Royal Spanish Academy defines innovation as «changing or remaking something, introducing innovations». In relation to the real estate sector, this innovation manifests itself in different ways. From the impulse to the design and construction of architectural typologies to the integration of technologies into all processes.
Jonathan Rose, an urban planning guru and developer, notes that the main challenges cities face are resource scarcity, population growth, climate change, social cohesion and immigration. Innovation is becoming the main tool for solving these problems.
«There is a great need to provide affordable and prefabricated housing in which so-called vulnerable groups of the population can live. On the other hand, the demand for flexible typologies has increased, although they are difficult to apply, since construction is not as flexible as we would like», says Ana Puig-Pei, CEO of the Master's Program in Management of Innovative Real Estate Companies at Escola Sert at the College of Architects of Catalonia.
According to the expert, one of the innovative typologies that has become widespread is a cooperative model, such as shared housing or coworking. An alternative to the traditional housing model, which the Barcelona City Council describes as an option that allows a community of people to live in a building without being owners for a long period of time (from 50 to 100 years) and at a price below the market.