After the original project faced opposition and environmental concerns from residents and authorities in Graz, it moved to a rural community outside the city
The city will provide 600,000 euros for the project, inspired by a submission in the participatory budget
The Government has presented the idea, but some of the business actors are not too keen on it
After the original project faced opposition and environmental concerns from residents and authorities in Graz, it moved to a rural community outside the city
The Polish officials claim that Kremlin intends to use its Baltic territory as a springboard for illegal migrants into the EU
Local authorities want to fill the mobility gap left by the Bundestag’s delayed decision on a successor to the 9-euro ticket
The Hanseatic City is trying to promote the mass adoption of sustainable mobility and aviation
The vessels have been regularly blamed for raising the city’s air pollution levels
A very unique feature of the new system is that they will rotate on a 360-degree axis
Training the future builders of the metaverse
The subsidy will help renters take part in the production of cheap and climate-friendly energy
The city expects that it will recoup the 3.8-million-euro investment in the next four years
In 2021, the city counted over 10,617,173 cycling trips. Will the record be beaten?
The city’s taxi services are getting integrated into the AMB Mobility app as a way to optimize their driving routes and to provide better intermodality
More comfortable and ecological, no more anxiety while being out and about in the city
The Polish officials claim that Kremlin intends to use its Baltic territory as a springboard for illegal migrants into the EU
A very unique feature of the new system is that they will rotate on a 360-degree axis
More than 200,000 visitors are expected to pay tribute to dearly departed ones, but in the French capital some of these spots are also famous tourist sites
Training the future builders of the metaverse
For the next ten years, the initiative will aim to bridge the gap between those at risk of social exclusion and the tech labour market
The subsidy will help renters take part in the production of cheap and climate-friendly energy
The city will provide 600,000 euros for the project, inspired by a submission in the participatory budget
The Adolphe bridge in Luxembourg city
The study is part of the Grand Duchy’s push to create a robust affordable housing strategy and calm a volatile market
On Monday, Henri Kox, Luxembourg’s Minister of Housing presented three studies on how much available land the Grand Duchy has for the construction of housing. The studies found that Luxembourg has 3,750 hectares of available land, which can host around 142,000 housing units or the equivalent of 300,000 inhabitants.
For comparison, the country has a population of around 632,000 people and according to the Minister of Housing, this means there is more than enough land. However, 0.5% of the population owns half of the land.
Kox explained that land mobilisation or the construction of new housing is a priority of Luxembourg now and the government needs to develop a robust housing strategy. The studies provide an excellent scientific aid to do that because they identify the land, its location by municipality, its status and what’s more, they also provide policy suggestions.
According to the study, half of all land available for residential construction (around 1,800 hectares) in Luxembourg is owned by around 3,400 individuals. Furthermore, the analysis found a strong link between the prices of land and the rising prices of housing.
Between 2010 and 2017, residential land prices grew by an average of 7.9% annually. From 2018 prices started climbing, reaching an annual increase of 16.9% in 2019 and 2020. These fluctuations largely follow the prices of housing, however, when it comes to land, increases tend to be stronger. This suggests that they are the cause for the inflation in housing.
While, to an outsider, this year’s amazing 17% housing price rise in the Grand Duchy may seem extreme, the concentration of so much land in the hands of so few people really tells a story. Furthermore, according to Minister Kox, this could be a good thing if the landowners could persuaded to build affordable housing.
Henri Kox is clear, Luxembourg needs affordable housing and it needs it as soon as possible. In fact, he explained that a lot of the country’s current housing crisis could be largely solved if construction could start in the next four years.
To incentivise said construction, the government is developing a new strategy to mobilise vacant land plots, as well as municipal lands, currently accounting for 13,5% of the total available. The main instrument authorities plan to use is a land mobilisation tax, to disincentives stockpiling of land that can be used for development.
Henri Kox was quoted in a press release saying: “Private property must not fuel the soaring prices of housing to the detriment of access to affordable housing for a large part of the population. This is why high investments in the massive creation of affordable public housing are a priority, and for that the mobilisation of building land is essential!”
Another point of the strategy is to prioritise net-zero soil sealing. Despite Luxembourg’s dire need for housing, new developments should account for the country’s sustainable goals.
The Minister for Energy and Spatial Planning, Claude Trumes, for his part, put it quite succinctly: “The soil is our common good, our national heritage and our heritage for generations to come.”
The Government has presented the idea, but some of the business actors are not too keen on it
After the original project faced opposition and environmental concerns from residents and authorities in Graz, it moved to a rural community outside the city
The Polish officials claim that Kremlin intends to use its Baltic territory as a springboard for illegal migrants into the EU
A very unique feature of the new system is that they will rotate on a 360-degree axis
Training the future builders of the metaverse
The city’s taxi services are getting integrated into the AMB Mobility app as a way to optimize their driving routes and to provide better intermodality
More comfortable and ecological, no more anxiety while being out and about in the city
The global forum concluded a month ago but this time around it aims to have further-reaching impact
The subsidy will help renters take part in the production of cheap and climate-friendly energy
The Government has presented the idea, but some of the business actors are not too keen on it
A very unique feature of the new system is that they will rotate on a 360-degree axis
The subsidy will help renters take part in the production of cheap and climate-friendly energy
This initiative seeks to integrate the values of the New European Bauhaus into the European Commission’s 100 Cities Mission
These will be spread across 11 EU countries and will serve to support the EU Missions
The European Commission has accepted to develop the idea
A conversation with the President of the European Committee of the Regions, about energy, climate change and the underrated importance of cohesion policy
Interview with Herald Ruijters, Director, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), European Commission
A conversation with the Mayor of Matosinhos, Portugal’s first UN Resilience Hub