The Barcelona City Council is promoting the 'HOWS Barcelona. Housing World Summit', an international congress on urban and affordable housing to be held from November 3 to 5 at Fira de Barcelona, as part of the Smart City Expo World Congress.
The Barcelona City Council presented the 'HOWS Barcelona. Housing World Summit' this Wednesday, an international congress that will bring together governments, public and private developers, third sector entities, and the academic world to discuss the future of affordable housing. The event will take place from November 3 to 5 at the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona, integrated into the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC).
Jordi Valls, Deputy Mayor for Economy, Housing, Finance, and Tourism, emphasized that housing is "the main challenge facing the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, and internationally." Valls explained that the council is addressing this challenge "by weaving alliances with all stakeholders and through three ideas: regulation, production, and innovation."
The congress, organized by Fira de Barcelona, plans a three-day agenda with 20 sessions and over 100 speakers. The aim is to create a platform for dialogue and connection from which to lead strategies to combat the housing crisis. According to Valls, HOWS Barcelona "has a desire for continuity in the future."
The event will be structured around five main themes: urban planning and land policies to increase supply; policies to generate public and affordable housing; innovation as a tool to increase production; and rehabilitation to improve the residential stock and the quality of life for residents.
HOWS Barcelona will include two specific activities to strengthen political dialogue: the Housing Mayors Meeting, a closed-door working session that will bring together mayors and housing officials from various international cities, and the Housing Mayors Roundtable, an open roundtable discussion among mayors and urban leaders. Both activities aim to create a meeting space to share experiences and explore common solutions.
The congress is supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, the European Union, the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, the European Investment Bank, C40 Cities, UN Habitat, and Metropolis. The integration of HOWS into the SCEWC responds to the need to address urban challenges globally, linking housing with urban planning, mobility, sustainability, digitalization, climate resilience, and social cohesion.
The last edition of the Smart City Expo World Congress gathered nearly 27,000 attendees, with participation from 997 cities and 138 countries, as well as 590 speakers and almost 1,200 exhibitors. This year's edition of the SCEWC Awards has introduced a new specific category for housing.
Jordi Valls highlighted that the Smart City Expo is "a good place to discuss housing policies with the intention also to talk about urban planning, city densification, regulation, innovation, rehabilitation, urban regeneration, and financing."
For the residents of Barcelona, HOWS Barcelona represents an opportunity for the city to position itself as a leader in the search for solutions to the housing access crisis. The City Council expects that the conclusions of the congress can translate into concrete policies in the medium term. Registrations will open soon through the Fira de Barcelona website.
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