Green light for the master plan that projects up to 220,000 more apartments in the metropolitan area by 2050

BarcelonaThe most important urban planning tool for the Barcelona metropolitan area, designed to improve the territorial conditions of its 36 constituent municipalities, received renewed approval on Tuesday. This new framework will replace the Metropolitan General Plan, in effect since 1976 and based on an outdated model of growth through territorial expansion and occupation. Its objective is to address current challenges, particularly in housing, but also to balance the entire metropolis in terms of activity, mobility, land use, and development. This tool, the Metropolitan Urban Master Plan (PDUM), was approved by the Metropolitan Council, the highest governing body of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB). The process began in 2015 with the initial drafting; the first version was presented in 2019, and it received initial approval in 2023. In recent years, the plan has received more than 5,180 objections and reports from administrations and entities, such as the Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Barcelona (FAVB), which has required a second initial approval almost three years later. Provisional approval is expected before the next municipal elections, and final approval by 2028. "Now we have to see what changes have been made compared to the previous version. It's clear that housing is an important issue, but it will have to be put into practice. They need to explain the contents very well," explains Jordi Giró, president of Confavc, in ARA.

The guidelines now incorporated into the text, which will affect the 36 municipalities and 3.38 million inhabitants of the AMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Area), will create a unified urban planning framework of possibilities for the next 25 years. The PSC, ERC, Junts per Catalunya, En Comú Podem, Vivim Montcada i Reixac, Compromís, Acord per Torrelles, and Junts per Tiana voted in favor, while Vox voted against. The PP and the councilors from Hospitalet de Llobregat, David Quirós (PSC) and Jesús Husillos (PSC), abstained. The needs that the PDUM seeks to address, such as access to housing and mobility, also exist in municipalities just outside the AMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Area), such as Maresme, Vallès and Vallès, and Garraf. However, because they are not part of the metropolitan public administration and lack a similar body, they do not have these resources. This is a long-standing demand of the metropolitan region. What does the new plan consist of?

This is a strategic urban development master plan, meaning it focuses more on the how and the processes, rather than on closed and defined proposals. It doesn't guarantee specific measures, but rather authorizes what can and cannot be done. "It's not a catalog of projects, but a document that provides guidance for ensuring that growth is carried out properly," explained Damià Calvet, Vice President of the Urban Planning and Natural Spaces Department, at a press conference on Tuesday. Thus, the plan defines objectives and also the processes for achieving them, which "doesn't mean it's less executive, but rather more operational," added Xavier Mariño, Director of the Urban Planning and Natural Spaces Department at the AMB (Barcelona Metropolitan Area). The text incorporates proposals and also the way to develop them with a set of "rules of the game" between the final phase of the PDUM—which will begin in 2028—and the Metropolitan Urban Development Plan (POUMet), which is the metropolitan plan that will be activated to specify how the PDUM is applied in each area. In short, the approved master plan establishes a general framework, and the POUMet develops it with the detail corresponding to a municipal urban development plan (POUM). Precisely for all these reasons, Mariño also highlighted legal certainty as a final guiding principle, since the PDUM must comply with the hierarchy and respect the still-valid metropolitan general plan and the Barcelona Metropolitan Territorial Plan (PTMB) of the Generalitat, as well as fit within the legislative and urban planning framework.

How to have more living space in less space

One of the key projections is the forecast for housing construction in a highly densely populated area. In this regard, the PDUM (Metropolitan Development Plan) considers the possibility of building another 220,000 main apartments in the metropolitan area to accommodate population growth up to 2050, projected at 184,000 new inhabitants. This would bring the total population to 3.58 million. This master plan anticipates this increase by doubling planning capacity, but by reclassifying land rather than creating new developments. This means that instead of expanding, it will do the opposite: it will reduce the hectares of urban and developable land in the area—1,850 hectares less—which will become non-developable. So how will growth be possible? Through instruments such as metropolitan opportunity areas—existing areas in strategic locations with the potential to accommodate growth—and urban regeneration areas.

"The document does not incorporate extensive growth factors," Calvet stated, noting that in recent decades many municipalities have been occupying land because the 1976 Metropolitan General Plan stipulated it. Regarding this aspect, experts warn of several bottlenecks. Urban regeneration, that is, growing in intensity or density rather than in extent, is a more complex, slow, and costly task. In December, a report from the APCE-UPF Chair already warned that 73% of the PDUM's housing potential "rests on urban renewal and the existing city" and cautioned that instruments are needed to overcome property fragmentation and reduce costs, since transforming existing areas typically clashes with private interests, relocation costs, and litigation.

In fact, the Deputy Secretary General for Technical Affairs of the APCE, Carles Sala, is calling for swift action to reach the maximum number of homes proposed in the PDUM, which is more than 200,000. "And this is only possible by modifying densification and building criteria," he added.

Rebalancing the territory

The new PDUM (Urban Development Plan) also anticipates that virtually all municipalities in the metropolitan area will increase their proportion of housing if they specialize in business activity, or conversely, increase their building capacity for business activity if they specialize in residential areas. This planning challenges the idea of ​​a radial city, in which Barcelona is the hub of activity and the other cities are primarily commuter towns. In this regard, the master plan identifies 15 points or nodes where this transformation can take place, which can become new urban centers with both housing and business activity, increasing density and mixing uses. These areas are Porta Garraf, Delta-Gran Via, Morrot, Cruïlla Sant Boi, Cornisa Verde, Diagonal Ponent, Diagonal-Llobregat, Quatre Camins, Nexo Baix Llobregat, Corredor Mediterráneo, Cruïlla Vallès, Cruïlla Montcada, Besòs Central, and Besòs-Gran Via.

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The goal is to achieve mixed urban fabrics, a distribution of activities closer to where people live, and a reduction in motorized traffic.

Mobility and emissions

This focus on housing and mixed-use development has implications for mobility and amenities. The master plan proposes a 240-kilometer network of metropolitan avenues connecting several municipalities and concentrating surface public transport, as well as bicycle and pedestrian routes. This network should allow half of the current residential land and 58.2% of the land in industrial parks to be located within 500 meters of these new channels for public transport and active mobility. With all this, a reduction in emissions and energy infrastructure consumption is expected, as well as a 5% decrease in waste generation per capita.