Xavier Mauri

Making land available for affordable housing requires more than identifying suitable sites. In the Barcelona metropolitan context, the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB) and the Generalitat de Catalunya play complementary roles in aligning urban planning, land management, infrastructure, regulation and investment to turn available land into housing development opportunities. The dialogue will examine the main barriers that delay or prevent land activation and how both administrations can strengthen coordination to create clearer, faster and more predictable pathways for affordable housing delivery.

Public land can play a strategic role in expanding affordable housing, but turning land assets into housing outcomes requires more than land availability. It depends on planning tools, legal frameworks, institutional capacity, and cooperation between public authorities, the construction sector, and social actors. The session will open a reflection on how land policies can support affordable housing delivery while ensuring construction feasibility, urban quality, social value, labour considerations, and long-term public interest, identifying the conditions needed to move from public land ownership to actual housing outcomes.