Jorge Sequera
Wednesday, 18 June 2024
Traficantes de sueño
The Madrid City Council recently announced the creation of a new office to develop the next General Urban Development Plan (PGOU), a fundamental instrument for structuring the city's urban future. This new plan will seek to respond to the demographic and economic changes of recent years and to plan for Madrid over the next 30 years. The Urban Advisory Council for this new Madrid Urban Plan (PGOUM) is composed of a series of architects and urban planners appointed by the current City Council, such as Sigfrido Herráez, dean of the Official College of Architects of Madrid (COAM) and responsible for housing policies as a councillor of the Madrid City Council between 1991 and 2005 under the mandate of José María Álvarez del Manzano and Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón; José María Ezquiaga, architect and drafter of the elitist Madrid Centre Strategic Project in 2011; Rafael de La-Hoz Castanys, director of the Rafael de La-Hoz studio (Teléfonica District or Repsol Campus); Carlos Lamela, executive president of Estudio Lamela, which renovated the Santiago Bernabeú and the Canalejas Complex (2012-2018); Luis Rodríguez-Avial Llardent, architect who participated in the drafting of the 1997 General Plan; Carlos Rubio Carvajal, who won the international competition to build one of the capital's four skyscrapers, the PwC tower; Carolina Roca Castillo, president of the Madrid Association of Real Estate Developers (Asprima) and general director of the Roca Real Estate Group; and Julio Touza Rodríguez, founder and director of Touza Arquitectos, who works with large Latin American fortunes, such as Gran Roque Capital, the real estate investment vehicle of Venezuelan Miguel Ángel Capriles, and other investment funds.
Given the current situation, marked by increasing territorial inequality, real estate speculation and climate challenges, an alternative city plan for Madrid, geared towards a socially just city, is now more necessary than ever.
Listen to the course here
This project has received funding from the HORIZON-MSCA-2023-SE-01-01 under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101183165.