SOLAR VERTICAL

Abstract

The First Industrial Revolution brought about not only great economic and technological transformations, such as the transition from a basically rural economy based on agriculture and livestock to an urban one based on industry, but also social transformations, such as the consequent massive population movement towards the cities, which experienced a period of unprecedented growth. The traditional historic centers proved to be insufficient and the urban extensions were designed, which are now often considered attractive neighborhoods because of the quality of their architecture and public space. Today, and no longer only in the Western countries that were at the center of this period, we are witnessing a new wave of population movement from the countryside to the cities. The need for housing to accommodate new neighbors can become extreme, and this has become what is now known as a housing emergency. The aim of the paper is to present the concept of the vertical plot as a solution to the shortage of urban plots, differentiating it from the horizontal plot (total urban void). A vertical site is defined as the constructible space available in existing buildings that have not exhausted their volumetry according to current regulations. This concept is exemplified in the Russafa neighborhood, Valencia, Spain. It has been developed by consulting the city's urban planning regulations throughout its history, as well as through exhaustive visits to all the streets involved to check the configuration and condition of their buildings and the preparation of a cartography and documentation that illustrate the phenomenon in this popular neighborhood, which is so representative of the phenomenon described at a European level. The results show that vertical plots allow the creation of new housing without significantly increasing density, regularize urban profiles by avoiding visible party walls and offer economic and aesthetic benefits for the neighboring communities. In conclusion, it highlights that the acquisition of vertical plots by developers often includes the refurbishment of buildings, benefiting communities facing economic constraints. The text underlines the relevance of this approach as a strategy to address the housing emergency and revitalize urban areas representative of a wider European context.