The area Antondegi in San Sebastián has been selected for the European architecture and urban planning competition Europan 19 . International teams are to develop proposals for an environmentally focused residential neighbourhood, the Basque government announced on 11 November. This does not mean that a decision has been taken to build there: the revision of the city’s planning also proposes retaining the area’s rural character.
According to the government, the Spanish National Committee of Europan made the selection on 3 November. Antondegi is one of nine Spanish sites in this round of the competition, which covers 45 sites across Europe. The Basque government says this is its first time entering a site where the planning of an entire new neighbourhood is to be explored. Previous entries, it says, focused mainly on individual buildings, housing developments or interventions in existing urban areas.
Antondegi is in the south of San Sebastián, near Martutene. According to the government, the current 2010 General Urban Development Plan provides space there for around 3,000 homes. About 2,500 of these would be publicly subsidised or subject to price controls. This figure does not refer exclusively to publicly owned homes or social rented housing.
However, the ongoing revision of the General Plan contains a different proposal: Antondegi should lose its designation as a future development area and remain rural. In October, the Antondegi Berdea platform also opposed residential development and called for the area’s rural character and ecological connections to be preserved.
The site covered by the current plan spans around 97 hectares. The public housing company Visesa holds a land share of just under 30 per cent, according to the regional government. On this basis, preliminary estimates suggest that 1,110 subsidised or price-controlled homes could be built. This estimate also needs to be finalised through subsequent planning; it is not a commitment to build.
According to the planned timetable, the competition is to open on 1 March 2027, with proposals accepted until 27 June. In addition to housing, the brief covers public spaces, transport, services and green corridors. The links with Martutene, Txomin Enea, Antzita and Sarrueta in the Urumea Valley area are to be examined.
The competition entries are intended to show possible futures for the area. They do not replace urban planning and environmental procedures or the permits required.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).