Urban regeneration and renewal action in Catalonia, adaptation or dissociation

Abstract

Since the pioneering Law 2/2004, of June 4, on the improvement of neighborhoods, urban areas and towns that require special attention (Neighborhood Law), to the recent Law 11/2022, of December 29, on urban, environmental and social improvement of neighborhoods and towns (LMU), urban regeneration action in Catalonia has moved in the sphere of the transfer of economic resources to address the needs of the most vulnerable urban areas.
However, since the change in model in favour of sustainability, first with the Law 8/2007, of May 28, on land (LS07), and with the expansion of comprehensiveness in the urban environment with the Law 8/2013, of June 26, on urban rehabilitation, regeneration, and renewal (L3R), both objectives subsumed in the current Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, of October 30, which approves the revised text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law (TRLSRU), have led to the incorporation of new urban planning instruments and determinations to address not only regeneration interventions in vulnerable urban zones, but also all those affected by the major urban problem: its obsolescence.
Therefore, it is important to describe the characteristics of urban environment interventions, particularly those related to urban regeneration and renewal, and to what extent Catalan urban planning legislation has adapted to or remains dissociated from the new state regulatory framework for intervention and preservation of the existing city.