Sprawl in Spain and Madrid: A Low Starting Point Growing Fast

Abstract

This article comments upon the situation of sprawl in Spain and Madrid, especially residential sprawl. It does not appear to be a serious problem due to its low starting point, but artificial surface and residential sprawl is growing rapidly. For that reason, it may be an issue in the future. Between 2000 and 2006, urban residential land use grew 0.4% in Spain and 0.2% in Europe per year, land use of industrial and commercial areas grew 2.3% in Spain and 0.4% in Europe and total artificial surface grew 2.7% in Spain and 0.6% in Europe (EEA, 2010). Further, we will study the legislation on maximum and minimum urban density in Spain. The highest maximum urban density is established by the Basque Country, with 230 dwellings per hectare, and the highest minimum urban density is established by Catalonia, with 50 dwellings per hectare. In both cases, it is applied to only certain types of territories. Finally, we will analyse what happens in the Region of Madrid in relation to sprawl. It has very similar patterns compared with the rest of Spain, although more pronounced.

Urban Sprawl in the Mediterranean Urban Regions in Europe and the Crisis Effect on the Urban Land Development: Madrid as Study Case

“…In Europe, the studies which deal with urban sprawl approaches are prevalent. In many cases, especially in Mediterranean regions, this kind of approach is habitually faced from a dualistic perspective, that is, transition from compact to more dispersed growth models, associated with phases of sprawl (see, e.g., [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]). …”

Unraveling latent dimensions of the urban mosaic: A multi-criteria spatial approach to metropolitan transformations

“…Urban expansion was primarily driven by migration inflow, secondhome suburbanization and infrastructure development stimulated by the 2004 Olympics (Chorianopoulos et al, 2010;Grekousis et al, 2013;Polyzos et al, 2013). Empirical evidences confirm an urban evolution based on the coexistence of various factors determining economic expansion and socio-demographic transformations, in turn reflected in sprawled settlements and a spatial re-organization of economic activities (Leontidou, 1990;Molinı´and Salgado, 2012;Salvati and Gargiulo Morelli, 2014), as clearly reflected in the geographical gradients identified by PCA. Peri-urban municipalities show a higher diversity in economic structure and socio-spatial patterns than strictly urban and rural areas.…”

“…The Mediterranean region represents a paradigmatic example of how the variety of morphologies, economic structures, sociospatial contexts and territorial factors shape a kaleidoscopic overview of different urban forms and socioeconomic functional patterns (Salvati and Di Feliciantonio, 2014;Salvati and Gargiulo Morelli, 2014). In this view, urban expansion could be explained by placespecific paths based on the long-established interplay between settlement morphology and socio-spatial structures (Chorianopoulos et al, 2010;Dura-Guimera, 2003;Molinı´and Salgado, 2012).…”

Factors related to municipal costs of waste collection service in Spain

“…The study area covers the Mediterranean arch of Spain and Madrid (Figure 1), which are the most sprawled areas of Spain (EEA, 2006;Moliní and Salgado, 2012;Hennig et al, 2015) and where problems of inefficiencies in land development cannot ensure suitable levels of productive investments with serious budgetary restrictions (Fernández-Aracil and Ortuño-Padilla, 2016; Lara-Galera et al, 2011). Additionally, in this area, there is very intense pressure to build due to tourism and the demand for a second residence (Rubiera-Morollón et al, 2015) and the distinct political, social and cultural history of Mediterranean cities has sculpted dispersed patterns of urbanization in particular forms (Catalán et al, 2008) with environmental, social and economic consequences which must be given more careful study.…”