About us

Carme is an economist specializing in the housing sector, above all in social, economic and public policy fields. Between 2004 and 2011 she was Director General and Secretary of Housing of the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya), during which time she was the driving force behind the Law on the Right to Housing 18/2007 and the National Housing Pact 2007–2016.
She has collaborated with Caritas Barcelona on social housing issues and created the Housing Mediation Service, and currently chairs the Habitat3 Foundation, which manages more than 800 social rental properties cared for by the Table of the Third Social Sector of Catalonia. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Barcelona Neighbourhood Plan and chairs the Barcelona Metropolitan Area Housing Observatory (O-HB), which works with representatives from all the public administrations that operate in this field.

Carme is an economist specializing in the housing sector, above all in social, economic and public policy fields. Between 2004 and 2011 she was Director General and Secretary of Housing of the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya), during which time she was the driving force behind the Law on the Right to Housing 18/2007 and the National Housing Pact 2007–2016.
She has collaborated with Caritas Barcelona on social housing issues and created the Housing Mediation Service, and currently chairs the Habitat3 Foundation, which manages more than 800 social rental properties cared for by the Table of the Third Social Sector of Catalonia. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Barcelona Neighbourhood Plan and chairs the Barcelona Metropolitan Area Housing Observatory (O-HB), which works with representatives from all the public administrations that operate in this field.

Ricard is the Director of the Metropolis Institute. He is a Researcher at the Institute of Government and Public Policies (UAB) and Doctor in Political Science (UAB 1992), and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy (University of Strathclyde, Scotland 1989), a Master’s in Urban, Regional and Metropolitan Studies (UAB, 1990). He has been Professor of Political Science at the UAB since 1993 and is visiting professor at the universities of Warwick (UK, 1995) and Bath (UK, 1998 and 2002).
He has taught doctoral and postgraduate programs in European (UK, Italy) and Latin American (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico) universities. His research is centred on public policy analysis (welfare states and urban policies), local government and municipalism, democratic innovation and social movements.

Ricard is the Director of the Metropolis Institute. He is a Researcher at the Institute of Government and Public Policies (UAB) and Doctor in Political Science (UAB 1992), and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy (University of Strathclyde, Scotland 1989), a Master’s in Urban, Regional and Metropolitan Studies (UAB, 1990). He has been Professor of Political Science at the UAB since 1993 and is visiting professor at the universities of Warwick (UK, 1995) and Bath (UK, 1998 and 2002).
He has taught doctoral and postgraduate programs in European (UK, Italy) and Latin American (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico) universities. His research is centred on public policy analysis (welfare states and urban policies), local government and municipalism, democratic innovation and social movements.

Architect, PhD in Urban Planning, and Master in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Barbara specializes in sustainable urban development, climate change, and global cities.
As the Commissioner of the 2030 Agenda, Bàrbara was responsible for developing and coordinating Barcelona’s city strategy to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, from July 2022 to October 2023.
Bàrbara has developed her professional career in both the private sector and various public administration roles. She has been a speaker at numerous congresses and seminars and has taught at various national and international universities.
Currently, she is the General Director of Barcelona Regional and an associate professor of Global Studies at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF).

Architect, PhD in Urban Planning, and Master in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Barbara specializes in sustainable urban development, climate change, and global cities.
As the Commissioner of the 2030 Agenda, Bàrbara was responsible for developing and coordinating Barcelona’s city strategy to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, from July 2022 to October 2023.
Bàrbara has developed her professional career in both the private sector and various public administration roles. She has been a speaker at numerous congresses and seminars and has taught at various national and international universities.
Currently, she is the General Director of Barcelona Regional and an associate professor of Global Studies at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF).

Carles has a PhD in Geography from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB, 2014) with a thesis on housing needs in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region during the 1996–2007 real estate boom. He specializes in housing studies, residential segregation and land-use planning.
He has been an associate professor in the Department of Geography at the UAB since the 2001–2002 academic year and a researcher at the Barcelona Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies (IERMB) since 2003, where he is head of the areas of Territory and Housing. He is a member of the Research Group on Energy, Territory and Society Studies (GURB) recognised by Catalan Government (SGR 473). Since 2017 he has been head of projects at the Barcelona Metropolitan Area Housing Observatory (O-HB), of which he has been deputy director since 2022.
In recent years he has published more than 20 articles in academic and popular journals and book chapters. He has worked on numerous projects for public administrations and has taught on master’s programs at a number of universities.

Carles has a PhD in Geography from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB, 2014) with a thesis on housing needs in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region during the 1996–2007 real estate boom. He specializes in housing studies, residential segregation and land-use planning.
He has been an associate professor in the Department of Geography at the UAB since the 2001–2002 academic year and a researcher at the Barcelona Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies (IERMB) since 2003, where he is head of the areas of Territory and Housing. He is a member of the Research Group on Energy, Territory and Society Studies (GURB) recognised by Catalan Government (SGR 473). Since 2017 he has been head of projects at the Barcelona Metropolitan Area Housing Observatory (O-HB), of which he has been deputy director since 2022.
In recent years he has published more than 20 articles in academic and popular journals and book chapters. He has worked on numerous projects for public administrations and has taught on master’s programs at a number of universities.

Aleix qualified in Architecture from the Barcelona School of Architecture, UPC (2015) with an MSc in Spatial Data Science and Visualization from The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, University College London (2020). He also has a postgraduate degree in Sustainability and Architecture from the Sert School, Official College of Architects of Catalonia (2016).
He specialises in spatial data analysis and geographical information science.
He was awarded a postgraduate scholarship from the La Caixa Foundation in the field of architecture and urban planning (2019) and an Architectural Association Visiting School Barcelona Scholarship (2013). He has completed academic and professional stays in Milan, London, Fredericia and Lesbos.

Aleix qualified in Architecture from the Barcelona School of Architecture, UPC (2015) with an MSc in Spatial Data Science and Visualization from The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, University College London (2020). He also has a postgraduate degree in Sustainability and Architecture from the Sert School, Official College of Architects of Catalonia (2016).
He specialises in spatial data analysis and geographical information science.
He was awarded a postgraduate scholarship from the La Caixa Foundation in the field of architecture and urban planning (2019) and an Architectural Association Visiting School Barcelona Scholarship (2013). He has completed academic and professional stays in Milan, London, Fredericia and Lesbos.

Joffre has a Degree in Sociology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1997), a Master’s in Social Policies and Housing from Pompeu Fabra University and John Hopkins University (2001), and a postgraduate degree in Data Analysis for Social Sciences from the University of Barcelona (2021).
He has spent more than twenty years working in the field of housing and the labour market in the public sector (local and regional), the private sector and the third social sector. For 11 years he worked in the former Secretariat of Housing and Urban Improvement where he assisted in producing official housing statistics and the quantitative exploitation of administrative records. He has also been a general sociology consultant for the UOC degree courses in Social Sciences and Humanities and took part in the creation of the Labour Market Observatory of Granollers City Council.

Joffre has a Degree in Sociology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1997), a Master’s in Social Policies and Housing from Pompeu Fabra University and John Hopkins University (2001), and a postgraduate degree in Data Analysis for Social Sciences from the University of Barcelona (2021).
He has spent more than twenty years working in the field of housing and the labour market in the public sector (local and regional), the private sector and the third social sector. For 11 years he worked in the former Secretariat of Housing and Urban Improvement where he assisted in producing official housing statistics and the quantitative exploitation of administrative records. He has also been a general sociology consultant for the UOC degree courses in Social Sciences and Humanities and took part in the creation of the Labour Market Observatory of Granollers City Council.

Mireia graduated with honours in Architecture in 2018 from the Vallès School of Architecture (UPC). She also has a postgraduate degree in Housing Policies from the Sert School, COAC (2020), Technical Course in Social and Urban Research (2019) and a Master’s in Urban and Metropolitan Studies (2022, graduate with honours) from the IERMB, UAB. She is an expert in housing policies and metropolitan dynamics in the field of social sciences and has worked in both the public – Department of Urban Planning, AMB – and the private – Arqbag Architecture Cooperative – sectors.
She has collaborated in various exhibitions and roundtables involving local authorities and the public in the fields of architecture and territorial planning: Gausacs Headquarters (ETSAV), the Urbanisation of the underground railway in Can Feu-Gràcia (Bosch and Cardellach Foundation, 2016), AC-Barri Safaretjos (Santa Coloma de Gramenet), and 60 years cycling (Casa de Cultura de Sant Cugat del Vallès, 2017), and has completed academic stays in Rome.

Mireia graduated with honours in Architecture in 2018 from the Vallès School of Architecture (UPC). She also has a postgraduate degree in Housing Policies from the Sert School, COAC (2020), Technical Course in Social and Urban Research (2019) and a Master’s in Urban and Metropolitan Studies (2022, graduate with honours) from the IERMB, UAB. She is an expert in housing policies and metropolitan dynamics in the field of social sciences and has worked in both the public – Department of Urban Planning, AMB – and the private – Arqbag Architecture Cooperative – sectors.
She has collaborated in various exhibitions and roundtables involving local authorities and the public in the fields of architecture and territorial planning: Gausacs Headquarters (ETSAV), the Urbanisation of the underground railway in Can Feu-Gràcia (Bosch and Cardellach Foundation, 2016), AC-Barri Safaretjos (Santa Coloma de Gramenet), and 60 years cycling (Casa de Cultura de Sant Cugat del Vallès, 2017), and has completed academic stays in Rome.

PhD in Economics (Jönköping International Business School, 2023), with a thesis structured as a compilation of microeconometric studies of residential mobility in large cities, home ownership among young people and farmland sustainability under spatial equilibrium and new theoretical frameworks of economic geography.
After previous professional collaboration with the IM in the spheres of regional and urban economics (2016–2017), he joined the OHB-IM in autumn 2023 to lead projects related to housing and residential mobility. He is also working on research projects on internal migration, land markets and farmland biodiversity nudging as a member of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (Jönköping International Business School) and in collaboration with the Nature Conservation Network in Catalonia. He is also a member of the Catalan Economics Society and the Catalan Institute of Agricultural Studies.
Before joining the OHB, he combined his work in applied economic research projects and teaching in academic environments with tasks related to administration, internationalisation, market intelligence and strategic planning, both in the private sector and in the public administration.

PhD in Economics (Jönköping International Business School, 2023), with a thesis structured as a compilation of microeconometric studies of residential mobility in large cities, home ownership among young people and farmland sustainability under spatial equilibrium and new theoretical frameworks of economic geography.
After previous professional collaboration with the IM in the spheres of regional and urban economics (2016–2017), he joined the OHB-IM in autumn 2023 to lead projects related to housing and residential mobility. He is also working on research projects on internal migration, land markets and farmland biodiversity nudging as a member of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (Jönköping International Business School) and in collaboration with the Nature Conservation Network in Catalonia. He is also a member of the Catalan Economics Society and the Catalan Institute of Agricultural Studies.
Before joining the OHB, he combined his work in applied economic research projects and teaching in academic environments with tasks related to administration, internationalisation, market intelligence and strategic planning, both in the private sector and in the public administration.

Graduate in Journalism (URLL, 2005), Masters and Community Management & Online Reputation (EAE Business School, 2013) and Postgraduate SEO & SEM (Inesdi, 2016). I began my professional career working in the society section and as head of the political sections for a series of publications (20 Minutos, La Vanguardia, El Punt Avui, ElDebat.cat). In 2010 I moved into the field of corporate communication and began working in a media communication agency where I was in charge of managing the social media of companies in the fields of sport, health and technology. In 2014 I joined the department of communication of a multinational energy provider. Since 2019 I have been in charge of communication at the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory.

Graduate in Journalism (URLL, 2005), Masters and Community Management & Online Reputation (EAE Business School, 2013) and Postgraduate SEO & SEM (Inesdi, 2016). I began my professional career working in the society section and as head of the political sections for a series of publications (20 Minutos, La Vanguardia, El Punt Avui, ElDebat.cat). In 2010 I moved into the field of corporate communication and began working in a media communication agency where I was in charge of managing the social media of companies in the fields of sport, health and technology. In 2014 I joined the department of communication of a multinational energy provider. Since 2019 I have been in charge of communication at the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory.

Graduate in Management and Public Administration from the University of Barcelona (2018).
Her professional career has always been related to the field of management and administration in public institutions such as the Barcelona Provincial Council and AMB Informació i Serveis.
She is currently an administrative technician at the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory (O-HB) and the Barcelona Institute for Childhood and Adolescence, two institutions that form part of the Metropolis Institute.

Graduate in Management and Public Administration from the University of Barcelona (2018).
Her professional career has always been related to the field of management and administration in public institutions such as the Barcelona Provincial Council and AMB Informació i Serveis.
She is currently an administrative technician at the Barcelona Metropolitan Housing Observatory (O-HB) and the Barcelona Institute for Childhood and Adolescence, two institutions that form part of the Metropolis Institute.