Population ageing is one of the structural transformations reshaping European cities. Barcelona had 1.73 million residents at the beginning of 2026, of whom 21.1% were aged 65 or over. The ageing process is also becoming more intense within the older population itself: 18.6% of residents aged 65 and over are already 85 or older, and the city has more than a thousand centenarians. These trends are not distributed evenly across the city, with some neighbourhoods already having close to one third of their population aged 65 or over.

Housing is a central part of this demographic challenge. Longer lives are a major social achievement, but many homes were not designed to adapt to reduced mobility, changing household composition or new care needs. Barcelona also has a high proportion of one-person households, and older people are especially likely to live alone. Ageing well therefore depends on more than the physical accessibility of a dwelling: affordability, neighbourhood ties, proximity to services, opportunities for social participation and the organisation of care all matter. Local housing policy must combine support for ageing in place with a diversified supply of suitable alternatives.

Barcelona offers a particularly useful setting for exploring these alternatives. Barcelona City Council, acting as stakeholder, can use housing and urban-policy instruments and can work with non-profit and community organisations. The city has also promoted cooperative housing in grant-of-use on municipal land through long-term surface rights. During the mobility week, students will examine these approaches through fieldwork and visits, including Can 70 in Sarrià. This senior cooperative-housing project, developed by Sostre Cívic on municipal land, brings together individual living units and shared spaces and is conceived around autonomy, mutual support, active ageing and collectively organised care.

Students will work in interdisciplinary and international teams to investigate the problem, compare policy and housing models, engage with the stakeholder and formulate a concrete response. The final output will be an evidence-based proposal addressed to Barcelona City Council. It should define a specific housing-and-ageing problem, identify the legal and policy instruments available to local government, assess the role of cooperative and cohousing models where relevant, and develop an implementable response that could improve the capacity of older people to remain autonomous and connected to their communities.

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Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Aerial view of Barcelona's Eixample district with the Sagrada Família basilica at the centre

Ageing Well: Rethinking Housing in Barcelona

How can Barcelona City Council adapt housing and urban policies so that older people can live independently, safely and within their communities as the population ages?

Associate partner

City Council of Barcelona

Associate partner

City Council of Barcelona

Learning opportunities of City Council of Barcelona