THE RIGHT TO THE CITY AND TO HOUSING: PUBLIC INTERVENTION IN THE SPANISH RESIDENTIAL HOUSING MARKET

The massive development of cities in the last few decades has led to a rapid process of gentrification of urban spaces and a rise of the average housing cost in most of the main world metropolis. This has reduced the accessibility of housing for large cohorts of the population, endangering the right to the city and to housing in Spain and becoming one of the most important problems in the urban environment. This article examines some of the main normative bodies in the housing matter at the international, European and national levels, as well as it analyzes the historical evolution of the Spanish housing policy and its actual situation. Then, this article offers a comparative perspective of the direct intervention of public administration in the housing market in some European countries (Germany, France, The Netherlands and Sweden) as well as it examines the main legal instruments that are available within the Spanish jurisdiction in order to understand their capacity to provide an adequate right to affordable and dignified housing, and in that regard, to the protection of the right to the city.