Final Master Work

2. The following document is a synthesis of the
works developed during the MAS in Collective
Housing from the UPM Madrid and ETH
Zürich that lasted from January 23rd till July
31st of 2017. A variety of architecture projects
are presented, from the housing unit to the urban
scale.

3. PRAXIS
01
HIGH-RISE
Patrick Gmür
02
BUILDING DEPTHS
Andrea Deplazes
03
CO-HOUSING
Zaida Muxí & Josep María Montaner
04
CLAY STORMING
Anna Heringer
05
SHAPE CORE SHELL
Dietmar Eberle
06
URBAN DESIGN
Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani
07
DUNKIRK
Anne Lacaton
08
DISNEY SIDE
Hrvoje Njiriç
09
ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY
Javier García Germán
10
CONSTRUCTION & TECHNOLOGY
Ignacio Fernández Solla
11
CITY SCIENCES
Alejandro de Miguel
12
SOCIOLOGY, ECONOMY & POLITICS
Jesús Leal
05
13
19
27
33
39
47
55
67
77
82
86
In 2006, the Polytechnic University of Madrid
presented the first edition of the Masters Degree in
Collective Housing, a postgraduate professional
program of advanced architecture design, focused on
housing, city and energy studies. The value of this
unique program lies in its excellence and practice-
oriented synthesis of design with integrated disciplines
and theoretical issues.
In 2016, UPM and ETH joined forces to offer the
first UPM / ETH Diploma: “Master of Advanced
Studies UPM/ETH in Collective Housing”. ETH
Zurich, the most prestigious technology university
in the world, signed an agreement with UPM
that officially recognizes MCH as one of its MAS
programs, validating this master with the same
recognition than existing further postgraduate courses
offered at ETH Zurich.
From 2017 on, every year’s program is co-designed
with UPM-ETH professors: a unique, excellent and
comprehensive course of further education on the
subject of Housing.
Students of 2017 edition
Marta Abril | Spain
Daniel Alcalá | México
Maria Estela Amado Mannise | Uruguay
Arman Amin | Iran
María Alejandra Arroyo Peláez | Colombia
Natalia Ayumi Sato | Brasil
Tais de Moraes Alves | Brasil
María Eizayaga | Argentina
Georges El-Hachem | Lebanon
Oscar Gilbert | Ecuador
Blanca Guillén | Honduras
Gonzalo Lozano Arce | Spain
Mauricio Méndez Wiesner | Colombia
Oscar Rodriguez Perales | Venezuela
Marcela Valerio | Nicaragua
Riham Zawil | Lebanon
María Eizayaga Portfolio. September 2017
This book is composed with Adobe Caslon Pro and
Brandon Grotesque typography. Printed in 130 gr/m2
and 300 gr/m2
matte paper.
Printed in Faster by Workcenter. Madrid, Spain.
The introduction text for each workshop or specialty was
taken from the MCH webpage www.mchmaster.com

4. HIGH-RISE
Being in the business of design requires building professionals
to have a highly developed spatial awareness, and this ability
is particularly important when it comes to creating cost-
effective residential high-rises. The objectives of this workshop
are (i) to discuss requirements specific to cost-effective high-rise
accommodation (such as optimised central services cores and
economical floor plans for apartments), (ii) to design new and
independent solutions, and (iii) to implement the municipal
spatial planning programme sustainably and with a minimum
of resources.
After recognizing the current urban tissue in Zürich,
Switzerland, the main building was design to make a good
dialogue with the pre-existing. From the north view a non-
surprising building can be perceived but from the interior of
the community, the building morphology flourishes revealing a
straight form, facing the urban and picturesque landscape.
From a strong and efficient core centered with the plan, the
dwellings configuration are shifted in favor of light, allowing it
to enter directly in the east-west alignment.
With all these adopted strategies the distribution corridor to the
different units is being optimized generating in compensation a
wide and luminous hallway altogether with laundry areas with
the same positive characteristics than before and where a wide
range of activities can be performed.
Workshop Assistant | Rosario Segado
Guests | P.G., R.S. & Salvora Feliz
Team | G. Lozano Arce
Topic | Cost-effective Residential High Rise Building
Duration | 5 days
PATRICK GMÜR

5. 0706
Site Plan
High-Rise
Volume Structure
Model

6. 0908
Typology Schemes

7. 1110
First Typical FloorGround Floor | Structure Second Typical Floor Third Typical Floor
High-Rise

8. BUILDING DEPTHS
What does it mean having a building depth of 6 metres? And
what if they were 28 metres? How does a dwelling vary if it has
different building depth but the same amount of squared metres?
As if it was a typological catalogue, participants had to analise
the implications that having one or another building depth
would have for a dwelling.Which qualities regarding circulation,
access, sunlight, ventilation, facilities location and intimacy has
a dwelling according to its depth. Identifying the strengths of
each case and its problems would be the first step to make in this
laboratory, so that it is possible to propose a conceptual approach
according to it, afterwards.
Twelve metres depths was assigned for the housing project. A
chamber distribution system dwelling is chosen with the kitchen
as the “courtyard”. A loggia for each appartment works as a
transition from the exterior to the interior personal world. The
plot chosen is in the middle of the city surrounded with vegetation,
the reason for designing a cross laminated timber construction.
Image: Comlongan Castle, Dumfries (Scotland GB), 15th century
Workshop Assistant | Fernando Altozano
Guests | A.D., F.A., & José María de Lapuerta
Topic | 12m depth
Team | Individual work
Duration | 5 days
ANDREA DEPLAZES

9. 1514
Ground Floor Plan
Regular Floor Plan
Building Depths
Transverse Section
The Core as a Hinge

10. 1716 Building Depths

11. CO-HOUSING
The aim of the course is reflecting and designing for the changing
conditions of living in contemporary cities. Barcelona is changing
the housing laws,including a new typology in Spain:Co‐housing.
Particularly in this project, the aim is to join a multi-cultural
community with a culinary interest under one roof: combining
different social groups and ages that can benefit from each other
in an active manner creating a synergy for the better of the
individuals and the community: a permanent residency for a
group committed to create an example for the city of Barcelona in
sustainability and giving back to society.
Creating the opportunity for gastronomy enthusiasts to live in
a sustainable eco-system in the middle of a polluted city while
enjoying their passion and contributing to society by doing
community service.
The residents of the system must be active and have to be
involved in the activities starting from agriculture on the top
of the building, moving to managing the meal plans in the
central kitchen to selling the organic products, organizing cooking
workshops and dealing with the restaurant’s requirements where
they interact with the neighborhood residents.
Workshop Assistant | Daniela Arias
Jury | Z.M., D.A. & Juan Arana
Team | T. de Moraes, G. El Hachem & O. Rodriguez
Topic | Co-Housing for Gastronomy Enthusiasts
Duration | 5 days
ZAIDA MUXI & JOSEP MARIA MONTANER
AYUME, 36
LISA, 50 LUIS, 40, ALEJANDRO 58
GAELLA, 22, ALBERTO, 19, GILBERTO, 21
ANTONIO, 30, IDELFONSO, 33
MARKO, 35, JESSICA 36, KIDS 5&6
PHILIPPOS 26, JOSEPHINA 22
GEORGES, 67
JEN, 25
JOSE, 50, ARANTIA, 50, ALONSO, 38, ROSARIO, 33, AND SERGIO 5
MARCELLA, 24
HELENA, 40, VLADIMIR, 6 AND MIKHAEL, 8
MARTA, 37, OSCAR ,4
SURAYA, 70, MICHELLA, 45
FIONA, 70, MICHEL, 25
OSCAR, 30, OSCAR ,37
JHON & FAMILY (12TO 55)AHDAB FAMILY, 71, 78
studio 31 m2
6 UNITS
1 bedroom 42 m2
2UNITS
3 bedroom 78m2
2UNITS
2 bedroom 62m2
8 UNITS
4/5 bedroom 124m2
18 15
21
1
0-15
15-25
25-35
35-60
60+
5
36
21
4
7
4
TYPOLOGIES
3 3
1 4
7 6
3 3

12. 2120
Ground Floor Plan Kitchen Floor Plan
Co-Housing

13. 2322
Mezzanine Floor Plan Regular Floor Plan
Co-Housing

14. 25Co-Housing

15. CLAY STORMING
It is designed as an experimental workshop: less plans but lots
of dirt.
The method „Clay-storming“, developed with Martin Rauch,
was used at MCH. This is a more intuitive approach to building
and designing.
It is often rather sad that all the great researches and analyses
seem to end up in grids and blocks and same-looking facades,
and although for sure those systems work well, not everybody can
really embrace them with their hearts.Why design like that, while
in our holidays we go to historic towns in Europe or vernacular
villages in Africa or Asia? There must be a way to get this quality
again in our designs.
It is probably a lot the question of materiality and the process
of building, that’s why a part of the workshop deals with earth
architecture (how to build with earth), but a big part is an
intuitive and emotional search for quality of spaces. It’s about
avoiding the difference in designing for poor countries or for
rich – since inhabitants in Europe or richer parts of the world
have no rights to consume more resources than those living in poor
countries, just because they can afford it.
So it is about philosophical discussions around sustainability and
housing, a training of common sense logic, but less analyzing.
A site in Africa is chosen: Makeni, in Sierra Leona.
Workshop Assistant | Belén Gesto
Jury | A.H. & B.G.
Team | M. Amado, M. A. Peláez & M. Valerio
Duration | 5 days
ANNA HERINGER

16. 29
Manifesto
Here´s what I know for sure: work, home, beauty
dignifies a person´s life. Work makes people
feel integrated into society, increases self esteem
and reflects a positive image of oneself. Home
provides security, sense of belonging and calm
above everything else. Beauty is harmony and
captivates the human spirit.
I believe process is as important as the outcome.
We should integrate people in need with the
building process of their own home. It creates
work, provides education, technical skills and the
very sense of ownership. The process should also
involve technology, especially understood as the
devices developed to improve productivity. These
devices would probably be more effective and
efficient if they create considering local society
and environment scientific knwoledge.
“People need open places to go to;when they are close they use them.
But if the greens are more than three minutes away, the distance
overwhelms the need.”
Alexander,C.(1977).60 Accesible Green.In A Pattern Language
(1977 ed.,Vol. 2, p. 305). New York: Oxford University Press.
“The instict to climb up to some high place,from which you can look
down and survey your world, seems to be a fundamental human
instict.”
Alexander, C. (1977). 62 High Places. In A Pattern Language
(1977 ed.,Vol. 2, p. 316). New York: Oxford University Press.
“Whenever there is action in a place, the spots which are the most
inviting, are those high enough to give people a vantage point, and
low enough to put them in action.
In any public place where people loiter,add a few steps ate the edge
where stairs come down or where there is a change of level. Make
these raised areas inmediately accesible from below, so that people
may congregate and sit to watch the goings on”
Alexander, C. (1977). 125 Stairs Seat. In A Pattern Language
(1977 ed.,Vol. 2, p. 605). New York: Oxford University Press.
Clay Storming

17. 31
“Arrange houses to form very rough, but identifiable clusters of 8
to 12 households around some common land and paths. Arrange
the clusters so that enyone can wlak through them, without feeling
a trespasser.”
Alexander, C. (1977). 37 House Cluster. In A Pattern Language
(1977 ed.,Vol. 2, p. 202). New York: Oxford University Press.
“Sorround public gathering places with pockets of activity- small
partly enclosed areas at the edges, which jut forward into the open
space between the paths, and contain activities which make it
natural for people to pause and get involved.”
Alexander, C. (1977). 124 Activity Pockets. In A Pattern
Language (1977 ed.,Vol.2,p.602).New York:Oxford University
Press.
Clay Storming

18. SHAPE CORE SHELL
How much does a building last? How much should it last?
What would our building be when time passes by? Architecture
is always public and that implies a responsibility that should
make us think in a time horizon in which our buildings would
change and their success would depend on the resilience it has.
Thus arises a method to project that focuses on those elements that
determine its later adaptations. These are: relationship with the
surroundings; structure and core location; the envelope and its
relationship with the street and the comfort it provides.
Plaza Mayor surroundings in the city of Madrid is the where
the chosen plot is. Volume, core and shell are worked as the main
elements of the proposals. Giving specific responces to every case
but keeping in mind that the flexibility and efficiency of the
design are key points on every case.
Workshop Assistant | Gustavo Rojas
Jury | D.E. & G.R.
Team | Individual Work
Topic | Volume + Core | Structure + Shell
Duration | 5 days
DIETMAR EBERLE

19. 3534
Site Plan
Model | Volume
Surroundings
Ground Floor | Core and Structure Regular Floor | Core and Structure
Shape Core Shell

20. 36 Shape Core Shell

21. URBAN DESIGN
Until the middle of the 19th century, cities have grown through
the addition of new quarters to the old ones. Economic and
cultural globalization and new, problematic urban models like
the Siedlung or Levittown have blurred this process and led to
amorphous urban extensions. Today, while suburbia is spreading
around our cities and one state after the other is built, we seem to
have lost the capability of creating new urban quarters with an
own character.
The plot is located in the southwest beyond the M30 of Madrid
city limited by Casa de Campo, the railways and a purely
medium-low density residential neighborhood. The project was
developed on a 60 hectares area and shall work as a stitch between
the existing; linking again the green areas of the surroundings.
Specialty Assistant | Bernardo Ynzenga
Guests | V.L., B.Y., Ginés Garrido & Carmen Espegel
Team | O. Gilbert & M. Valerio
Topic | Siedlung in Madrid
Duration | 4.5 ECTS
VITTORIO MAGNAGO LAMPUGNANI

22. 4140 Urban Design

23. 4342
Typology 1 | Regular Floor Typology 1 | Ground Floor
Typology 1 | Elevation
In between buildings and street In between buildings

24. 4544 Urban Design
Typology 2 | Elevation

25. DUNKIRK
For the MCH’s 2017 edition, Anne Lacaton’s workshop will
work around the FRAC’s neighborhood in Dunkirk’s harbor and
surrounded by the sea.The huge site around the FRAC is a former
industrial site which was mostly dismantled in the 80’s.
The workshop will be hosted by the FRAC (Contemporary Art
Center), designed by Lacaton & Vassal and built in 2013 after
reusing a former assembly shed from an existing shipyard, were
the final pieces of the boats where assembled together.
A new residential master plan was designed for this area,lacking
better attention to its very special location and its landscape
qualities. Some housing buildings have already been built, but
the development of this new neighborhood progresses slowly,
and there are still large empty plots, on which some activity still
remains.
We will work to set a strategy of densification, providing a
better use of the unused land, filling and infiltrating the voids,
developing mixed-use programs and open structures that could
offer spaces for housing and other activities for public use. As a sole
given rule, we will assume that every existing building still in use
or reusable, should be kept.
Workshop Assistant | Diego García Setién
Jury | A.L., D.G.S. & Ángela Ruiz
Team | M. Abril & G. El Hachem
Topic | Intervention in Dunkirk
Duration | 5 days
ANNE LACATON

26. 49
Urban Space Sequence
Dunkirk

27. 51
Duplicating the existing
Longitudinal Section
Transverse Section
Dunkirk

28. 5352 Dunkirk
Typology 2 | Regular Floor East-West Typology 3 | Regular Floor North-SouthTypology 1 | Regular Floor

29. SPLIT ACTUM
In the times when tourism strategies are reduced to attract
visitors with shallow, banal and simple-minded agendas, top-
notch destinations relate their efficiency to the extent of Disneyfied
space they have to offer. The entire cities are turned into theme
parks full of scenic imagery and artificial constructs – Venice,
Dubrovnik, etc, you name it.
«Show your Disney side» suggests instant amusement, benign
playfulness, innocent morality, the disclosure of subliminal and
surrender to the childish in you.
The fantastic hidden side of Disney brings a strong concept of
a binary-dual system. It shows continuous counterpoints of
shameful and bold, the hidden figure and the openly celebrated
with split-divided scenarios that are permanently exposed
and exhibited. Disney reveals this ephemeral and airy fantasy
performance, where anything is possible and reversible. Through
this contradiction, we propose an architecture of the exhibitionist
and voyeur dwellings facing each other.The first one materializing
as the open stage revealing to the hidden mysterious observer, that
sees everything without being seen. Emerges a tense link between
them and flows directly to the public who chooses which character
wants to play.
Workshop Assistant | Nieves Mestre
Jury | H.N., N.M., D. García Setién & Néstor Montenegro
Team | M. Méndez Wiesner
Topic | Temporary Housing in Split Diocletian Palace
Duration | 5 days
HRVOJE NJIRIÇ

30. 5756 Split Actum

31. 5958
Ground Floor Plan
A
B
Typical Floor Plan
Split Actum
A
B

32. 6160 Split Actum
Section A

33. 6362
Section B

34. 6564 Exhibitionist Typology | Second Floor
Exhibitionist Typology | First Floor
Exhibitionist Typology | Ground Floor
Split Actum
Voyeur Typology | Typology 1
Voyeur Typology | Typology 2
Voyeur Typology | Typology 3

35. ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY
The module Thermodynamic Design Strategies explores the
design opportunities which the field of thermodynamics and
ecology is opening to architecture, and specifically to the field of
collective housing. From a practical and project-oriented stand
point, the module focuses on connecting thermodynamics and
ecology to architecture with the objective of finding potential
design strategies which bridge the void between quantitative and
qualitative approaches. Contrary to current energy approaches to
architecture which are based on quantitative analysis, the module
bridges the gulf between energy and architecture, exploring those
disciplinary parameters —such as spatial and material structure,
program or perception— which are specifically connected to its
material and atmospheric performativity.
The project consisted of designing a 900m3
volume building
located in the city of New York. The program of the project is
formed by different typologies of housing units, common areas as
a main condition of the exercise, working and commercial spaces.
Specialty Assistant | J.G.G.
Jury | J.G.G., Almudena Ribot & Carolina González Vives
Team | M. Alejandra Peláez
Topic | Sustainable Building in New York
Duration | 4.5 ECTS
JAVIER GARCÍA GERMÁN

36. 6968
Shaded windows. Double Pane Low-E
windows.
Open configuration.
Increase surface/volume
ratio.
Natural ventilation.
Cross Ventilation. Wind tower. Vertical ventilation. Solar Chimney.
Day. Roof extra
insulation and camera
for ventilation.
Night. Camera for
ventilation.
Day.Thermal mass with
night cooling.
Night.Thermanl mass.
Summer strategies
Because summer temperatures are near the human comfort climate conditions, it is important to design a building that can avoid as much as possible the use
of air conditioner. The most important strategies are designing an open configuration building with fully shaded and double pane low-e windows according to
the sun altitude (maximum 72 degrees) and bearing angle (depending on the orientation and time of the day) and creating natural ventilation systems in line
with the less warm winds and with de dominant wind. In case of Manhattan, the less warm winds come from the north-east and the dominant winds come from
south-southeast. In regions with a relative humid over 50%, proper ventilation is indispensable for human boy cooling.The wind makes possible the evaporation
of superficial skin water drops that are generated because of transpiration (physiological human method to lower internal temperature).
Maximize glass area to
south for sun exposure.
Double Pane Low-E
in E, W & N windows.
Not Low-E to South.
Double Pane Low-E
glazing to N.
Tight insulated
building to get internal
heat gain.
Inclose patios, sunny
and wind protected
(green house) to extend
living areas.
Thermal mass and
low-mass depending on
time spend inside the
interior space.
Locate buffer zones
(cores, corridors,
garages) facing cold
wind.
Winter strategies
In winter season, temperatures are too far from the comfort zone so a central heating system is needed. In this case, the focus of strategies change. They are
created in order to help the mechanical heating and make it more efficient. It is important to create a very tight compact building with the less infiltrations as
possible. For this reason, an additional ventilation convection system is needed and is better to ventilate with natural air preheated (geothermal heating, Canadian
system or air heating through a special program in the building-data centre) than with air coming directly from the exterior.Another strategy is to collect as much
radiation as possible, so windows orientation is extremely important. Having thermal mass exposed to sun radiation will also help the heating system because of
physiological human heat gain (around 60% is through radiation).
Energy & Sustainability

37. 7170
Summer Section and Plan
Wind Flow
Energy & Sustainability
Winter Sections | Day and Night
Temperature Flow

38. 73
Typology One Typology Two
Energy & Sustainability
Fourth Floor Eighth Floor
First Floor Third Floor

39. 7574
First Floor
Second Floor
Third Floor
Fourth Floor
Fifth Floor
Sixth Floor
Seventh Floor
Eighth Floor
Orchard Garden
Common Space
Data Center
Dwellings
Gym
Services / Lifts
Laundry
Working Spaces / Offices
Energy & Sustainability

40. Construction & Technology specialty develops housing
projects with the current techniques for building structures,
industrialization, construction details, and building systems.
The aim of this module is to understand buildings as entities
based on the interplay of three physical realms: structure, envelope
and services, connected by one technique: industrialization.
The original project by François Noël Architects is a compact
housing building located in Rue Riquet, Paris. The MCH team
selected Aguascalientes as the new location, a Mexican city of
approximately 800,000 inhabitants. In order to adapt to the new
location and climate, several design decisions have been done. A
radical change in the façade design, as well as passive strategies,
were taken into consideration in order to reduce the energy
demand of the building.
A key objective of the project is to develop an environmentally
friendly building which deals with the harsh weather (very hot in
summer and cold in winter) using high thermal inertia materials
(rammed earth) along with a precast concrete structure.
One collateral goal of using Rammed Earth is to build local
knowledge in the design and construction strategies of more
sustainable and affordable collective housing buildings in the
region.
Workshop Lecturers | Archie Campbell, Diego García
Setién & David Rutter
Team | D. Alcalá & R. Zawil
Topic | Redesigning a Parisian Building
Duration | 4.5 ECTS
IGNACIO FERNÁNDEZ SOLLA
CONSTRUCTION & TECHNOLOGY

41. 7978
Paris Proposal by François Noël Architectes
New Proposal
New Proposal
New Proposal Precast Concrete Structure
Rammed Earth Precast Walls
Photovoltaic Skin
Basic Precast Structure Proposal
Structure
In order to optimize construction time, precast
concrete beams and columns have been chosen
for the structure.There is no waiting for it to gain
strength and the modularity of precast products
makes the installation go quickly. The grid of the
structure has been designed maximizing repetition
to get a plenty of value from a mold and set-up. A
concrete system also delays the spread of fire and
is durable in time.
Walls
Rammed Earth is used in a sandwich precast
panel format. In order to maximize the insulation
from the outside, a 100 mm thermal insulation is
provided between two rammed earth layers. Note
that the external rammed earth wall thickness
is 105 mm, and the internal wall thickness will
be 200 mm (the overall dimension of the wall is
405 mm). A low e-double glazing units system is
proposed to increase performance.
Photovoltaic Skin
In response to climate, a double skin façade is
proposed at the south and east. It will provide the
building with a number of enhancing performance
benefits. The proposed double skin is meant
to integrate shading and natural ventilation as
passive strategies to optimize the people´s thermal
comfort. These dynamic skin collects external
climate data and records environmental changes
through sensors, and then rotates the panels in
sun hours to maximize the use of PV.
Basic Precast Structure Details
Construction & Technology

42. Façade Vertical Section
Plan Section A-A

43. 8382
WHAT DOES “ACCESSIBLE” MEANS?
By María Eizayaga
According to the Oxford English dictionary, the
first main two definitions for accessible are, “able to be
reached or entered” and “able to be easily obtained, used,
understood or appreciate”. Nevertheless, nowadays this
word is linked with people with different capabilities.
However, the first explanation is more precise and can
be always used without making any distinction,especially
when speaking about humans beings.
While it is not always easy to understand what accessible
means, there are simple steps that designers can take to
start thinking with accessibility in mind. In fact, any
designer can create good design. Great design comes
from the designer who is conscious of making the end
product aesthetically pleasing and inherently accessible
to as many users as possible. ´Design for all´ is a strong
movement whose core is about design in the means of
transformative, flexible, intuitive and customizable,
making lives better and tasks easier—no matter the
audience. Universal design is designing products and
environments in such a way that they are usable by all
people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need
for adaptation or specialized design for particular users.
In accordance with this understanding, solutions
that were originally made for people with disabilities
ended up being picked up, embraced and loved by
the mainstream, disability or not. For instance, text
messaging was originally designed for people who are
deaf. And as you know everybody loves text messaging.
So this changed mind set, design for disability first, not
for ordinary people,often stumble upon solutions that are
not only inclusive but also are often better than when we
design for the second group. This way of thinking can be
used as a force for creativity and innovation.
Let me show you other examples, like the OXO potato
peeler.It was originally designed for people with arthritis,
but it was so comfortable, everybody loved it. Kitchens,
for instance, can be made accessible to people with the
disabilities associated with aging and yet look bright,
modern and welcoming. The design team of German
kitchen manufacturer Alno created a new kitchen for
older customers by focusing on bringing kitchen units
to the user, thus avoiding their having to bend over.
The result is a fluid kitchen – My Way – that uses an
electronically based tracking system to allow cabinets,
appliances and even the sink to meet the user. With the
push of a button, the kitchen countertop can be raised
or the stove top lowered to the height of a wheelchair.
What is more, people of all ages – and heights – could
also enjoy cooking in such a customizable environment.
Other examples like these are audio-books, automatic
doors, electric toothbrushes, flexible drinking straw, low
floor buses, Velcro, trolley cases and washlets.
iOS products were the first to offer intuitive and need-
specific accessibility options for smart phones and tablets,
so it is no coincidence they are favorites among people
with disabilities and most of the general population.
Maybe because of its user-friendliness, or whatever,
but for sure this brand made something different to
be able to capture people´s preferences. An example is
voice recognition – realize Siri as the most simple case,
widespread among everyone– allows users with limited
dexterity to dial phone numbers or access items in the
device without tapping on any keys.
So imagine having smooth, ground level entrances
without stairs, surfaces that are stable, firm, and slip
resistant –specially for rainy days. Wide and comfortable
interior doors, hallways, and rooms. Components that
require minimum force to operate; light switches with
large flat panels rather than small toggle switches and
bright; appropriate lighting,particularly task lighting and
even ramp access in swimming pools –by the way easier
to build.Those small details certainly make everybody life
much more simple. Making a product or an environment
accessible to people with disabilities often benefits
others. For example, automatic door openers benefit
individuals using walkers and wheelchairs but also
benefit people carrying groceries and holding babies,
as well as elderly citizens. Sidewalk curb cuts, designed
to make sidewalks and streets accessible to those using
wheelchairs, are more often used by kids on skateboards,
parents with baby strollers, and delivery staff with carts.
When television displays in airports and restaurants are
captioned, programming is accessible not only to people
who are deaf but also to others who cannot hear the audio
in noisy areas.
One can think that most of the examples shown above
are expensive and difficult to achieve, but I really do
not believe so. I am convinced that is only a matter of
creativity, innovation and knowing where to put the
thinking strengths and priorities. But even more, if we
create devices, cities, buildings and dwellings practicing
universal design, the market will expand, hence, demand
will increase and that is when you can take profit of
economies of scale, a proportionate saving in costs gained
by an increased level of production. Even more, in the
case of dwellings, designing whole life houses, means
earning a huge amount of money in transactional costs
when selling and buying again a new house.
We can conclude saying that the intent of universal
REFERENCES
[1] Designing for Everyone. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://uxmag.com/
articles/designing-for-everyone
[2] Design for the Disabled. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.wipo.
int/wipo_magazine/en/2009/05/article_0009.html
[3] Malhotra, S. (2017, February 20). Architecture & Design for the
dis- abled people. Retrieved from http://www.arch2o.com/architectu-
re- design-disabled/
[4] Downey, C. (n.d.). Design with the blind in mind. Retrieved
from https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_downey_design_with_the_
blind_ in_mind
[5] Roy, E. (n.d.). When we design for disability, we all bene t.
Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/elise_roy_when_we_de-
sign_for_disability_we_all_bene t
CITY SCIENCES
design is to create products and environments usable
by as many people as possible, including people with no
disabilities at all.Using this way of thinking in cities,if we
take sight impaired as the prototypical city dwellers when
designing the perfect cities, we will have a rich walkable
network of sidewalks with a dense array of options and
choices all available at the street level.With a blind mind,
sidewalks will be predictable and will be generous. The
space between buildings will be well-balanced between
peoples and cars.
For instance, the future is about automotive cars,
shared cars. In this regard, I believe that we are on the
right track. Automotive cars will be able to carry almost
everyone without making any distinction. Moreover,
these shared automotive cars will probably be a solution
for congestions and pollution, an important problem in
our cities nowadays.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THE “SMART” IN
THE ECONOMY OF A CITY?
By María Eizayaga
John is a very talented man who manufactures dainty
three-buttons suits excellently cut and stitched for
reputable men. He owns a tailor shop located in a
working-class neighbourhood in the very south of the
city. His main client is a very prestigious, nicely and
stylishly decorated store situated in the most elegant and
aristocratic street.
Like most of the craftsmen, John is a very lucky
middle aged man who really loves his job, as well as his
employees. He learned the sewing skills from his father,
and his father learned them from his father and so on.
Their craft firm had kept the name for more than a
hundred years. He taught his personnel the most precise
techniques for loops, overcasting, eyelets and hems to
create the most detailed and well-made suits of the city.
It was a hot and cloudy summer afternoon, after he got
up from his routine half an hour nap when he received a
phone call from his main client.
“John”, he said in a worrisome tone.“We need to reduce
prices. Our competitor is taking our most loyal clients.
We have to lower costs, otherwise, I will have to stop
buying you”.
For John that was the most difficult task. How can he
reduce costs when he and his employees worked from
sunrise till the sunset. He didn´t want eit to reduce the
quality of the textiles, that was one of his trademarks.
There was, in fact, only one solution. He had to buy one
of these new machines that were supposed to reduce
drastically man´s labour.
Distrustful and annoyed he finally bought it and faster
than he could imagine, the machine was making the
job and everyone was able to use it. That strange object
was sewing suits three times faster than him and was
developing a more precise job. A suspicious atmosphere
invaded the working space, their jobs were at risk. So, this
is what John did. He called back to his main client.
“Good morning Mr. Smith”, John greeted eagerly.“Will
you please tell me which is the price of our competitor? I
will give you 20% lower price. In return, you will buy me
twice the number of suits”.
Mrs.Robinson,one of the most loyal clients of the store,
walked unhurriedly to the front desk.
“I´m looking for a new three-button suit for my
husband”, she said in heavily accented English. “I will
be very grateful if you can show me that one behind the
old navy coloured one. I see that your suits are much less
expensive than before and the quality really remains the
same. That´s the reason why I always choose you. Please
add two suits to my account.”
Mrs. Robinson finally decided to buy two suits but Mr.
Montgomery, another traditional client of the store,
didn´t require the same thing. Instead, he spent the saved
money on some new shoes. Therefore, that meant more
work to the shoemaker thanks to John.
John was happy and satisfied. Of course, he had to
pay and repay the new machine but he could keep his
employees. For instance, he hired two more workers to
cut the textiles because the machine was so productive
and demand also increased that he couldn´t afford for
that bottleneck in his production chain. Not only all
these amazing things were happening to him, more than
that,he started to take Fridays afternoon for free to spend
them with his family.
John was lucky because he didn´t have the need to drop
his labour force. If he had to do so, this looks at first
glance like a clear loss of employment. But the machine
itself required labour to make it; so here, are jobs that
would not otherwise have existed. John, because of
his economies, has profits that he did not have before.
Every dollar saved in direct wages, for having been able
to reduce the number of salaries, must indirectly go to
the workers who construct the new machine or to the
workers of other industries or those who take part in
the construction of a new house or in the manufacture
of jewels for his wife. In any case, he could have given
indirectly as many jobs as he ceased to give directly.
But the thing does not end there. If John makes big
savings over his competitors, or either they will follow
his example or he will begin to expand his business at
their expense, thereby providing more labour to the
machine manufacturers. Competition and production
will then begin to reduce the price of suits. There will
no longer be such great benefits for those who adopt the
new machines; and will be reduced or even disappear
for manufacturers that have not yet acquired machinery.
Savings, in other words, will be transferred to the buyers
of suits, that is, to consumers.
One of the most common economic errors is the belief
that machinery and/or technology, in short, create
unemployment. In the first chapter of Adam´s Smith
book, The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, the
author tells us that a workman unfamiliar with the use of
machinery employed in pin making “could scarce make
one pin a day, and certainly could not make twenty,” but
with the use of this machinery he can make 4.800 pins a
day.So in those times machinery had thrown from 240 to
4.800 pin makers out of work for everyone it kept. If that
had not been done, technology wouldn´t have progressed
REFERENCES
[1] Henry Hazlitt (1946). Economics in One Lesson. Harper and
Brothers, New York.
[2] 51° Coloquio Anual de IDEA - 5 El futuro del empleo. Retrieved
from https://vimeo.com/143327650
[3] Allen, K. (2015, August 18). Technology has created more jobs than
it has destroyed, says 140 years of data. Retrieved from https://www.
theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/17/technology-created-mo-
re-jobs-than-destroyed-140-years-data-census
the way it did, neither population.
To conclude with, machines, technological
improvements in every sense and efficiency do not
throw men out of work. What machines or everything
concerning to technology and/or ICT do, is to increase
production and raise the standard of living. This is done
in one of two ways: goods cheaper for consumers (as in
the example of suits) or they do it by increasing salaries
because they increase the productivity of the workers. In
other words, they either increase salaries or, by reducing
prices, they increase the volume of goods and services
available at the same wage. Sometimes they get both. But
in any case,machines,inventions and discoveries improve
the economy.
City Sciences Essays

44. 8584
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN WE RUN OUT
OF FOSSIL FUELS?
By María Eizayaga
Fossil fuels derivatives are everywhere in our daily
life. Gasolines and naphtha are mainly use for internal
combustion engine vehicles, cars, motorcycles and some
tractors. Kerosene is for domestic heating, jet engines
and gas turbines (airplanes). Diesel or gasoil is used by
trucks and public transportation vehicles. Fueloil one of
the heaviest fuels, it is widely used as a fuel in electric
power plants, in boilers and gas furnaces, as well as in
ships and maritime vessels. Benzines are for manufacture
of certain solvents and as the diluent for inks, waxes,
bitumen and industrial cleaning products. Petroleum
gas is used to produce butane gas. Oils are for lubricants
and greases. Asphalt is used for roads. Plastics, synthetic
fabrics, synthetic rubbers, synthetic latex, paintings,
sealing products, cosmetics, perfumes, soaps, paraffin wax
are also derivates from fossil fuels.
It is quite difficult to imagine the answer to this question
without having a wide and clear panorama of the whole
situation. There are some authors that think that if we
keep doing things the way we do now, we will run out of
fossil fuels –oil, coal and gas– in 2088. The truth is that
fossil fuels probably will not run out, at least not in the
sense that they will be exhausted. Oil, coal and natural
gas were here before us and will be here after we are
gone — surface coal and the most accessible oil reserves
are already going or gone. Now the question is whether
mining technology can keep up with our desire. As long
as it does, we will have access to fossil fuels.
So the question is, do we need to build a society without
fossil fuels? It might be nice to imagine the energy gap
could be filled by renewable sources. But solar and wind
power, for example, are relatively low-output, high-cost
power sources; they couldn’t replace fossil fuels as we
consume them now. For example, wind power produces
2.5 watts per square meter that means if we wanted to
produce literally total energy consumption in all forms
from wind farms, we will need half the area of the UK
to produce enough energy for the whole UK population.
Solar panels, instead, deliver 5 watts per square meter of
land area, so if we want to power the UK with them we
need to cover 20 percent of the country. In the event of a
catastrophic decrease in fossil fuel supplies, governments
would more likely turn to cheap, efficient nuclear energy
which produce 1000 watts per square meter. But is not
so simple at it looks like. In 2015, 443 nuclear plants
worldwide were providing about 11 percent of the
world’s electricity. If we assume that nuclear plants could
be responsible for 100 percent of electricity and that the
output of individual plants stays constant, we’d have to
build around 4,000 new plants to get up to current energy
consumption levels.
Regarding transportation inside cities, electric mobility
is happening today. Electric cars and conventional cars
are expected to cost the same and cities are already trying
electric buses and trains. On the contrary, big distances
that are done by airplanes and ships does not have a
technology already well developed in order to replace
petroleum. But some new inventions are in process, like
hydrogen, and will probably give a solution sooner or
later.
The fact is that before we run out of fossil fuels some
processes should occur first. As we well know, fossil fuels
are a non-renewable source that tend very slowly to
shortage meanwhile we make use of it. This is when the
rules of demand and supply have a main role in the game.
As mentioned before, the new mining technologies
needed to find new sources will get more expensive and
those higher costs will translate directly to the oil price.
Simultaneously, renewable sources technology will be
developing in favour of increased energy efficiency, less
money will be needed to produce it and more accessible it
will be for everyone. Hence, prices between both sources
will get similar, they will tend to equate. Users, in the
sense of use of energy, will use electricity coming from
renewable sources to the detriment of non-renewables.
On the other hand, motors and devices that use energy
(industries, residences, etc) will probably start being
more efficient in terms of energy management. That
is a fact because we can see it in the last decades since
electricity had been discovered. The energy consumed
per capita will be drastically reduced. Therefore, if we
consider these two points and the fact that developed
countries population –those that have the higher
demand of electricity per person– tend to stabilise so
will global consumption stabilise too. On the contrary,
non-developed countries –where population growth rate
increases within the years and energy requirements will
probably increase even more– are tropical countries with
huge amount of solar radiation. These countries may
convert in one of the major energy producers and may
be able to sell it to the rest of the world. This in turn
contributes with their economic development.
To conclude with,in my opinion it is highly unlikely that
we run out of fossil fuels so easily. It is a complex process
of accommodation and assimilation of new technologies
and cultural practices that mankind is doing from now
and had already started some years ago. The Stone Age
didn’t end because we ran out of stones. It ended because
we invented bronze tools, which were more productive.
With the oil era the same will happen, we will change
our habits so we will probably have no need to finish with
world fossil fuels resources. As a clear example, we can
REFERENCES
[1] International Energy Agency. Final Consumption. Retrieved from
http://www.iea.org/Sankey/#?c=World&s=Final consumption
[2] Derivados del petróleo y su uso en la vida cotidiana. (2016, Fe-
bruary 11). Retrieved from http://www.eadic.com/derivados-del-pe-
troleo-y-su-uso-en-la-vida-cotidiana/
[3] Flinn, G. (2015, June 19). What if we ran out of fossil fuels?
Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/
what-if/what-if-ran-out-fossil-fuels.htm
[4] Araya, M. (n.d.). A small country with big ideas to get rid of fossil
fuels. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/monica_araya_a_
small_country_with_big_ideas_to_get_rid_of_fossil_fuels#t-302330
[5] MacKay, D. (n.d.). A reality check on renewables. Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/david_mackay_a_reality_check_on_re-
newables#t-1095812
remember what happened with the first oil price shock
in 1973. The price of oil had approximately four-fold
but a few month later individuals reacted to this fact and
started to take care of it. Just remember how high where
the engine consumption compared to the ones we have
nowadays.
HOW CAN ICT CHANGE URBAN
PLANNING, ARCHITECTURE AND THE
CITY?
By María Eizayaga
ICT stands for information, communication and
technology. Each aspect of the acronym can stand on
its own. Includes “information” or “communication”
or “technology” but also includes “information and
communications technology”. This interpretation is
wider. A very good analogy of ICT, is the plumbing
analogy: a plumbing system is made up of storage tanks
and pipes. Water is stored in the storage tanks and flows
through the pipes. ICT is made up of information
technology (storage tanks) and communications
technology (pipes). Information (stored water) is stored
using information technology (storage tanks) and a
communication (flowing water) reaches the recipient
through communications technology (pipes)1
.
It is being said that the twentieth century is the
era of the Data Revolution. A flood of data is created
every day by the interactions of billions of people using
computers, GPS devices, cell phones, and medical
devices2
. Nowadays, with the increased automation of
data collection3
and data-processing tools many things
can be predicted. With enough data, the numbers speak
for themselves4
.
A very interesting exercise can be imagining how
current problems in cities could be solved with the help
of ICT. In the past, buildings and infrastructure shunted
the flow of people and goods in rigid, predetermined
ways. But smart cities can adapt to fly, feeding that data
into software that can see the big picture5
.
The cities of the future. Imagine them with no
more traffic jams. Nowadays, the main cause of daily
congestions is commuting. Most people go and leave
their working places in the same time frame so streets
get collapsed and public transport does not respond with
good manners. In the near future, probably certain things
will change. The most predictable, and we are going
down this path quite rapidly, is that technology would be
more established in every person’s daily life.There will be
less need for physically meeting on a normal daily basis
because of the proper functioning of communication
software. Nevertheless, this does not mean that people
will not travel any more. Public transport system will
respond to people daily demands.The variety of transport
available are not going to be differentiated any more.
Surface and air transport will not have fixed routes,
they will comply with people demands and they will
get distributed in order to reduce traveling times to the
maximum. Because most of the people will not work on
a fixed place any more, probably they will start moving to
different places,cities and even countries more frequently.
In the urban scale, public vehicles will be automotive
driven, and data processing will be so fast and accurate,
almost in real time, that they will rapidly adjust their
routes and frequency to what people need. The service
will be so easy going that people will prefer to travel by
public system instead of driving their own private cars. In
the regional and international scale, for example airlines,
will have similar behaviour. They will predict which
route is most demanded on short lead times. Almost all
airplanes will probably travel full of passengers, at least
there will be less airplanes travelling with a few number
of passengers, as if they were in heavy season all the year
round.This optimisation of the supply will reduce carbon
emissions and even better, ticket prices shall be cheaper.
As commuting will not be a problem anymore, people
will probably have more time for themselves. Some firms,
specially the commercial and financial ones, will not
find the need to settle in city centers. So, cities will be
homogenously planned in terms of people density and
commercial-residential buildings. No more night and
weekends ghost’s towns. Work will mix with leisure.
Human life will be more flexible, seeking harmony
between personal and professional life.There will be more
family moments, exercise time, social activities and time
for every person’s desires. Because the trend is people
moving towards densified cities, urban planners will
consider designing more green areas only three minutes
walking time from dwellings. People will tend to meet
more frequently.
Furthermore, lots of advantages thanks to ICT
development can be listed and impact directly in cities.
One very important is that it is possible to see how
people are changing their behavior and it is possible to
prioritise where to put resources in response6
.Energy and
nonrenewable resources will be able to be used efficiently.
Intelligent houses will adapt to household’s daily habits–
luminity and thermical needs¬, spaces suited to personal
tastes. Supply and demand of products will be more
effective and efficient– equilibrium price will be reached
in most products, quantity of goods supplied is likely to
equal to the quantity of goods demanded. This efficient
use of resources–no producer´s surplus production– will
make a great impact in pollution and waste management.
This kind of city-scale performance will one day fulfill
the potential of building automation. Life in smarts cities
will be defined by these dynamic, adaptive systems that
respond in real time to changing conditions at the very
small and very large scale simultaneously. And as smart
cities come to know us, they also will come to understand
themselves7
. Because cities are made for people by
people, in the present and in the early future, ICT is
changing and will change cities, therefore societies, for
REFERENCES
[1] Michalson. What Is ICT? What is the meaning or definition of
ICT- Retrieved form https://www.michalsons.com/blog/what-is-
ict/2525
[2] World Economic Forum. (2012). Big data, big impact: new
possibilities for international development (p. 1). Cologny/ Geneva,
Switzerland.
[3] Boyd, D., & Crawford, K. (2012). Critical Questions For Big
Data. Information, Communication & Society, 15(5), 664-664. doi:1
0.1080/1369118x.2012.678878
[4] Boyd, D., & Crawford, K. (2012). Critical Questions For Big
Data. Information, Communication & Society, 15(5), 666-666. doi:1
0.1080/1369118x.2012.678878
[5] Townsend, A. M. (2013). Preface. In Smart Cities: big data, civic
hackers, and the request for a new utopia (p. Xii). NY and London:
WW Norton & Company.
[6] World Economic Forum. (2012). Big data, big impact: new
possibilities for international development (p. 5). Cologny/ Geneva,
Switzerland.
[7] Townsend, A. M. (2013). The $100 Billion Jackpot. In Smart
Cities: big data, civic hackers, and the request for a new utopia (p. 29).
NY and London: WW Norton & Company.
[8] Boyd, D., & Crawford, K. (2012). Critical Questions For Big
Data. Information, Communication & Society, 15(5), 673-673. doi:1
0.1080/1369118x.2012.678878
the better. As with everything in life, there is always a
but’. It is indispensable to understand that that huge
amount of data threw up every day are all collected from
beings with a body with mind and soul characterized by
consciousness, rationality and moral sense– human kind.
Presently that data is being managed by companies which
restrict access entirely; others sell the privilege of access
for a fee; and others offer small data sets to university-
based researchers8
. An enormous data market has been
developed with people’s personal information.These data
deals with people intimacy and privacy. So there should
be an imminent awareness about its responsible use.
City Sciences Essays

45. 8786
WHAT DOES “ACCESSIBLE” MEANS?
By María Eizayaga
Como todo préstamo, estos implican una deuda, en
definitiva, que ha de ser reintegrada en algún momento.
El crédito pone a disposición los fondos necesarios para
la adquisición de capital. Existen básicamente dos tipos
de prestamistas, el privado y el estatal. El primero, por
ejemplo, en el caso de un banquero, arriesga sus propios
fondos que otros le han confiado; pero si el dinero se
pierde, responde con su propio capital o bien desaparece
del mundo de los negocios. Cuando la gente arriesga su
capital suele ser muy cuidadosa en investigar a quién y
cómo presta el dinero, presta especial atención en la
capacidad y honestidad del prestatario. Si el estado
recurriese a los mismos tipos de cuidados, no habría
razón que justificase su existencia como prestamista ya
que porqué habría de repetir lo que ya pueden realizar las
empresas privadas. Debido a esto, el Estado, opera sobre
supuestos diferentes y se basa en que el poder público
facilita los préstamos a quienes no lo consiguen por vía
privada. Esto es equivalente a decir que los prestamistas
estatales asumen con dinero ajeno mayores riesgos que los
prestamistas privados. Con los préstamos así facilitados,
salvo algunas excepciones, se perderá más dinero ya que
habrá un porcentaje mayor de insolventes que serán
menos eficientes y por ende se malgastarán más recursos.
Aquí, el dinero del estado ha ido a parar en manos de los
menos eficientes en lugar de los más capaces y dignos de
confianza. Por otro lado, el dinero que el Estado presta
al ciudadano es previamente obtenido del ciudadano
mismo ya que todos los fondos del Estado provienen
de las extracciones fiscales, es decir, del producto de los
impuestos. Este dinero es obtenido en todos los casos del
gravamen de las empresas e individuos privados exitosos y
se destina la mayoría de las veces a salvar o a subvencionar
negocios privados no exitosos.
Habiendo dicho esto se podría mencionar dos
cuestiones relevantes, que los créditos estatales, en
comparación con los privados, reducen la producción en
lugar de aumentarla y que el gobierno no puede gastar
y gastar sin acudir a la imposición fiscal, generándose
entonces una deuda con nosotros mismos. Viendo
entonces el crédito estatal o el gasto público desde esta
perspectiva, las inversiones estatales terminan teniendo
otro brillo. Es cierto que se debe incurrir a un mínimo
de gasto público para atender a ciertos servicios básicos
(calles, infraestructura, transporte, policía, bomberos,
edificios públicos, etc) para proporcionar a la comunidad
una riqueza que de otra forma no hubiese sucedido. No
obstante, siempre que sea crea una cosa, es a expensas de
otra. En el caso particular de la construcción de viviendas
para personas con menos recursos, lo que realmente
sucede es que, mediante el cobro de impuestos a familias
de mayores ingresos, se obliga a éstos a subvencionar a las
familias económicamente más débiles. Sucede también
que, al construir estas nuevas viviendas, no es cierto que
se proporciona trabajo y que se crea una riqueza que en
otro supuesto sería inexistente. Los impuestos destinados
a la construcción de viviendas destruyen tantos jornales
en otros sectores como crean en el de la vivienda. En este
sentido, nadie ve los jornales que se vieron destruidos
debido al destino de estos fondos obtenidos del gravamen
fiscal. Por el contrario, solo se puede observar un lado del
escenario donde el obrero trabaja temporalmente, hasta
que la obra culmine, para que luego quizás obtenga su
propia casa, pero probablemente suceda que se quede
luego sin trabajo debido a que la obra terminó. Lo que
no se observa aquí es que estos salarios destinados a todos
los trabajadores que participaron en la construcción y el
dinero destinado a materiales se pudieron haber invertido
en otra actividad más productiva que genere trabajo
indefinidamente.
Debido a que los recursos son siempre escasos, la
capacidad productiva entonces del Estado es siempre
limitada. Con lo cual cuanto mayor sea lo destinado a
un bien u servicio, menor será lo destinado a otros, en
este caso, sin hacer ningún juicio de valor en cuanto a
si el destino de los fondos es el más conveniente para la
mayoría de los ciudadanos. Por otro lado, cuanto menos
tome el Estado del caudal de riqueza para su propio
uso, para mantener activa la máquina, más dejará para
el servicio del pueblo, ya sea en una disminución de los
impuestos,o para destinarlo a actividades productivas que
beneficien al conjunto.
Varias teorías económicas han mencionado reiteradas
veces qué si el dinero se acumula y no se utiliza
directamente, parte de los trabajadores, directos
beneficiarios, se quedan sin trabajo. Este mecanismo de
pensamiento conduce a pensar que el ahorro es pecado
y el derroche, por ende, una virtud. Por el contrario, el
ahorro en la vida moderna, es solo una forma más de
gastar. La diferencia radica en dónde y cómo se destina
el dinero transferido a otra persona para que lo invierta
en medios dedicados a incrementar la producción. El
destino de la inversión del capital es crucial para poder
finalmente diferenciar entre el derroche y el ahorro y, en
conclusión, un futuro más acertado.
En conclusión, considero que la vivienda accesible
no es posible gracias a la intervención del Estado.
Históricamente se ha demostrado que los créditos
estatales para los negocios o bienes son extremadamente
SOCIOLOGY, ECONOMY AND POLITICS
peligrosos debido a que ineludiblemente implican el
riesgo de provocar inflación o aumento de los precios.
En el caso de la vivienda, los importantes aumentos de
precios registrados en la fase expansiva del mercado del
crédito dieron lugar a que la vivienda en general, tanto
nueva como usada, resultase inaccesible para amplios
segmentos de la población. Habiendo presentado
todas las ideas anteriores, si imaginamos al Estado
como responsable de administrar y construir viviendas
accesibles para la población económicamente más
débil, no hará más de provocar efectos colaterales no
deseados. Cabe reforzar la idea de que cada euro gastado
por el Estado se traduce en un euro más que cobran de
impuestos y que cada euro destinado a una actividad
particular es un euro menos que se deja de destinar a
otra actividad. Impulsar la construcción de viviendas va
evidentemente en detrimento de actividades productivas
sostenibles.
Considero que el difícil acceso a la vivienda por parte
de los jóvenes y por personas económicamente menos
solventes, no es debido a la falta de políticas estatales
apropiadas que hagan posible su concreción, por el
contrario, es justamente por abundancia de políticas
pseudo-correctivas que intentan mejorar la riqueza
de las personas. Analizándolo con atención, es poco
probable que los proyectos ejecutados por el Estado
proporcionen la misma suma de riqueza y el mismo
bienestar por euro gastado que los que proporcionarían
los propios contribuyentes si, en lugar de verse obligado
a entregar parte de sus ingresos al Estado, los invirtieran
con acertada precisión a sus deseos. En otras palabras,
que las personas coloquen los recursos de acuerdo a sus
preferencias que que lo haga el estado de acuerdo a las
preferencias del gobernante. Por el contrario, las políticas
del estado deberían acercarse más a las ideas de reducir al
mínimo posible los impuestos en conjunto con el gasto
público. Concentrarse en generar reglas claras de juego
para las inversiones privadas y fomentar el ahorro privado,
del individuo, para luego ser destinado hacia inversión
acertada con un futuro más seguro y próspero. La
riqueza creada por la inversión estatal nunca compensará
plenamente la riqueza destruida por los impuestos
percibidos y destinados al pago de aquellas inversiones.
REFERENCIAS
[1] Rodríguez López, Julio (2016). Cuaderno de Relaciones Laborales.
Las viviendas que pudieron hundir la economía española. La caída del
mercado de la vivienda y sus consecuencias. Ediciones Complutense.
[2] Leal Maldonado, Jesús; Martínez del Olmo, Almudena (2016).
Cuaderno de Relaciones Laborales. Tendencias recientes de la política
de vivienda en España. Ediciones Complutense.
[3] Echaves García, Antonio (2016). Cuaderno de Relaciones Labora-
les. El difícil acceso de los jóvenes al mercado de vivienda en España:
precios, regímenes de tenencia y esfuerzos. Ediciones Complutense.
[4] Henry Hazlitt (1946). Economics in One Lesson. Harper and
Brothers, New York.
Sociology, Economy & Politics

46. MARIA EIZAYAGA
CIVIL ENGINEER
Buenos Aires, Argentina
mariaeizayaga@gmail.com
+54 9 11 6293 5798