Barcelona is at the centre of a new housing analysis that says Catalonia faces a shortfall of 750,000 homes. The digital twin, developed by Barcelona-born Ramon Gras and his company Aretian, also identifies 50,000 vacant plots that could help address the problem over the next two decades.
The project is supported by Fundació Torres and Barcelona Global. Aretian says the model gives a detailed view of urban planning and economic development, using data to assess where homes could be built and what kind of growth different areas can support.
According to the analysis, the Barcelona metropolitan region alone has a deficit of nearly 500,000 homes. Across Catalonia, the figure rises to three-quarters of a million. The model says each of the 50,000 plots it has identified includes 16 variables, such as possible housing types, recommended density and price estimates.
The study also looks at population density across Catalonia’s 940 municipalities. Barcelona, which has just over 16,000 residents per square kilometre, could in theory support 18,000 to 19,000 residents per square kilometre. That would allow for 126,000 new homes in the city, although available plots in Barcelona itself would only cover 38,000 to 40,000 of them. The rest would need to go to other places with room to grow, including Sabadell, Terrassa, Tordera, Sitges, Vilanova and Sant Cugat. By contrast, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat has neighbourhoods reaching 50,000 residents per square kilometre, while its optimal density should be around 9,000.
Some of the plots are ready for construction, while others would need urban planning work first. Aretian also says some poor-quality urban structures should be demolished to make way for deeper regeneration. Gras said the firm wants to prioritise 30,000 available plots in the metropolitan region with an economic development strategy, with demolitions and regeneration to follow later. He also warned that an "ultralocalist view from technicians can have negative medium-term repercussions".
The digital twin is not limited to housing. Aretian says it is also analysing 443 industrial estates in the metropolitan region, where about 30% are performing well, 50% show only marginal growth, and 20% risk being outsourced to countries including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Morocco, Latin America or China within 10 to 15 years. The company is also working on new layers for urban resilience and climate adaptation. Community and Sport readers following Barcelona’s growth story may also want to keep an eye on how these planning debates shape the city’s future.
Originally published by Ara Cat. Read the original report.
