La Laguna Announces Major Urban Overhaul to Repurpose University Land for Housing and Events
La Laguna has launched an urban redevelopment plan to repurpose unused university land for student housing, social residences, and cultural facilities to alleviate pressure on the city's historic center.
La Laguna is planning a major urban overhaul that will transform the areas around its three main university campuses. Following a recent meeting of the Urban Planning Management Governing Council, the city has begun the process of updating its General Urban Development Plan for the Anchieta, Guajara, and Geneto sectors. The goal is to repurpose land that the University of La Laguna (ULL) no longer needs for teaching.
This project is a strategic move to tackle two of the city’s biggest challenges: the housing shortage and the overcrowding of the historic center. By opening up this land, the City Council aims to ease the pressure on neighborhoods near the campuses. The plan includes building new student residences in Anchieta and Guajara, which should help meet student demand and free up more rental homes for local families. Additionally, the Guajara campus will host new social housing, helping to bring better structure to an area that has developed unevenly over the years.
The project goes beyond housing. In Guajara, there are plans for a large multipurpose complex designed to host major sporting and cultural events. This is intended to move large-scale activities away from the historic center, helping to protect the city’s status as a World Heritage Site.
Meanwhile, the proposal for Geneto focuses on environmental sustainability. It introduces an "ecological transition zone" to act as a natural buffer, preventing further urban sprawl and helping the campus blend more naturally into the surrounding landscape.
The municipal government, led by Mayor Luis Yeray Gutiérrez and technical lead Adolfo Cordobés, describes this as a necessary step toward modernizing the city. However, there is still a long administrative road ahead. The plan must undergo an environmental assessment and receive final approval from the Plenary. If everything stays on schedule, the project is expected to receive its initial approval in the first half of 2027.