In the Zaragoza City Council proposal to revitalize the strip east of Zaragoza following old patterns must be remembered that the inappropriate housing developments are a major cause, if not the most, severe economic crisis Spain is suffering.
Land speculation has been the way in which these last sixty years, financial institutions and large developers, able to hoard large bags of soil, have increased their profits. For this, they had not only tailor-made laws, but also with the governments of the municipal corporations have, in the reclassification of the soil, the most common way of financing local government finances.
This scenario has the power to mayors and councilors to act as a "King Midas", deciding on what ground could be built by multiplying its value by 100 or 1000, meeting however they were not suitable to build located a hundred yards beyond the downgraded and urban.
All this has led to several very negative effects:
- has enormously increased the value of the home. Many young people can not be emancipated because of the high cost of home ownership and rents in general are still very expensive.
- The system is perverse because it leads to corruption and mafias in the classification of these soils.
- In the production system creates dysfunction. Why be imaginative and creative risk-taking capital, setting up and holding companies, if I can get great benefits hogging floor?
- These effects reach even to the educational process. What is moral force to require hard work and dedication in teaching if marital processes in society, such as land speculation, which are not measured by the preparation and skills of citizens?
examine some examples from recent years in the city of Zaragoza.
The Rivergate 140ha of land was expropriated more than 600,000 € / ha (100 million pesetas / ha) when in the garden of Monzalbarba or La Cartuja Baja, about three miles away, you can buy an acre to 24,000 euros, ie 25 times less and that taking into account that those responsible for the operation has been a good negotiation planning.
plans lately taken land development in Picarral reclassify have been based on industrial land or facilities on land for housing. But gains in this and in almost all cases, have been at least 80% for owners of land and 20% for municipal coffers.
The construction of a football field in the southeast of the city, paid for by public money, not for sport but to give value to the soil surrounding urban
Consequently, the workers, who will own the future homes to be built, both big business pay for these individuals and the benefits accruing to the City Council, which in many cases it even becomes a commitment to invest in their own neighborhood capital gains generated in the operation.
Many of these workers are slaves to the rest of his life, because the two people working on the family unit, it will take 30 or 40 years to pay off the mortgage owed on the purchase of housing. We are totally indebted country is to be three times the GDP of a year.
parallel develop land is far from the city center while others, such as those between San Jose and La Paz, where about 4,000 homes are planned, carried 20 years with the approved urban development plans without date have been developed. And so many empty lots that are within the consolidated city.
In this context, what happens to the urban development of the border east of the city?
The technical study has been done from the planning point of view is neat and thorough and presents significant advances in the urban models developed so far.
One goal is to build about 1,000 social housing units rented primarily to young to settle in the suburbs of Las Fuentes and San José and whose location is also within inhabited areas. Is also necessary to maintain the garden Sources productively.
There are other criteria that are managed, and rehabilitation of housing units with a certain age, meet the needs of the elderly, pedestrianise streets while parking lots are built, build cultural centers in these neighborhoods and keep the trade of small shops in the neighborhood.
is a fair plan that proposes to solve urgent needs in neighborhoods that tend to breakdown and lack of social cohesion and a loss of the youth sector.
BUT THE PROBLEM LIES IN THE FORM OF resove
be solved with old methods always: TRADING WITH THE GROUND.
is true that in this case are not large in number rezoning hectares, but in terms of houses built. Urban land is state land available to the third ring in the village of Las Fuentes, which would allow the construction of some 1,100 homes and redefines the existing 34ha site between the railway and the Third Ring Road in the areas of Las Fuentes with the possibility of building 2,500 homes.
And the measures do not end there. In the garden of Las Fuentes, 65% remains as agricultural land but that name as has showed no real continuity ensures a productive orchard. In this area of \u200b\u200bthe sources as in the 5,000 ha of agricultural land left in the city have to bet that they become spaces that provide the city of fresh, quality products and this will only be possible if it supports organic farming and provides agricultural products of appellation of origin. Measures should be aimed at creating jobs while farming respond to an ever increasing need for a consumer concerned about food safety and quality. But also in the remaining 35% arise rural development measures that hide the intention to develop ExpoPaisajes 2014 by the Municipal Government.
In conclusion, it needs to rehabilitate and settle in the area east of the town with much richer owners of the nearly total 5oha that are intended to requalify.
need urgent search for other funding formulas for local councils so that it does not come from rezoning of land based on speculation and bring as we have seen corruption, indebtedness and perversion of values \u200b\u200bthat keep us from a more just society .
It is therefore urgent that the political parties-all parties-are put to the task of solving these problems. Otherwise, distrust, hopelessness, and the amorality of this partnership will increase your bottom line and we'll all lose. Zaragoza
February 8, 2011
Platform
