<
https://theconversation.com/europe-needs-affordable-low-carbon-homes-heres-how-barcelona-is-reimagining-its-housing-system-269136>
"Across Europe, housing is in crisis.
Limited social housing and a 93% rise in short-term rentals are driving prices
up while wages stagnate, leaving millions unable to afford secure homes. Beyond
the current geopolitical crisis, extreme temperatures continue to account for
rising energy bills. As buildings account for 36% of EU CO₂ emissions, Europe
needs to deliver more energy-efficient homes without deepening this social and
environmental crisis.
In Spain, where social and affordable housing remains below 3%, the challenge
is particularly acute. But across Catalonia in north-eastern Spain, an
alternative housing system is emerging: one that recognises housing as a human
right, a pillar of the welfare state and a path to addressing inequality and
climate change.
Spain’s housing system has long relied heavily on home ownership. Its low stock
of social housing leaves public authorities with limited power to intervene on
price rises. When Spain’s property bubble burst in 2008, it exposed a housing
system built on speculation rather than stability. More than 3.4 million homes
were left empty and hundreds of thousands of families were evicted.
The echoes of the financial crash still reverberate today: declining access to
homeownership has pushed more households into the rental market, increasing
pressure on rents. The same forces have seen speculative investors and
lucrative tourist rentals displacing long-term residents. By the 2010s, housing
costs rose nearly 70%. In 2024, more than 27,564 households were evicted across
Spain, with an estimated 700,000 people across Europe forced from their homes
involuntary each year.
Meanwhile, 80% of tenants in Madrid and Barcelona report serious issues with
the condition of their housing. This leaves a greater number more exposed to
hotter summers, colder winters and rising energy bills, with the poorest most
exposed to inadequate building conditions and rising energy costs. If the
low-carbon transition does not address these social issues or exacerbates
socio-economic inequalities, it will fail.
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In part, a just transition involves decarbonising buildings and the urban
environment while enhancing existing homes and infrastructure to strengthen
communities rather than displacing them. Affordable energy retrofitting
programmes can reduce CO₂ emissions, tackle energy poverty and address health
inequalities.
Catalonia’s “just” response to its housing crisis involves collaboration.
Public authorities, non-profit providers, businesses and cooperatives share
responsibility for building and retrofitting homes that are affordable,
low-carbon and socially impactful."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
