The processes of urban sprawl that have been present over the past two decades in the different strata of the urban hierarchy have also affected, as a whole, medium-sized cities. The urban sprawl has been particularly pronounced during the period of expansive Spanish urbanism, in which many of the municipalities situated in the vicinities of large cities have been affected by major demographic dynamics and (sub)urbanisation development outside the traditional city limits. Sometimes, these processes have been greater than the nearby cities in the urban area where they are inserted. In this study, we examine the general mechanisms identified within an urban crown size (within a radius of 30 km) and at the scale of the municipality, based on an analysis of two distinct periods: one linked to a strong growth dynamic (2000–2008), and another related to subsequent crisis (2009–2016). A group of 23 inner medium-sized Spanish cities has been analysed, taking into account the trends of the population, the surface of unbuilt plots, the built surface, and the amount of housing. We have identified the typologies of their respective urban areas over the two periods considered.

Environmental problems endanger the sustainability and survival of our planet. A way to raise awareness of the seriousness of the current environmental situation among future citizens and instill proactive behaviors that place the environment at the center of decision-making is environmental education. This study analyzes nine primary and secondary education textbooks in order to see what environmental education students receive as part of the subject of geography across the years of compulsory education in Spain. These textbooks are published by three different and main companies, which are a good example of the adaptation of the official curriculum. The study was conducted using the design and development of a coding sheet combining analysis of format (quantitative) and content (qualitative). The results show much room for improvement there is in environmental education in Spain. This improvement should start from the organization of the curriculum and its subsequent transposition into the textbooks. Thus, many changes are needed if we wish to build a society capable of effectively solving the threat of the environmental problems that surround us.

A process of land squandering began in Spain in the mid 1990s until the great crisis of 2008. The intensive production of urban land affected the Spanish medium-sized towns. They were characterized by their compact nature and then they underwent an intense diffuse urbanization. However, in some cases there had been previous examples of urban sprawl. In this article, we study one of them, the unique and historic city of Toledo, in the Centre of the Iberian Peninsula. We will show how the city has experienced the land squandering and has been extensively widespread throughout the hinterland, consisting of their peripheral municipalities. We will also check how Toledo has had a previous internal dispersion process in the last quarter of the 20th Century through the called Ensanche (widening). We will use the urban estate cadaster as a fundamental source for evolutionary and present analysis of the city and its hinterland. The field and bibliographic work complete the methodology. The final conclusion is that there have been remarkable urban increments in Spanish medium-sized cities such as Toledo, in external and peripheral districts, under the logic of speculation and profit, resulting in a disjointed space.2 of 17 cities are characterized by the role played in the territory not only regarding the capacity to articulate their environment but also regarding the influence that they generate and the relationships that they are able to establish with other spaces. In short, it must be highlighted their role as carriers of goods and services to those cities and/ or rural municipalities on which they exert influence. In addition, their ability to connect different levels of networks (at a local, national, and even international level) is remarkable [9].The definition of intermediate cities with their clear vocation of intermediation, left the quantitative criteria behind to conceptualize from the explanation of qualitative, economic, functional and territorial factors, where the capacity to organize more balanced urban systems with a higher quality of life is essential [10].The most recent studies on medium-sized cities have been approached from different perspectives (scattered and oversized growths-in most cases-which leave the traditional compact city model aside) that share one thing in common: the model of diffuse city. However, the term is not subject to a concise definition. On the contrary, and it is the same as with the concept of medium-sized cities, this reality associated with urban sprawl does not have a clear definition since their building density, the morphological typologies, the intensity of use and/or the possible territorial effects to which urban dispersion refers are unknown [11].This phenomenon has been characterized from different terms that come to represent a similar reality: city-region [12], urbanized field [13], diffuse city model [14], city sprawl [15], no city [16], inefficient city [17]. The explanatory processes that derive in this situation are also complex and are hidden under vague ter...

This article presents a methodological proposal using the cadastre as a tool to analyze urbanization dynamics. It is backed by an in-depth review of the related literature concerning Spain and Mediterranean Europe. The work uses the cadastre as a source of information, specifically leveraging the urban parcels and real estate obtained from the CAT files. After the data were collected, interpreted and organized, complementary statistical and cartographic methodologies and tools were used, together with the required database management. The goal of the study was to analyze the behavior of five intermediate cities and their urban areas, with the aim of comparing the construction dynamics between the cities and the municipalities located in their respective areas of influence in the period 2000–2016. The work is framed within the debate on urban sprawl, sustainability and the need for tools for town and regional planning. The main conclusion of the work reflects the necessity of a better understanding of the processes of transformation in cities, in which the use of cadastral data is key, given its reliability and updated information, despite the difficulty involved in accessing the data structure.

Desde comienzos del siglo XXI se han acentuado los procesos de transformación de las ciudades, con considerables efectos en sus áreas próximas. La atención se ha dirigido tradicionalmente hacia las grandes ciudades, aunque el fenómeno se ha reproducido con especial intensidad en otros escalones de la jerarquía urbana. En este caso se ha analizado lo sucedido en las capitales provinciales de Castilla-La Mancha. Se ha optado por una combinación metodológica, basada en el método AHP, el análisis clúster y valoraciones de los investigadores, empleando variables de distinta naturaleza (relacionadas con la población, el suelo urbano y la vivienda). El objeto del trabajo es establecer una propuesta de área urbana, así como una clasificación de los municipios en función de las dinámicas que han experimentado a lo largo de la serie temporal seleccionada (2000-2016). Las principales conclusiones dejan como balance intensidades y alcances diferentes de los procesos de dispersión urbana en las ciudades intermedias de Castilla-La Mancha.