Since early 2022, the Barcelona Housing Studies Chair, a public-private, multidisciplinary, and interuniversity initiative conceived within the scope of metropolitan Barcelona, has begun its activity.
On June 3, 2021, the protocol to promote its creation was signed by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, the Government of Catalonia, and the Barcelona City Council, together with four universities: the University of Barcelona (UB), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). The final agreement was signed by two of these institutions (the Ministry will adhere during 2022) and the four universities on November 12, 2021.
The main objective is to coordinate and develop a wide variety of research, teaching, debate, and dissemination activities around collective housing, acting as a hub for international relations from Barcelona.
The Chair is based on the recognition that the affordable housing crisis is already a reality acknowledged and addressed in various empirical and academic studies. Furthermore, the essential feature of the housing crisis is its multifaceted nature, insofar as it is a systemic and highly complex problem interconnected with multiple factors. Therefore, it is essential to promote, coordinate, develop, and strengthen such research and studies in our context.
The agreement establishes that this interuniversity Chair will address the diverse issues linked to housing, with the aim of contributing to the promotion of innovative, evidence-based public policies through programs of training, research, evaluation, and dissemination in these fields of knowledge.
The aspiration of the Barcelona Housing Studies Chair is to form and promote a transdisciplinary group of researchers interested in deepening the exchange of knowledge, research, and experiences useful for the design of policies and instruments in the field of housing.
Work will be carried out with academics at both the national and international levels, especially in Europe and the Americas, to generate and transfer high-quality knowledge.
The Chair has offices in all four universities, with its main reference located at the UPC, in a room on the ground floor of the School of Architecture (ETSAB).
To achieve its objectives, the Chair has set the following milestones: 2022, state of the art in research; 2023, launch of the Interuniversity Master’s in Housing Studies; 2024, international relations and dissemination of the Chair by creating an international network, especially of case studies in countries, cities, and universities. Ultimately, the Chair seeks to be a network for the coordination and promotion of university research, thought, and reflection on public housing policies, in the broadest and most international sense. Its work will align with the data production of the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory; with the requirements and proposals of the sponsoring institutions through the Joint Monitoring Commission; and with the suggestions and contributions of the Advisory Committee and the Scientific Committee.
It is structured through four co-directorships –UPC, David Hernández Falagán; UB, Montserrat Pareja and Juli Ponce; UAB, Judith Gifreu; and UPF, Josep Ferrer– and is coordinated by Immaculada Branchat (UPC).
This website also features a directory of researchers who are part of the Chair’s community and constitute the map of housing research in Barcelona.
Additionally, it offers a space for the dissemination of Working Papers, developed in collaboration with the American university Georgia State University. The Chair is not responsible for the opinions expressed in these articles, which are the sole responsibility of their authors.
