Alicante City Council has approved the draft of its Structural General Plan (PGE), setting out a new framework for residential development across the municipality and paving the way for the construction of more than 45,000 homes.
Approved by the city government's extraordinary board on 5 August, the draft will now move into the strategic environmental assessment process led by the Generalitat Valenciana. The plan represents Alicante's first major overhaul of its strategic urban planning framework in almost four decades.
Housing is one of the central components of the new PGE, which seeks to accommodate the city's projected population growth while creating new development opportunities and promoting the regeneration of existing urban areas.
More than 45,000 homes
The plan identifies capacity for 45,000-plus new homes across four main categories.
Around 22,300 homes are earmarked for five new development sectors, representing the largest component of the planned residential expansion. A further 14,300 homes are expected to be delivered through urban regeneration and transformation projects, focusing on the redevelopment of existing areas rather than the expansion of the urban footprint.
The PGE also provides for approximately 5,000 homes in consolidated urban areas, while a further 1,300 affordable rental homes are planned on land associated with public facilities.
The new planning framework is intended to provide Alicante with the land capacity required to respond to future housing demand, while combining new development with the regeneration and transformation of established neighbourhoods.
Mayor Luis Barcala described the PGE as the city's most important urban planning document in 39 years, arguing that it will create new opportunities for access to housing while establishing the infrastructure required to support Alicante's future growth.
The plan also links residential development to the provision of public services and facilities. It reserves at least 100,000 sqm of land for a potential third public hospital, while allocating more than 170,000 sqm for sports facilities and land for the expansion of the University of Alicante and Miguel Hernández University.
Green and connected growth
Although residential development is at the heart of the plan, the proposed housing growth is accompanied by significant investment in the city's infrastructure and public realm.
The PGE would add 349 hectares of green areas, taking Alicante's total planned green space to 488 hectares, including the proposed 152.39-hectare Rabasa Peri-urban Lagoons Park and 123.18-hectare Huerta de Alicante Agricultural Park.
The plan also proposes a 19-kilometre Green Belt and a 21-kilometre Coastal Route, alongside new transport infrastructure including two intermodal hubs, 12 park-and-ride facilities and the expansion of the TRAM network.
For the property market, the approval of the PGE draft marks an important step in establishing the long-term land pipeline for Alicante's residential sector. However, the document must still progress through the regional environmental assessment and subsequent planning procedures before its proposals can be fully implemented.
