Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 587 Housing Prices and Population

Although Spain already has existing competition venues, bullfighting venues are different from Olympic venues. The Spanish sports authorities still need to carry out extensive renovations to the Lerta bullring before it can be used as a venue for hosting the Olympic Games.

In addition to renovating the competition venues, the Spanish government also needs to provide sufficient accommodation for athletes from various countries who will participate in the Olympics in the future, including auxiliary buildings such as canteens and training grounds.

Based on the previous Stockholm Olympics, if all goes well, the number of athletes participating in this Madrid Olympics should be at least 2000.

Providing these individuals with sufficient housing and training facilities is a challenging task for the Spanish government.

Fortunately, there is still a large open space around the Lelta bullring. With more than half a year to go before the Olympics, there is plenty of time to build some simple houses for the athletes to live in.

Over the years, with the expansion of Madrid and Barcelona, ​​construction companies of all sizes have sprung up, building all kinds of high-rise buildings for Spain and providing Spaniards with comfortable homes to live in.

Along with the construction of cities, one issue that must be raised is that a large number of houses are purchased by speculators, thus creating a wave of price speculation.

This is actually an inevitable consequence of social development. After all, houses are different from one another; different geographical locations, surrounding facilities, and environments all contribute to price differences.

The good news is that housing prices in Spain are not yet outrageously high; whether in Madrid or Barcelona, ​​prices are within an acceptable range for the general public.

Even in a relatively bustling city center, the price of a detached villa is generally only around 5000 pesetas, which is equivalent to the total income of a Spaniard working for ten years.

In more remote suburbs, the price of a detached house can drop to less than 3000 pesetas, which is an affordable expense for a family.

Moreover, most ordinary people would not choose to buy a detached villa, but rather a cheaper apartment or low-rent housing.

Compared to detached houses, apartments and low-rent housing offer less private space, but are also much cheaper.

An apartment in the city center of Madrid and Barcelona costs just over 3000 pesetas, and the annual rent for a low-rent apartment is less than 100 pesetas.

Furthermore, with Madrid and Barcelona continuing to expand and the city governments constantly planning more housing construction, housing prices in Spain have remained within an acceptable range for the general public, rather than being exorbitant.

Compared to Spain, house prices are much higher in the more developed UK and US.

As the world's largest and most developed city, London has villas in the suburbs that cost nearly £300 each, while villas in the city center easily cost over £500 each, which translates to more than 7500 pesetas, about 50% higher than the average house price in Spain.

The United States and the United Kingdom have similar situations, but high housing prices in the United States only occur in some large cities, such as New York, the largest city in the United States.

In some mid-sized cities in the United States, the price of newly built houses is still relatively low, with some cities even having prices below $400. After all, the United States is sparsely populated and has ample land to build houses.

This is precisely what Carlo didn't want to see. As the world's largest economy and industrial nation, the United States should set an example for all industrialized countries by significantly increasing housing prices to boost the economy.

A highly developed real estate market can rapidly drive the development of various industries. Building houses requires steel bars and cement, which in turn are linked to steel mills and cement plants.

These factories not only provide a large number of jobs, but also enable the people who earn these incomes to consume, thereby stimulating another round of economic growth.

Therefore, in some respects, Carlo's attempts to inflate house prices in the UK and the US were actually helping the economies of the UK and the US.

More importantly, it is indeed possible to make money by speculating on housing prices, especially given that housing prices in the UK and the US are not currently exorbitant.

With proper public opinion guidance and sufficient capital, it is possible to significantly influence housing prices in the United States and the United Kingdom and profit from the price difference.

As for the potential risks posed by the sharp rise in house prices in the UK and the US, that's not something Carlo should be concerned with. After all, stabilizing house prices is the government's job, so what does it have to do with Carlo?

With that in mind, Carlo decided to stop being polite and create some trouble for the British and American governments during peacetime.

In this era, it's still easy to speculate on housing prices, since a large number of people are migrating to big cities, and there's no shortage of houses to sell.

However, thorough preparations must be made. Because after the world war, countries are destined to vigorously revitalize industrial production, stimulate economic consumption and growth. This will lead to a massive increase in industrial output, ultimately resulting in an economic crisis where production far exceeds sales.

When an economic crisis hits, housing prices are bound to drop significantly. After all, when people can't even afford to eat, housing will naturally not be a priority.

The good news is that there is still a long time before an economic crisis. If they can manage the situation well, the Spanish royal family can earn substantial income in the UK and the US before the crisis hits.

If we're talking about the country where it's easiest to speculate on housing prices, then it's definitely the British Empire today.

There is a rather exaggerated statistic: in the mid-19th century, the urbanization rate in Britain reached a staggering 50.2%, and some economically prosperous areas had already achieved basic urbanization.

This data also fully reflects the economic gap between European and non-European countries in this era, which is why Europe is known as the pearl of the world.

Not to mention the achievements Britain made later, its urbanization rate of 50.2% in the mid-19th century alone is a level that many countries in later generations have failed to reach.

In the early 20th century, Britain's urbanization rate had exceeded 75%, making it a highly urbanized country in the standard sense.

More importantly, the UK has a limited land area but a large population. This is especially true in London, the UK's largest city, where the shortage of land and the high population density are the main reasons why London house prices are significantly higher than in other cities.

London's population alone exceeded that of many European countries. Around 1910, London's population had reached 725.6 million, far surpassing the populations of other major capital cities.

At the same time, Madrid, the capital of Spain, had a population of only 189.6 million; Berlin, the capital of Germany, had a population of 207.1 million; Paris, the capital of France, had a population of 288.4 million; Vienna, the capital of Austria-Hungary, had a population of 203.2 million; St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia, had a population of 196.7 million; and Rome, the capital of Italy, had a population of 54.5.

While the populations of other major European capitals at the same time were around 200 million, the population of London, the capital of Great Britain, had already exceeded 700 million, which is enough to show Britain's glory and power in the First Industrial Revolution.

This is also why London property prices are so easy to speculate on, because London's population size would definitely be considered a metropolis in later generations.

It is worth mentioning that around 1910, the populations of many American cities were on par with those of the capitals of major European powers, with New York City, the largest city, far surpassing London and becoming the world's second-largest metropolis.

At that time, New York City had a population of over 400 million, Chicago had a population of over 200 million, and Philadelphia had a population of over 150 million, all of which were among the top ten cities in the world.

In this respect, Spain actually did a better job. Although the population of Madrid, the capital of Spain, was only 189.6 million in 1910, Spain had another city with a larger population than Madrid, namely Barcelona, ​​an industrial city in the northeast.

By 1910, Barcelona had a population of over 240 million, making it the fourth largest city in the world at the time, after London, New York, and Paris.

By the beginning of 1917, Barcelona's population had exceeded 380 million, officially surpassing Paris, Berlin, and other well-known European cities to become the world's third largest metropolis.

London and New York remain the top two cities, but their rankings have swapped. Seven years later, London's population remains around 7.5 million, while New York's population has surpassed 8 million, making it the new world's largest city.

After Barcelona, ​​Spain, Berlin and Chicago are the world's fourth and fifth largest cities, respectively. Despite the devastation of war, Berlin still has a population of nearly 350 million, and Chicago's population is also very close to 350 million, placing them in the second tier alongside Barcelona.

Next are the third tier of cities, such as Tokyo in Japan, Paris in France, Madrid in Spain, and Philadelphia in the United States, all with populations around 300 million. They are somewhat behind the second tier of cities, but slightly ahead of the fourth tier.

It is worth mentioning that Vienna, a major city that was originally ranked among the top eight in the world, saw its population decrease rather than increase after the World War, with a total population of less than 200 million, and it completely fell out of the top ten in the world.

These city population rankings not only reflect the population development of various countries in recent years, but also reveal the fact that the gap between established powers and emerging powers is getting smaller and smaller. The United States has several cities that can be listed among the world's top ten cities, while countries like Britain and France only have one city on the list.

On the contrary, Spain has risen to prominence, with Barcelona becoming the world's third largest city and Madrid ranking eighth. Spain has two cities in the top ten, which shows that Spain's population has indeed grown significantly in recent years.

More importantly, several Spanish cities are among the world's top 50 cities. However, these cities are far less well-known than the world's top ten cities, so few people outside of Spain would mention these relatively unfamiliar names.

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(End of this chapter)