Housing Policy Ignoring Metropolitan Dimension Fails To Create Comfortable Urban Environment - Metropolis Sec Gen

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19. Housing policy that ignores the metropolitan dimension leads to the construction of homes without a full-fledged urban environment or quality of life, said Jordi Vaquer, Secretary General of the Metropolis association, Trend reports.

He made the remark during a panel discussion titled "Launching the Barcelona Metropolitan Declaration: Bold Commitments to Addressing the Housing Crisis at a Metropolitan Scale" held within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku.

"Today, it is practically impossible to find a large city that is not simultaneously a metropolitan reality," he said.

According to Vaquer, modern megacities function as complex systems linked not only by flows of people but also by ecological, energy, and food processes.

"A metropolis connects to surrounding territories through air quality, ecological corridors, energy sources, food security, and other factors that previously fell outside the scope of the urban system," he noted.

He emphasized that governance systems ignoring these interconnections will fail to effectively protect the interests of residents. Vaquer also stated that existing metropolitan governance structures often remain underrecognized and underfunded, despite their vital role.

"The metropolitan level rarely holds constitutional backing and often lacks a presence where key decisions get made and large financial resources are allocated," he said, adding that such structures nonetheless possess a key advantage-flexibility and the capacity for collaboration between municipalities.

"Metropolitan institutions remain inherently inclusive, consultative, and open. They adapt better to dynamically changing urban realities," Vaquer stressed, pointing out that many forms of inter-city cooperation initially emerge informally, sometimes starting as WhatsApp groups of mayors looking for solutions before evolving into full-fledged governance institutions.

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