The Balearic government's urban planning legislation includes provision for an increase in the number of properties that can be built on new developments. There will be 75 per hectare as opposed to the current 48. However, this will only apply in municipalities where the population is over 100,000. It is, therefore, a provision for Palma and nowhere else.
Neus Truyol, the councillor for the model of the city, says that this increase is a response to the notion of Palma being compact and denser, meaning that less land is ultimately consumed. She adds that there are two regulatory systems at present. One is the island's territorial plan, by which 48 properties per hectare is the limit. The other is the recent law, which "in some cases" enables an increase to 75. In practice, some cases only mean Palma.
An increase of this nature does have to meet certain conditions, Truyol points out. There have to be the necessary resources and services for the number of people such developments entail.
Palma's revised general urban plan, which is currently being processed, does contemplate the increase. This is the case, for example, with Son Busquets, where housing will be more compact and leave more open space.
Elsewhere in Palma, there are densities which are greater than 75. In Santa Catalina, for example, there are 120 properties per hectare. In the majority of cases, Truyol notes, there are more than 100 properties.
The urban plan estimates that housing will be needed to cover a population increase of almost 67,000 between now and 2040. Over 53,000 properties are envisaged.