Land Exhaustion Makes Old Plans Obsolete
The Madrid city government has initiated a new Municipal Strategic Plan (PEM) to replace the 1997 General Urban Development Plan (PGOUM), which has been in use for nearly three decades. The old plan can no longer address new urban development challenges, such as the severe shortage of affordable housing. Data shows that only about 2% of Madrid’s land is still developable, and it is mainly concentrated in new developments in the southeast, making it extremely difficult to increase the housing supply.
“Urban Intensification” as the Core Strategy
The new PEM draft explicitly proposes “urban intensification” (i.e., increasing building density) as its core tool. This strategy aims to “increase the supply of housing, especially protected and affordable housing, while correcting urban imbalances” by making more effective use of limited land resources. Sigfrido Herráez, the dean of the Official College of Architects of Madrid (COAM), pointed out that when it is difficult to create new land, using existing land differently is one of the key ways to solve the housing problem.
“Building Upwards”: A Consensus on Increasing Building Height
The plan not only suggests increasing building heights in established neighborhoods like Tetuán, Moratalaz, Usera, and Villaverde but also plans to adopt the same measures in new development projects. Real estate industry analysts state that Madrid expects an annual increase of over 50,000 households, and traditional new housing construction alone cannot meet this demand. To accommodate a future urban population that could reach 10 million, in addition to expanding outwards, the city must “build upwards” by increasing the number of floors.
Density Increases in Multiple Areas and Future Prospects
According to the plan, the population density in areas like Usera, San Blas-Canillejas, and Villaverde will be increased to meet the standard of 220 to 350 inhabitants per hectare recommended in the 1997 plan. At the same time, for large-scale southeastern developments such as Valdecarros and Los Ahijones, as well as projects like Campamento and Madrid Nuevo Sur, land use will be optimized to build more compact, public transport-supported communities, providing a higher proportion of social housing than current standards require.
