The International Congress ‘Land uses to make a city’ took place at the Faculty of Law of the Universitat de València on 2 and 3 November 2023.

The event was attended by leading specialists in the fields of law, urban planning and housing. It dealt, among others, with the different existing instruments to intervene in the regulation of land use in built cities, the current conflicts regarding urban planning, the policies and the right to housing and the regulation of the establishment of economic activities.

The Congress was structured in three sessions. The first, which took place on Thursday morning, dealt with the instruments for intervention in built cities, the social and environmental conflicts in them and the challenges posed by the current regulatory framework.

The second, which was held on Thursday afternoon, dealt with public policies and the right to housing, as well as the regulation of issues such as the rights of first refusal, which are fundamental in the definition of current housing policies.

The third session, held on Friday morning, dealt in depth with tertiary land uses while analysing the existing conflicts between economic freedoms and urban planning and the different concurrent elements for the regulation of these uses in the city.

Programme of the ‘Land uses to make a city’ Congress

2 November 2023

• 09:30 - 11:15 - Roundtable 1: Intervention on built cities: challenges of the current regulatory framework
  • Álvaro Cerezo Ibarrondo (National University of Distance Education): ‘Action on the urban environment and planning’
  • Fernando López Ramón (University of Zaragoza): ‘The singular urbanistic links’
  • Alicia Espejo Campos (University of La Laguna): ‘Lights and shadows in the reconstruction of the existing city’
  • Moderator: Gabriel Doménech Pascual (Universitat de València)
• 11:45 - 13:30 - Roundtable 2: Social and environmental conflicts in the regulation of land use in cities
  • Camille Mialot (Sciencespo Paris): ‘Local urban planning as a tool for reconciling climate and social conflicts: the example of the bioclimatic urban planning project in Paris’
  • Marta Lora-Tamayo Vallvé (National University of Distance Education): ‘The “Agendisation of the territory” and its repercussions on territorial and urban planning’
  • Francisco Velasco Caballero (Autonomous University of Madrid): ‘Land use and demographic ageing’
  • Ana Sancho Martínez (PH UPNA / Bilbao Metropoli-30): ‘Conciliation and urban planning’
  • Moderator: Alba Soriano Arnanz (Universitat de València)

• 15:00 - 17:00 - Roundtable 3: Public policies and the right to housing
  • Juli Ponce Solé (University of Barcelona): ‘Urban segregation and housing’
  • Judith Gifreu i Font (Autonomous University of Barcelona): ‘Land and housing policy instruments’
  • Andrei Quintiá Pastrana (University of Groningen): ‘The unoccupied city: ownership and sustainability’
  • Ignacio Durbán Martín (Universitat de València): ‘The distribution of powers in housing’
  • Moderator: Reyes Marzal Raga (Universitat de València)

• 17:00 - 18:30 - Roundtable 4: The rights of first refusal, pre-emptive rights and other rights and housing policy tools
  • Hernán Fioravanti and Andrea Ariza (Cooperativa La Dula)
  • Reyes Marzal Raga (Universitat de València)
  • Natxo Collado (Universitat de València)

3 November 2023

• 9:30 - 11:00 - Roundtable 5: Elements for the regulation of tertiary land uses in cities
  • Helena Villarejo Galende (University of Valladolid): ‘Sustainable planning of economic activity in urban areas’
  • Clàudia Gimeno Fernández (Universitat de València): ‘The promotion and restriction of uses in planning: techniques and principles’
  • Moderator: Ana María de Encarnación Valcárcel (Universitat de València)

• 11:30 - 13:00 - Roundtable 6: Economic freedoms and urban planning
  • Agustín José Menéndez Menéndez (Complutense University of Madrid): ‘Economic freedoms in European law as a framework and limit for regulation with social and environmental objectives at state and regional level’
  • Alba Nogueira López (University of Santiago de Compostela): ‘The tension between economic freedoms and law in sustainable cities’
  • Moderator: Andrés Boix Palop (Universitat de València)

• 13:00 - 13:30 - Roundtable 7: Selected communications
  • Juan Alemany Garcías (University of the Balearic Islands): ‘Institutionalised public-private urban planning and its compatibility with urban planning activity and land use: A permanent alliance?’
  • Irene Bravo Rey and Jorge Ciganda Teruel (Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency): ‘The abuse of urban planning as a source of local financing. In terms of public integrity’
  • Alberto Aznar Traval (lawyer and political scientist): ‘Surface rights as an instrument for expanding affordable housing stock’
  • Moderator: Clàudia Gimeno Fernández (Universitat de València)
  • Organising committee: Andrés Boix, Reyes Marzal and Clàudia Gimeno
  • Download the Congress programme