in Valencia. The proposal aligns with a growing global curiosity about shorter workweeks as cities experiment with smarter scheduling, looking to see whether reduced hours translate into more time for family, exercise, and cultural activities without sacrificing economic vitality. The initiative is being conducted with the intention of collecting rigorous data, validating the lived experiences of residents, and generating insights that could influence both local strategies and international conversations about work, life balance, and urban health.
Over the next four weeks, the pilot will leverage the four holiday Mondays from April 10 to May 7 to gather observations while minimizing disruption to essential services. Officials anticipate releasing preliminary results in July, providing a timely snapshot of residents’ experiences and behaviors during the period of reduced work days. The mayor highlights the city’s commitment to a work culture that prioritizes wellness and accessibility, stressing that the four-day model is being tested as a means to foster a healthier routine, rather than a blanket change for every sector. As data are collected, researchers will examine how residents allocate their time when faced with a shorter workweek: whether more hours are devoted to physical activity, social engagement, or rest, and whether transportation choices shift as a result. The hope is that individuals gain greater capacity to pursue hobbies, sports, and community events, which could, in turn, influence local business cycles and service demand. The city acknowledges that traffic patterns, energy use, and public space utilization may evolve in response to altered schedules, and it intends to measure these dynamics to deliver a robust set of findings. This effort is part of a broader trend in which cities test flexible work arrangements to understand potential improvements in quality of life, while remaining conscious of economic resilience and efficiency. Valencia’s campaign has echoed similar experiments in Lithuania, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, Iceland, Portugal, and Japan, reflecting a global interest in reimagining how work structures intersect with daily living. The civic campaign communicates the message, Work differently. Live better. Valencia puts this to the test to raise awareness among residents about the possibilities and trade-offs involved in a shorter work week. Carlos Galiana of the Innovation Council notes that the essential question is how the four-day journey affects daily life: whether people gain more time to rest, engage in sports and leisure, disconnect from screens, or adjust car usage in ways that influence congestion and emissions. The study will capture a broad spectrum of citizen experiences, from work satisfaction and commute stress to opportunities for social interaction and personal development, with the aim of presenting a balanced, evidence-based picture of the potential impact on health, mobility, and local economy. The experiment is designed to be inclusive, equitable, and transparent, inviting residents from diverse backgrounds to share their perspectives and participate in the evaluation process, ensuring that the final conclusions reflect a wide range of urban realities. The overarching goal is to illuminate how a shorter work week could harmonize professional responsibilities with personal wellbeing, while also considering practical implications for families, employers, and city services, and to contribute meaningfully to ongoing discussions about progressive, practical urban labor policies. This Valencia initiative stands as a careful, data-driven inquiry into the future of work and community life, inviting citizens to weigh benefits against potential challenges while the city charts a path toward healthier, more balanced living for all.