The Official Association of Architects of Madrid (COAM) and the Community of Madrid have presented the draft of the new Law for the Promotion and Balanced Development of the Region (LIDER), known as the new Land Law, at the association's headquarters during a technical conference as part of the Madrid2050 initiative.
The preliminary draft establishes the new regulatory framework for land use planning and urban development in the region. Its objectives include the unification of planning instruments, the reduction of administrative burdens and the creation of tools such as Municipal Strategic Plans (PEM) to facilitate land management and territorial planning.
During the session, the dean of the COAM, Sigfrido Herráez, stressed that the Community of Madrid will have to respond to a projected growth of up to three million inhabitants by 2050, which requires sufficient land. "The work of architects depends directly on the approval of the law and the strategic plans that are being implemented, for example, in the city of Madrid. Without territory, there is no city," he said.
Herráez also expressed his concern about the use of responsible declarations. "Responsible declarations cannot be used to avoid responsibility after 10 years, as we architects have in our projects. It is important to call for things to be made easier, more accessible and faster, but without losing legal certainty," he said before the Director General of Urban Planning for the Community of Madrid, Sara Aranda; the Deputy Director General of Urban Planning, David González; and the Deputy Director General of Cooperation and Urban Assistance to the Municipality, Marta Callejón.
Aranda argued that the region is "at an optimal moment to make a change that will facilitate the next 10 years of the Autonomous Community" and advocated moving towards "flexible urban planning in relation to uses", so that complementary, associated or alternative uses can be modified according to emerging needs without the need to process a planning modification.
The text simplifies the catalogue of urban planning instruments into two figures: the Municipal Strategic Plan, oriented towards the long-term territorial model, and the Executive Plan, the only instrument authorised to transform land. The latter classifies the territory into three categories: urbanised, protected rural and unprotected rural.
The law also regulates Regional Scope Projects, redefines the legal regimes governing land and compulsory purchase mechanisms, and establishes the role of the Territorial Expropriation Jury as an independent technical body for setting fair prices.
In terms of processing, the draft bill promotes the use of responsible declarations and the intervention of Private Collaborating Entities (ECU), while also providing for the digitisation of procedures through tools such as artificial intelligence and the use of drones.
The text also incorporates technical and financial support measures for municipalities, especially those with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, which will be able to apply flexible provision standards adapted to their environment. The new regulation defines urban regeneration as a priority action for the rehabilitation of degraded areas and introduces the figure of technical support to provide small municipalities with human and material resources, including the preparation of preliminary studies, the management of sectoral reports and environmental processing.
According to Aranda, the future LIDER Law is part of the reform process promoted by the regional government, following the approval of Law 3/2024 on urban planning measures to promote social housing and Law 7/2024 on measures for balanced development in the areas of the environment and land use planning.
