Responding to the pressure of the real estate market, Vitoria-Gasteiz has created a powerful Housing Observatory. This observatory, unique for a city of its size, integrates fragmented data from various sources into a single, accessible visualization. Thematic maps provide a detailed overview of the rental market, land availability and the general state of housing, all contextualized by the socioeconomic situation of neighborhoods. A tool that democratizes access to vital information to guarantee the right to housing.

Vitoria-Gasteiz is a medium-sized city in Spain. Despite being the capital of the Basque Country, it is the smallest city of the three provinces that make up the Autonomous Community. Vitoria-Gasteiz is known for being a city that has invested a lot in being a green reference and urban regeneration of its neighborhoods. Despite this, it suffers tremendous pressure from the real estate market, which causes it to live in an unprecedented housing crisis. For this reason, the Housing Observatory was created. Among Spanish cities, it is possibly one of the most powerful observatories in existence. Especially when taking into account that it is from a medium-sized city, which is an uncommon place to have these information platforms. Its main objective is to have an open data tool and cartographic visualization of the main housing indicators.

Before the implementation of the Housing Observatory, the information was fragmented in various administrations and entities. Thus, the main task of the Observatory is to collect, systematize, update and relate data from various sources in a single visualization. All the information is oriented to inform the real estate sector, citizens mobilized by the right to housing and administrations about the main state of housing in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The data are organized in thematic maps. Mainly, the rental market, new and used housing, land available for construction and the general state of the housing stock stand out. Around these maps you can find the average prices of housing, its condition or where new buildings can be built, public or private ownership. Everything is put in relation to the socioeconomic situation by neighborhoods, helping the idea of urban regeneration and encouraging more diverse neighborhoods with mixed uses. In addition, there is a visualization of the main indicators, which can be filtered by neighborhoods. Thus, it also provides a global and territorialized vision, beyond the thematic maps.

All this information can be downloaded and used freely by any user. In short, a tool for the democratization of housing data to coordinate actions to guarantee the subjective right to decent and affordable access to housing.