‘Future City’ places housing at the heart of the major challenges facing Spain in the 21st century
THE OBJECTIVE 19 June 2026
Experts and mayors discussed mobility, housing, energy, and new technologies at an event hosted by THE OBJECTIVE
Housing, urban competitiveness, artificial intelligence (AI), and city regeneration were the focus of the third edition of Ciudad Futura (Future City), the forum organized by THE OBJECTIVE that brought together mayors, experts, and business representatives in Madrid on Thursday to discuss the main challenges facing Spanish cities in the coming years. The event, held at the Ortega-Marañón Foundation with the support of Drago, Samsung, Moeve, and Damm, emphasized the need to promote more livable and sustainable urban environments capable of attracting talent, investment, and economic opportunities.
More liveable and connected cities
During the event’s opening address, the mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero, emphasized the role of cities as the “axis” upon which citizens’ quality of life is built and defended the need to promote more sustainable, accessible, and livable urban models. The mayor cited Vigo’s transformation as an example, highlighting the reclamation of public spaces, the creation of green areas, and the protection of its natural environment. “We have to remake the beaches, make them livable, and understand them as a place for people to come together,” he said. He also underscored the restoration of the estuary and the improvement of the city’s water infrastructure, insisting that “cities must call for action” in the face of challenges such as climate change and the management of increasingly scarce resources.
Abel Caballero also defended Vigo’s commitment to sustainable mobility and pointed out that the city boasts one of the world’s largest networks of mechanical mobility systems, including elevators, ramps, and moving walkways. “We are making urban transport the cheapest in all of Spain,” he stated. The mayor also called for greater autonomy for local councils in areas such as housing, education, and social services.
“The Spanish government provides resources to the autonomous communities, but they don’t always reach the housing sector,” he criticized, before pointing out that in Vigo, “the autonomous community has built zero affordable rental housing units in the last 18 years.” He also advocated for the integration of AI into city management and emphasized Vigo’s economic role as an industrial leader in sectors such as automotive, shipbuilding, and fishing. “We need to create a tourist city, but also a deeply industrial and economic one,” he concluded.
How to attract talent and investment
In a conversation moderated by José Manuel Calvo, Quality Director of THE OBJECTIVE, architect and urban planner Fernando Caballero reflected on the factors that determine the competitiveness of cities and their capacity to attract talent, investment, and economic activity. Caballero argued that cities function as “living organisms” and warned that the main challenge arises when “everything happens in cities and everyone wants to go to cities.”
During the discussion, he emphasized the importance of connectivity for driving economic growth, noting that “places that are connected grow,” citing the development of cities like Toledo and Guadalajara thanks to their transport connections. In this regard, he advocated for strengthening the rail network and improving connections to intermediate cities to prevent all economic and demographic activity from being concentrated in major capitals. “We need to create a metropolitan area,” he stated, defending greater integration between Madrid and surrounding municipalities and cities such as Getafe, Leganés, Alcorcón, and Ávila.
When asked about the elements that make a city attractive to businesses and workers, Fernando Caballero emphasized the need to combine “affordable housing, efficient, fast, and accessible transportation” with better integration of those arriving from other countries. The urban planner criticized the difficulties in having professional qualifications recognized and recounted the case of a Venezuelan judge who ended up moving to Miami due to the lack of opportunities to practice her profession in Spain.
He also warned that access to housing has become one of the main obstacles to competing with other major international cities. “If you have low wages and housing is expensive, you cease to be attractive.” Although he acknowledged problems such as gentrification and overtourism, he argued that “the problems of being a global city are preferable to the problems of declining cities” and advocated for promoting affordable, public, and subsidized housing to guarantee the future growth of large cities.
Technology with a purpose to improve urban life
At the Technology with Purpose panel, moderated by Marcos Sierra, representatives from Samsung and BMW analyzed the role that innovation and artificial intelligence will play in the development of the cities of the future, focusing on the need to create useful, accessible solutions adapted to the real needs of citizens. Miguel Ángel Ruiz, Brand Strategy & Innovation Senior Manager at Samsung, argued that the success of technology depends on its ability to integrate naturally into daily life.
“The best technology is the invisible kind,” he stated, before pointing out that “everything that will work is simple.” The executive explained that the company has more than 25,000 people dedicated to innovation and that the development of new products is based on constantly listening to users. “We are dedicated to making everything very simple, to eliminating barriers,” he asserted, while highlighting the importance of collaboration between government agencies and companies to promote innovative solutions. “Solutions emerge when we work together,” he affirmed, referring to public-private partnerships.
For her part, Pilar García de la Puebla, Director of Communication and Institutional Relations at BMW, agreed on the need to strengthen this collaboration and asserted that “no one can provide solutions alone.” During her presentation, she explained some of the advancements the company is already incorporating into its vehicles, such as hybrid systems capable of automatically detecting entry into low-emission zones and switching to electric mode without driver intervention. She also argued that the mobility of the future will be increasingly diverse and flexible, adapting to the needs of each region and each user.
Both García de la Puebla and Ruiz agreed that innovation requires regulatory stability, institutional support, and a greater commitment to talent. In this regard, the Samsung representative lamented the lack of a strong innovation culture in Spain and warned that failure is often penalized too harshly, a factor that, in his opinion, hinders the development of new technological initiatives.
Urban regeneration as an opportunity for cities
In a conversation moderated by Maite Rico, deputy director of THE OBJECTIVE, Germán López-Madrid, director of Acquisitions at DRAGO, analyzed the main challenges facing cities in terms of housing, urban regeneration and sustainability, advocating for the rehabilitation of buildings and the transformation of obsolete spaces as one of the keys to boosting urban development in the coming decades.
During his speech, López-Madrid warned about the existing imbalance between the creation of new households and the available housing supply. “There are 300,000 new families or people who want to move out on their own, but only about 90,000 homes are being built,” he pointed out. In this context, he explained that one of DRAGO’s key strategies is to give a second life to properties that have become obsolete over time. “We try to give them a new lease on life,” he stated, before recalling some of the projects developed by the company, such as the transformation of the building at Gran Vía 32, formerly occupied by offices of the Prisa Group, into the Primark store that became the largest in Europe. He also highlighted other projects that have allowed for the conversion of old bank buildings into hotels or the repurposing of former barracks for new uses.
The executive argued that urban regeneration not only increases the supply of available spaces but also helps revitalize degraded neighborhoods and areas. “Many properties were built in a certain era and become obsolete over time; we try to transform and improve them,” he explained. He cited as an example some unfinished or underutilized buildings along the Paseo de la Castellana and emphasized that the goal of these projects is “to breathe life into these areas” and generate a positive impact on the urban environment. He also stressed that sustainability is integral to all of the firm’s projects. “It’s non-negotiable.”
DRAGO is an independent real estate investment and management firm founded in 2000, with offices in Madrid, Lisbon, and Miami. Throughout its more than 25 years of experience, it has managed and transformed assets worth over €4 billion, focusing on rehabilitation, repositioning, and urban regeneration projects with an emphasis on creating sustainable value for cities and their inhabitants.
Joan Clos warns of a housing crisis
For his part, former Barcelona mayor Joan Clos focused his remarks on two of the major urban challenges facing Spain: the housing crisis and the need to promote large-scale urban regeneration. Clos argued that the housing debate often stems from a flawed diagnosis and reminded the audience that housing responsibilities are “essentially regional,” meaning that solutions must primarily originate from the autonomous communities. In his view, the main obstacle is the lack of sufficient funding to develop public policies for affordable housing. “Spain needs three million subsidized housing units,” he stated, before warning that current initiatives are insufficient to change market dynamics. “They build 2,000 homes here, 5,000 there, but that doesn’t change the underlying problem.” He also cautioned that access to housing continues to worsen while prices in the free market keep rising.
Clos also highlighted urban regeneration as one of the major challenges facing Spanish urban planning. The former mayor explained that much of the country’s building stock is quite old and that many cities need comprehensive interventions to renovate entire neighborhoods, not just specific buildings. “Spanish urban planning legislation is designed for urban growth, not urban regeneration.” During his speech, he recalled some of the projects he spearheaded during his time in Barcelona, such as the transformation of the old town and the regeneration of a district, and argued that a reform of the regulations would allow for the recovery of degraded areas and the creation of new buildings to help solve the housing problem. “If we were to rethink urban regeneration in Spain, we would recover deteriorated parts of our cities and have a greater capacity to address the problem of housing affordability,” he concluded.
Artificial intelligence, energy and smart cities
The roundtable discussion “The Smart City: AI, Energy Communities, and Urban Services” featured David García Núñez, president of Madrid World Capital; Paula Santos, director of Electrification and Energy Communities at UNEF; and Santiago Molina, director of the Higher Polytechnic School at CEU San Pablo University. During the debate, the panelists agreed that technology, AI, and efficient energy management will be fundamental to addressing the urban challenges of the coming decades. García Núñez advocated for the need to “position Madrid and Spain as international leaders” in fields such as architecture, engineering, construction, and urban solutions, while Santos emphasized the importance of energy management for building more sustainable and resilient cities.
Artificial intelligence was a central topic of discussion. Participants analyzed how this technology can contribute to improving mobility, optimizing resource management, reducing pollution, and raising the quality of life for citizens. García Núñez pointed out that the role of AI will continue to grow in the coming years due to its ability to cross-reference data, improve planning, and “structure the territory” through practical applications in urban management. For his part, Santiago Molina focused on the impact this technological revolution will have on education and employment, emphasizing that judgment, creativity, and adaptability will continue to be key differentiators. “Nobody knows exactly what will happen with artificial intelligence in the urban sphere,” he stated, before arguing that all university programs should incorporate knowledge related to this technology to prepare the professionals of the future.
Almeida and Catalá
The day concluded with a conversation between the mayors of Madrid and Valencia, José Luis Martínez-Almeida and María José Catalá, moderated by the director of THE OBJECTIVE, Álvaro Nieto. During the meeting, Catalá publicly thanked the Madrid City Council for its support following the devastating storm that struck the Valencian Community, leaving 230 dead. The mayor asserted that “Spain did not fail them, but the Spanish Government did,” emphasizing that the first personnel deployed to assist the city came from Madrid. “On October 31st, the mayor of Madrid deployed a massive amount of personnel, equipment, and resources that still moves my city,” she stated, before recalling that nearly a thousand Madrid municipal workers participated in the emergency and recovery efforts.
Both leaders also addressed the housing situation, one of the issues that most concerns major Spanish cities. Almeida asserted that it is the “main problem” facing Madrid and defended the need to increase supply by releasing land and constructing new residential developments. The mayor also highlighted that housing permits have increased by 41% compared to the same period last year and advocated for measures to convert commercial buildings into affordable rental housing. For his part, Catalá explained that the Valencia City Council has promoted nearly a thousand public housing units and released land to develop some 13,000 new homes, in addition to launching a public rental agency to mobilize vacant housing.
