Regina Maroncelli, vice president of ELFAC and coordinator of the European Network of Family-Friendly Municipalities, gave the family perspective in the panel that took place on 23 September 2026 on “Future-Proofing Europe’s Cities: Housing, Infrastructure and Urban Resilience”
The panel was moderated by FoCC Chairwoman Jossianne Cutajar at The District Show in Madrid, one of Europe’s largest real estate events, alongside Build Europe, GBS INVEST, European Large Families Confederation (ELFAC) and Airbnb.
For Regina Maroncelli, “cities are no more a good place for families to live as they are built without taking into consideration their needs, which are about services, green, public spaces, sweet mobility, a supporting community, security.”.
Maroncelli added that “there is a lack of vision on what cities should be and become: this is the reason why ELFAC has established the European Network of family friendly municipalities where policies are focused on the wellbeing of families in order to make their life a little bit easier. And this is why we have joined the Coalition for the future of cities, as we believe there’s a strong need of facing the topic with its holistic and crosssectorial approach. It is a great opportunity to talk about”.
One message emerged clearly: housing can’t be discussed in isolation. It is closely linked to mobility, demographics, tourism, infrastructure, economic development, and quality of life.
