Catalonia's 100 new ‘barris’

The Generalitat is to build 100 new housing estates that will be erected across 85 municipal districts as part of meeting the targets outlined by the Pacte Nacional per l'Habitatge, signed at the end of 2007 by social groups and business leaders. This housing expansion, known as the Residential Areas Strategy (ARE) will mean a total of 90,000 new flats in Catalonia, 50% of which will be publicly protected. Half of these flats will be located in the Barcelona Metropolitan area. (Full story in printed edition).