Mesa Estrategia normativa
Working Group 9
Regulatory Strategy
An innovative regulatory framework is needed, one that can go beyond the concepts of traditional urban planning. More and more, it is becoming clear that Madrid needs a new planning model: a new framework that brings flexibility, dynamism, and simplicity to urban planning tools, so that they can respond quickly to citizens’ needs.
The Regulatory Strategy Working Group highlighted the urgent need to transform Madrid’s urban planning model, moving beyond the current 1997 General Plan, which has become outdated both in its conception and in its operational capacity. It became clear that current plans have lost their planning essence, becoming overly regulatory, complex, and difficult for citizens to understand, with long approval processes and little ability to adapt to social, economic, and environmental change. Within this context, the group opened a deep discussion about the kind of planning instrument Madrid needs to face the challenges of the 21st century. The conclusion was that a new legal framework is essential, one that enables more agile, flexible, and strategic planning. This new paradigm must restore the forward-looking role of planning, simplify regulation, and establish effective collaboration with the Community of Madrid to design an instrument that responds to the real needs of the city and its residents.
Participants
The Regulatory Strategy Working Group brought together 32 participants and addressed the urgent need to transform Madrid’s urban regulatory framework, moving beyond the rigid and complex model of the 1997 General Plan. The group proposed the Municipal Strategic Plan (PEM) as a new planning instrument, one that is more agile, flexible, and adaptive, and capable of responding to contemporary challenges through a structure based on strategic objectives, priority areas, and programming criteria. This new paradigm, supported by Law 7/2024 of the Community of Madrid, seeks to restore the forward-looking essence of urban planning, simplify procedures, and ensure more effective planning focused on quality of life and sustainability.
Ideas discussed
This working group brought together representatives from institutional, technical, academic, and private-sector backgrounds. Their reflections began with an analysis of Law 7/2024 of the Community of Madrid, which establishes the Municipal Strategic Plan (PEM) as the new urban planning instrument that will allow cities, and Madrid in particular, to recover their planning capacity with agility, flexibility, and legal certainty. The discussion then moved deeper into the PEM itself: a framework that defines the city’s structural elements, strategic objectives, and priority areas, and which takes shape as a dynamic, indicator-based tool capable of guiding urban decision-making in real time. The PEM represents a paradigm shift away from the rigid regulatory model of the past, embracing a more adaptive, clearer planning approach focused on the real needs of citizens.
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